Dalvin Cook is back in the fold of a ridiculously talented running back stable at Florida State.
The reaction to the not guilty verdict will probably fall in line with the familiar polarization we see among those who ravenously follow college athletics: sympathy inside the FSU bubble, and cynicism outside it.
Andy Staples is not a part of the hometown FSU media. He's built a strong record as a pretty sober truth-seeker. Here was his take from Tallahassee.
The trial began with a question to the judge about the admission of an audio recording of Cook’s July 1 interview with Tallahassee police investigator Jerritt Federico. Patel and McCall wanted to suppress the recording because they felt it undermined Cook’s choice to exercise his Fifth Amendment right not to testify. Aikens listened to the recording out of earshot of the gallery – and without the jury in the courtroom – and ruled in favor of the defense. But Dugan would find a way to get the words Cook said to Federico in front of the jury later in the trial by walking Federico through the interview. By the time McCall objected, prompting a lengthy sidebar followed by a recess and another sidebar, Dugan had allowed the jury to hear that Cook denied being involved in any kind of argument to Federico in spite of the fact that teammates Rudolph, quarterback Deondre Francois and receiver Da’Vante Phillips would later tell Federico and the jury that, like them, Cook was involved in an argument with Geohegan.
Kuhn, a 1983 FSU graduate and project manager for Childers Construction Company, said jurors were swift to make their decisions.
“I think you probably could have taken a vote when we first walked in and would have had five of six (not guilty) immediately,” Kuhn said.
A photo of the alleged victim showed a split lip on her left side.
A juror says "it's a shame" this case went to trial.
However, it did not show a significant amount of bruising on the upper or lower lip or the side of her face.
Kuhn didn’t think the injury was caused by an alleged punch from Cook.
“She could have gotten that bump on her lip falling down,” Kuhn said.
“It wasn’t a punch from a football player. It did not appear she was punched in the mouth. It looked more like something else.”
This Tallahassee columnist says the verdict was due to lack of evidence and nothing else.
The perception of this program as a bunch of football-playing outlaws is already locked down.
As is the perception that this city will do anything to protect its football players. People around the country will see that Cook was acquitted in 25 minutes and they’ll roll their eyes and think, “Well. That’s Tallahassee for you.”
Which is nonsense.
Here’s the reason Dalvin Cook was found not guilty on Monday.
Because of the evidence (or lack thereof). That’s it. That’s the story.
None of us know, of course, whether Cook actually struck the accuser that night in June. There was no video. No recording of any kind.
The accuser had one witness who corroborated her story, but we learned on Monday that witness was so intoxicated she couldn’t fill out a written report.
Meanwhile, Cook had four witnesses (three football players and another FSU student who doesn’t know Cook) who said he didn’t hit anyone. All of them said Cook was actually trying to be a peacemaker. That wasn’t great for the state’s case.
A few Tuesday links:
-- The Washington Post, they of last week's "Clemsoning" headline, now run an article that features two Clemson games among the must-see games of the 2015 season. Interesting.
Oct. 3: No. 12 Clemson vs. No. 11 Notre Dame
Let’s just ignore Notre Dame’s scheduling pact with the ACC and call this the last good nonconference game of the year. Clemson has ACC title aspirations, while Notre Dame gets its first true chance to prove that it won’t be as dreadful on the road this season as it was in 2014. The Fighting Irish lost all three of its true road games last season — at Florida State, Arizona State and USC — by a combined 135-72. Notre Dame gets a lot back from last season,but as SB Nation’s Bill Connelly notes, the defense gave up at least 5.6 yards per play in each of its last eight games and the team as a whole had a negative turnover margin in nine of its last 10.
Nov. 7: No. 12 Clemson vs. No. 10 Florida State
Clemson was the last team not named Florida State to win the ACC title, in 2011, and this meeting in Death Valley could very well decide the Atlantic Division. Of the Tigers’ seven losses over the past three seasons, three came against the Seminoles. Deshaun Watson is back at quarterback for Clemson, and if he can stay healthy, watch out. In just three full games and parts of five others as a freshman last season, Watson had 14 passing touchdowns and just two interceptions while also rushing for five scores. But he also suffered a ridiculous number of injuries, including a broken collarbone, broken hand and torn ACL. Jameis Winston and all that came with Jameis Winston are gone, though Florida State parlayed its 39-3 record over the past three seasons into the nation’s third-best recruiting class.
-- In Atlanta, Georgia Tech's OL coach is not happy with the starting offensive linemen or the backup offensive linemen.
With the starting offensive line basically set, Georgia Tech offensive line coach Mike Sewak is auditioning candidates for dependable backups to play in a rotation. His problem is evidently not a multitude of options.
“We had a couple practices where one guy would do well and they would come right back and slide back down,” Sewak said Monday after the Yellow Jackets’ practice. “I think the intensity from a couple guys needs to pick up because this is Division I football and I don’t think they realize that you’ve got to bring it every single day.”
The Jackets return four starters – left tackle Bryan Chamberlain, left guard Trey Braun, center Freddie Burden and right tackle Errin Joe – on a line that powered the Jackets to 11 wins and school records in total rushing yards and rushing yards per game and per carry. At right guard, Shamire Devine appears to have won the job. Sewak hasn’t been particularly swept away by that group, either.
“I don’t know if they can set the tone and maintain the tone that we need to play the game at,” he said. “I think that they can probably show you a snap or two, but I don’t know if they can maintain the intensity that we need to have throughout.”
-- Dan Wolken of USA Today with a good take on the Baylor mess in particular, and the practice of welcoming bad dudes to campus in general.
And yet, it's clear that Ukwuachu was not welcome in the Boise State football program following some series of events in May 2013 and landed at Baylor shortly thereafter. At that point, he didn't need to be subject to any university discipline because he was already gone.
What we do know, according to a series of notes from Boise State's head athletic trainer Marc Paul that were obtained by Texas Monthly, is that Ukwuachu had exhibited behavior that made him a danger to himself, the girlfriend who was living with him and his roommate to the point where she was instructed not to go home by Boise State officials, and police protection was arranged for the roommate. Later, Paul notes that it was arranged for her to go to the house to pick up clothes and personal items when they knew Ukwuachu wasn't there.
We also know the situation was so dire that Paul told Ukwuachu's mother on May 4 he needed to "go home sooner" than his plane ticket date of May 15. In other words, the school couldn't even wait 10 days before getting him out of town. And among those looped into the conversations according to Paul's notes were Petersen, athletics director Mark Coyle and other administrators in the athletic department.
Everyone at Boise State knew.
Did it prove they knew Ukwuachu hit his girlfriend? No. But it certainly indicates they were worried enough about the possibility that multiple layers of administrators and local police were involved in getting him out of Boise. It indicates this was a person who had serious mental health issues that needed to be addressed before he could even think about playing football again. It indicates he shouldn't have been at Baylor.
Is it possible Baylor didn't receive any of that information prior to enrolling Ukwuachu? Yes, but it's certainly not plausible, not when that many people at Boise State knew. Forget the phone call between Petersen and Briles. If Baylor didn't know, it's because it didn't dig very deep into why a freshman All-American was suddenly available.
-- And finally, inside the mind of Dave Grohl. This 60 Minutes clip is great for a lot of reasons, but mostly it's excellent because it shows you how great musicians view -- and appreciate -- other great musicians.
LW
