I Call This "Acceptable Assault"

I was reading about Big Ten media days, and found this piece on Iowa defensive end Adrian Clayborn. Clayborn apparently was in an altercation with a taxicab driver who called him the n-word back in January 2009. Clayborn pled guilty to assault, and the issue is closed, per Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz. Clayborn was not punished for the incident, per Ferentz, and I think that is the right course of action. Although you always want student-athletes who represent your school to display a level of control and decorum when out in the public, there is also the expectation that John Q. Public act in a reasonable manner, too, which obviously didn't happen here. If you spout off a racial slur at a large African-American college football player, especially a defensive lineman, you can expect to take a beating. I think Clayborn's reaction was somewhat justified, and given the circumstances (he said this was the first time he'd heard the slur used toward him in Iowa) I think it could be expected. If this was a common occurrence for Clayborn, this would have been an issue, but it appears to be an isolated incident; Ferentz referred to it as a "spit in the ocean". 

While I like to joke that I like my defensive linemen and linebackers to have a misdemeanor assault charge somewhere on their criminal record, I'm not trying to justify violence. I do think it is realistic, though, to remember that we're dealing with very large 18-22 year old men here who are encouraged to act very aggressively and violently between the white lines every day at practice and on Saturdays. To sometimes see such aggression spill over  when mixed with male bravado and alcohol off the field is unfortunate, but not unexpected. We have to remember that there are plenty of men who decide to challenge the biggest guy at the bar to a fight when they're inebriated, so college football players, especially linemen, are targets. This is why I always wait to find out the real story when I hear about a fight involving football players when a bar and alcohol involved; I always try to give the players the benefit of the doubt until shown otherwise. Violence against women can never be condoned or tolerated (good-bye Adren Dorsey), but when it involves stupid males and too much alcohol in a public place, there are some understanding is called for. When it becomes a commonplace thing is when you need to really crackdown.

We've been fortunate enough to not have a public incident like this (knock on wood) happen at A&M and in College Station recently, but if Tony Jerod-Eddie or Rhonate Scales or Patrick Lewis were involved in a similar incident, I hope Coach Sherman would be just as understanding. There is a time to be a disciplinarian, and there is a time to realize some idiot got what was coming to him when he said the wrong thing to the wrong person at the wrong time, and Life decided to teach him a lesson.