Tennessee Players Arrested

I withheld writing about this topic for a while in order to see what new facts would come to light and what Tennessee's response would be to the athlete's actions.

For those who have seen, three Tennessee players were arrested last week on the charge of armed robbery. Two of the men approached a car outside a convenient store with a pellet gun and demanded the occupants of the car to give them "everything they had". The victims told the two men they had no money and showed them their wallets. At this time a third man came up to the two others and said, "we've got to go".

The two men who took part in the robbery were Nukeese Richardson and Mike Edwards. The third individual was Janzen Jackson, also a tennessee player. All three were arrested shortly after the incident after police stopped their car and found dark sweatshirts and a pellet gun.

I was curious to see how Tennessee would handle the situation. The fact of the matter is, these men committed a felony. Whether it was a real gun or not makes no difference. The matter is in the intent. These men deserve to not only NOT play football ever again, but they should be put in jail.

These guys are perfect examples of what is wrong with athletes. You have been given a FREE education. They get ALL of their meals paid for. And they are treated like kings everywhere they go around town. Is it too much to ask that they don't try to rob someone? Some would suggest they are already robbing tax payers by having their education paid simply because they may run fast. The time has come for the NCAA to crack down much harder on their athletes. Playing football is a privilege. Getting an education is a privilege. This men blew that privilege.

I just knew Tennessee was going to drop the ball on this. When they said nothing for about 3 days on the matter,i just knew they were going to let these kids off. Then Tennessee did the right thing and dismissed richardson and edwards from the team. Both of these athletes will probably transfer to a junior college so that they can keep playing. I think that is horse crap. This was a crime of violent intent. They should be BANNED from all collegiate athletics.

Janzen Jackson is a tricky situation. It appears he was not involved in the actual robbery, but even if that is the case i find it hard to believe that he didn't know what was going on. However, he also didn't hold a gun in someones face. Tennessee still has not said what action will be taken against Jackson, but this combined with the fact he has already failed a drug test this year, should result in him being suspended for the rest of the year, and the spring.

The weirdest part about this story is the video that leaked out about the victim talking to reporters and saying that the athletes should NOT miss any games. When asked why they said, "tennessee is my place, thats my football team. i don't want them to miss games..." AFTER THEY HAD A GUN STUCK IN THEIR FACE. That is just plain ludicrous.