This is a short, daily column idea I will be trying out this week to gauge interest in this sort of feature. If the community likes it, it is something we may look to instill as a regular staple of my offseason content. The topics will be mostly Longhorns-related with occasional OT musings about life, the NFL, fantasy, hunting and fishing, pop culture, etc. If people don't like it, they will certainly let me know. We're only on the fourth edition and one has already caused such a fuss that Ketch had to delete it.
The Daily Short #4, June 1, 2017 - Reese Leitao, Second Chances and Snake Baskets
An offseason weekday short-form feature addressing a topic du jour
The handwringing by some in the Texas fanbase over allowing 2018 TE recruit Reese Leitao into the program post-alleged-drug-dealing bust is understandable and certainly well-intentioned. It is however, misguided.
I've talked about this before on Orangebloods Radio, and even mentioned it in passing in the forums, but let me state again here, in the wake of AD Mike Perrin's Tuesday statement on Leitao's status, that I see absolutely zero issues with the young man being allowed to play and receiving a second chance.
Now, Baylor creeps and Oklahoma scumbags will screenshot that first paragraph of the Short without context and I'll be called a hypocrite -- and probably worse. After all, I was loudly outspoken about the Baylor scandal and like to feel that, in some ways, I was at least a little bit responsible for helping to get the snowball rolling down the hill in what became an eventual avalanche. I called for Bob Stoops' head when finding out about the despicable pattern he'd shown of allowing athletes with histories of violence against women onto his football team in droves.
"How's it any different, Alex?" they'll whine, like the shrieking, pathetic babies that they are. "What about now that Tom Herman is bringing in criminals? What do you say now?"
And first, I'd respond that I'd at least address it, which I have. It's more than any of these idiots ever did.
I have come out and stated an opinion on the situation after thought and discussion with others. I've been open to hearing other viewpoints and, actually, feel even more cemented in my own resolve having done so. I have not hid my head in the sand and played my own part in letting a filthy, disgusting and dangerous environment fester and go unchecked like the cowardly, hell-bound bastards in Waco or the sycophants in Norman.
Ask any of the Baylor scum referenced above (and I certainly am not painting all Baylor alums in this group, only the ones who came after me with such ferocity during investigation of the scandal) about my own arrest record. I've been arrested three times. It's not something I love admitting and not something that seems reasonable to put out there in a public forum, but thanks to handy detective work from Baylor fans looking to discredit anyone that questioned their one true lord and savior Art Briles, my criminal records and even mugshots are now freely available with a simple search on Google or Twitter.
One for a bad check out of my first checking account at age 18, one for driving with a suspended license that was, again, due to a failure to appear in court for a no-right-on-red violation, and one for driving a band vehicle from Lubbock that had weed in it.
Every one of those arrests came from being stupid and/or broke and/or not having my shit together. And my arrest record isn't the point and I'm not here to defend myself. I don't have anything to prove to anyone. I'm here to spell out the difference in allowing an 18-year-old kid who (surprise!) was a dumbass and made a stupid decision a second chance versus creating a culture that harbors violent criminals and is allowed to fester.
Here are the differences in the case of Leitao and that of Baylor (and to a lesser-extent, Dorial Green-Beckham, Joe Mixon, Dede Westbrook-era OU):
1) Both other Big 12 cases referenced were PATTERNS while Leitao's situation is an EXCEPTION.
2) Leitao's case is out in the open and Herman has received criticism, faced the music and made a public decision after months of due diligence.
3) The athletic director has been transparent about his concern and findings regarding this case and has even made a public statement. This is not something we'll find out about later and see anything was slimy or swept under the rug.
4) Leitao comes in with a strike against him for this reason and will be on a short leash; if he wastes his second chance, not only will he suffer -- so will Tom Herman for allowing him. Writers like Kirk Bohls (who unlike virtually all of this board, I have great respect for) are already chirping about what a bad decision this is. Imagine the blowback if the kid so much as gets a minor in possession ticket at a West Campus party. (Which, if the world was a totally fair place, I likely would have received over 100 of in college to add to Baylor's arsenal of history to use against me).
5) Leitao is not alleged of criminal violence that, in any primary ways, put a vulnerable student body at risk by allowing him to be a part. Last I checked, he hasn't ever held his high-school girlfriend hostage by holding a screwdriver to her temple. Leitao appears to have allegedly sold off about a bottle of Xanax to his friends at school.
Excuse me if I can't get on board with comparing one apple to a basket oranges or in Baylor's case, slimy, slithery snakes.
The Daily Short #4, June 1, 2017 - Reese Leitao, Second Chances and Snake Baskets
An offseason weekday short-form feature addressing a topic du jour
The handwringing by some in the Texas fanbase over allowing 2018 TE recruit Reese Leitao into the program post-alleged-drug-dealing bust is understandable and certainly well-intentioned. It is however, misguided.
I've talked about this before on Orangebloods Radio, and even mentioned it in passing in the forums, but let me state again here, in the wake of AD Mike Perrin's Tuesday statement on Leitao's status, that I see absolutely zero issues with the young man being allowed to play and receiving a second chance.
Now, Baylor creeps and Oklahoma scumbags will screenshot that first paragraph of the Short without context and I'll be called a hypocrite -- and probably worse. After all, I was loudly outspoken about the Baylor scandal and like to feel that, in some ways, I was at least a little bit responsible for helping to get the snowball rolling down the hill in what became an eventual avalanche. I called for Bob Stoops' head when finding out about the despicable pattern he'd shown of allowing athletes with histories of violence against women onto his football team in droves.
"How's it any different, Alex?" they'll whine, like the shrieking, pathetic babies that they are. "What about now that Tom Herman is bringing in criminals? What do you say now?"
And first, I'd respond that I'd at least address it, which I have. It's more than any of these idiots ever did.
I have come out and stated an opinion on the situation after thought and discussion with others. I've been open to hearing other viewpoints and, actually, feel even more cemented in my own resolve having done so. I have not hid my head in the sand and played my own part in letting a filthy, disgusting and dangerous environment fester and go unchecked like the cowardly, hell-bound bastards in Waco or the sycophants in Norman.
Ask any of the Baylor scum referenced above (and I certainly am not painting all Baylor alums in this group, only the ones who came after me with such ferocity during investigation of the scandal) about my own arrest record. I've been arrested three times. It's not something I love admitting and not something that seems reasonable to put out there in a public forum, but thanks to handy detective work from Baylor fans looking to discredit anyone that questioned their one true lord and savior Art Briles, my criminal records and even mugshots are now freely available with a simple search on Google or Twitter.
One for a bad check out of my first checking account at age 18, one for driving with a suspended license that was, again, due to a failure to appear in court for a no-right-on-red violation, and one for driving a band vehicle from Lubbock that had weed in it.
Every one of those arrests came from being stupid and/or broke and/or not having my shit together. And my arrest record isn't the point and I'm not here to defend myself. I don't have anything to prove to anyone. I'm here to spell out the difference in allowing an 18-year-old kid who (surprise!) was a dumbass and made a stupid decision a second chance versus creating a culture that harbors violent criminals and is allowed to fester.
Here are the differences in the case of Leitao and that of Baylor (and to a lesser-extent, Dorial Green-Beckham, Joe Mixon, Dede Westbrook-era OU):
1) Both other Big 12 cases referenced were PATTERNS while Leitao's situation is an EXCEPTION.
2) Leitao's case is out in the open and Herman has received criticism, faced the music and made a public decision after months of due diligence.
3) The athletic director has been transparent about his concern and findings regarding this case and has even made a public statement. This is not something we'll find out about later and see anything was slimy or swept under the rug.
4) Leitao comes in with a strike against him for this reason and will be on a short leash; if he wastes his second chance, not only will he suffer -- so will Tom Herman for allowing him. Writers like Kirk Bohls (who unlike virtually all of this board, I have great respect for) are already chirping about what a bad decision this is. Imagine the blowback if the kid so much as gets a minor in possession ticket at a West Campus party. (Which, if the world was a totally fair place, I likely would have received over 100 of in college to add to Baylor's arsenal of history to use against me).
5) Leitao is not alleged of criminal violence that, in any primary ways, put a vulnerable student body at risk by allowing him to be a part. Last I checked, he hasn't ever held his high-school girlfriend hostage by holding a screwdriver to her temple. Leitao appears to have allegedly sold off about a bottle of Xanax to his friends at school.
Excuse me if I can't get on board with comparing one apple to a basket oranges or in Baylor's case, slimy, slithery snakes.
