Jody Fuller (Photo courtesy of Jody Fuller)
By Jody Fuller, an Opelika-based comic, speaker, writer and soldier with three tours of duty in Iraq. He is also a lifetime stutterer. He can be reached at jody@jodyfuller.com. For more information, visit jodyfuller.com.
I get not wanting to derail the lives of two young men for a non-violent offense. I'm on board with that. But Alabama football players Cam Robinson and Laurence "Hootie" Jones, should be held accountable.
However, prosecution of left tackle Robinson and safety Jones has been declined, according to a filing from the Ouachita Parish (Louisiana) district attorney's office.
The filing cites insufficient evidence, for Robinson, on charges of possession of a controlled dangerous substance and illegal possession of a stolen firearm and, for Jones, possession of a controlled dangerous substance. Both were arrested in mid-May in their hometown of Monroe, Louisiana.
"I want to emphasize once again that the main reason I'm doing this is that I refuse to ruin the lives of two young men who have spent their adolescence and teenage years, working and sweating, while we were all in the air conditioning," district attorney Jerry Jones told KNOE-TV.
Here's the thing: In this situation, there were two guns and one was stolen. I don't think either are bad human beings. I don't want to see them become statistics in an already-crowded and often ineffective justice system, but they should be held accountable.
Full disclosure, I'm an Auburn guy, but that doesn't mean I'm a Bama hater. My mother and brother pull for the Tide, as did my late father. Hey, we all have flaws, but I digress. This is bigger than football.
Perhaps there was a big Red Elephant in the room, I don't know. But dropping the charges completely sends the terrible message that athletes can get away with just about anything--think Brock Turner. What will Cam and Hootie learn from this?
I'm not saying they should go to prison or even be kicked off the team, but to drop the charges completely is a travesty of justice. Coach Nick Saban may very well suspend them for a half vs. USC, but I'm not holding my breath. I mean, that's two-and-a-half months away. These young men need to be held accountable for their actions.
I know another Cam who may or may not have made a mistake in college, but he certainly turned his life around after being booted from his original school. Thank you for holding him accountable, Florida. He got a second chance and made the best of it. War Eagle!
When I was 19, I was arrested for underage drinking. It was my first and only time ever being arrested, and it was one of the best things to ever happen to me. I was held accountable. A few months later, I decided to go into the Army, and from that point on, well, it's been quite a remarkable journey.
Here's what the judge hit me with:
- Eight days of community service. I got to wear an orange jumpsuit from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday for four consecutive weekends. I had the privilege on picking up trash for miles and miles along the roads of Opelika with a stick and a bucket. The weekends were the last two of September and the first two of October. You can bet your sweet fanny that these two football players won't be performing community service on Saturdays in the fall.
- 10 hours of an alcohol awareness class, five hours on Friday night and another five hours the next morning. And I had to pay for it--$100.
- An additional $100 fine
- $44 court cost
- Three years' probation
For what it's worth, I lived in a house without air conditioning. I reckon I should've presented that to the judge.