Nobody loves the Bill of Rights more than the Michigan football team. Suit up until proven guilty.
If you’re worried about Michigan’s season collapsing under the weight of the recent “serious” charges against Marlin Jackson – he is accused of hitting a 26-year-old man over the head with a bottle after a June 1 campus party on E. University – don’t be. Even if Jackson is convicted, it won’t happen until after the Wolverines’ annual trip to central Florida. So, season saved.
Think about it. When’s the last time a big-name player was kicked off the team for something like this? Don’t say Kelly Baraka; the kid was barely on the team to begin with. Plus, he had three strikes (or three puffs, should I say?). Even at Schembechler Hall, three strikes mean you’re out.
Markus Curry (accused of domestically abusing his girlfriend and tampering with her phone line) and Shantee Orr (accused of raping his girlfriend and sending an e-mail later apologizing) were re-instated to the team.
Jackson’s quandary should be compared to former Michigan receiving star David Terrell’s in December 2000. The best player on the defense. The best player on the offense. Precious goods.
Terrell said he and starting cornerback James Whitley went to Terell’ss ex-girlfriend’s house to mediate an argument between her and her new boyfriend. The girlfriend reported her apartment being broken into at 4 a.m. Dec. 14, 2000. Ann Arbor police arrested Whitley and charged him with firearm possession. On the spot Carr immediately kicked Whitley off the team, but what of Terrell, the big star? Terrell’s punishment was not starting the Citrus Bowl game.
“David Terrell has never had any kind of a problem at Michigan,” Carr said, defending Terrell. “He made a mistake; he was out too late at night.”
Overall, Jackson’s alleged attack doesn’t seem so bad, now does it?
I was just commenting on what an uneventful Ann Arbor summer it was for Michigan athletes off the field. But even though there were no headlines, I was still skeptical. Were the football players infatuated with Top of the Park, Ann Arbor’s summer film festival? Were basketball players spending time soaking up the art fair? I didn’t really care how the athletes were staying out of trouble. I was having too much fun reading about Maurice Clarett and the Evil Empire in Columbus.
There are so many reasons to be angry – but angry at whom?
Of course, there’s Jackson. What was he thinking? He obviously wasn’t at all, if the story is true. How could he throw away the chance at All-America status, a Jim Thorpe Award and a promising NFL career because a man pushed a door into him?
Then there’s us. Yeah, you and me. I know – you don’t want any part of this. But you wanted a part of it when Jackson returned a Carlyle Holiday pass for a touchdown against Notre Dame last season. And when Jackson finally shut down Penn State’s Bryant Johnson in overtime, you were the first person to say you had never lost faith – no matter how many times Johnson abused Jackson. He was your best cover cornerback.
When Carr made Charles Woodson comparisons in the 2002 media day press conference, I believed. When a feature story that ran in this newspaper discussed all the things through which Jackson persevered on his way to Michigan, I believed his experiences would make him appreciate the opportunity he had been given. He wouldn’t throw it away. Not for a door in the face.
But we don’t know Marlin Jackson. We know No. 3. And for that matter, what made us think that we ever knew Jackson or any other Wolverine football player?
Each time this happens, we are shocked. How could he do this (to us)? And Carr releases that trusty old statement that he has on file: “Allegations are serious. No rush to judgment. The facts will be revealed. Judgment will be made based on those facts.”
Copy. Paste. Send. Sit and wait. And don’t get me wrong, Carr is in a toughie. Even though no one on State Street would ever admit it, there’s that whole beating Ohio State thing to worry about.
And I know that’s what you’re thinking about. Those Buckeyes swinging their huge scarlet and gray flag in the visiting end zone, celebrating their third-straight win over That School Up North. Ooooh, sends shivers up your spine doesn’t it.
I read a funny, yet predictable quote on a Michigan fan message board: “The victim must not be a Michigan football fan. If Marlin Jackson hit me over the head with a bottle, I’d get up and ask him to sign it.”
Since when do we expect a 20-year-old kid to sit above the law because he plays college football?
The thing that irks me here is that most of us are not seeking what is important – the truth. If Marlin Jackson did this, he should not play for Michigan. I don’t care what his options are for getting a lesser sentence. If Jackson didn’t do it and this 26-year-old man misidentified him, then obviously Jackson’s name should be dragged out of the mud and cleaned until it’s sparkly white.
Either he did it, and he is kicked off the team, or he didn’t, and he plays. Period. No “Well, he pleaded guilty, so he can still play.” I don’t want to hear that anymore.
So, let’s seek the truth. Can we handle it? I think we can.
It’s the “judgment” I’m afraid of.
J. Brady McCollough can be reached at bradymcc@umich.edu.