My Take On the Daniel Hood Mess
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
If I'd been in charge of public relations, which I'm not, and I wanted to take Daniel Hood as a scholarship football player, I would have taken him and stated that he was redshirting for his freshman season. If he fulfilled all requirements as a redshirt, then he'd be eligible to play football at UT. As is, Tennessee can be criticized for chasing after a kid that, whaddya know, fills a position of need. Here's my write-up at FanHouse where I grapple with the idea of how far second chances extend. Like I said, this is a tough call, I don't really begrudge anyone their opinion on this matter.
I do have some issues with phrases that are being thrown around regarding this story.
1. You can't rest on the nebulous term "character issues" with a case like this. The facts are dirty, uncomfortable, and ugly. I think that means they need to be seen if they're publicly available, which they are. That's why I included the facts from the appeal. Not including the details of his crime makes it very easy to play the second chance card.
2. What does second chance mean? Hood already got his second chance. He's not in jail, and he's eligible to head off to college and major in whatever he wants. Good for him, I hope he succeeds in life. But does that mean that as part of the second chance, he absolutely has to play football at a major university? I don't think so.
3. No more talk about redemption in a sports context. Sports isn't about redemption in this context; you can redeem yourself on the field for sports failings, not personal failings. It completely trivializes the seriousness of his crime to suggest that if he gets 14 sacks in a season on defense or doesn't give up a sack as a four-year starter on the offensive line, he's somehow helped to make up for what he did. He hasn't...at all. Nothing he does on a football field matters in relation to what he did when he was 13. It just doesn't.
4. The flouncing around of the victim's letter that says she's forgiven him as if this clears the slate or legitimizes any decision by the university. Whatever friendship or rancor the two are able to create, that's between them. The relationship at question here is between the university and Daniel Hood. I think interjecting the victim here artificially hides that dynamic.
Anyway, Chris Low has a positive profile piece up about Daniel Hood now. But the final lines exacerbate the weirdness of this entire situation:
He has earmarked the tickets he receives for that Sept. 5 opener against Western Kentucky for his cousin, who is now married, has a child, and lives in Virginia.
"The first tickets I get are hers," Hood said. "Without her support, I wouldn't have this second chance. It's opened a lot of doors for me.
"She could have hated me for the rest of her life, but she's chosen to forgive me and we've been able to become family again."
So the woman he raped gets his free football tickets?
This really is a William Faulkner story.Labels: daniel hood tennessee rape scholarship
Posted by Clay Travis at 6:08 PM
 
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I continue to be blown away by this story. I'm okay(ish) I guess with him being able to play football, but to be play football and have everything paid for, no sir. I'm still $15,000 in debt from my undergrad loans and about the worst thing I've ever done in my life is 50 in a 25. Something isn't right here.
Well said about sports not being the place to win second chances; I would think his second chance came in the fact that he's not in jail right now. One article I read about him was talking about how he's been through a lot and had his name drug through the mud. Well guess what buddy? You didn't drive off without paying for gas or steal a sixer from the 711; you were an accessory to rape. Makes me think he still doesn't totally understand what he did wrong. Anyway, well put.
C'lay ~
The Hood saga is a toughie. UT would probably be better off with him going to Miami, Louisville or Florida St.
By taking Hood, Vol Nation has no moral standing to criticize any other program for thuggery.
The University of Tennessee already has the Every Day Should Be Saturday (EDSBS) Fulmer Cup named after a former coach. It is somewhat surprising that they are willing to suffer additional ridicule over a single football player. One would think such a great univserity would be a little more concerned about image and forego the "win at all cost" attitude of the coaching staff.
How will the university explain it if this kid is arrested for some type of mayhem over the next four years?
HR
From a legal perspective, something we really haven't touched on, how much liability is the university opening themselves up to if, God forbid, he assaulted a female student on campus?
We're talking millions and millions of dollars in potential legal damages, not to mention with his past history, there's no real defense that the university wasn't aware of the danger.
I don't have a daughter, but can anyone who does feel comfortable about him being her neighbor?
Clay, I know you are the father of a young child as well as myself. We would be discussing "is it acceptable for a father to kill 2 teens who raped his daughter?" Not is it ok for Hood to play football on scholarship @ UT..I would think it was difficult for you to write this story because the more I read the more I became sick to my stomach..........
Not to be that guy . . . but would this be more/less of a story if he wasn't white (i.e., he was a non-white male athlete)??
I work in the Juvenile Court system here in Tennessee and sadly, this stuff happens.
I feel like the kid was 13 and had to know what he was doing was wrong.
However, the 17 year old who is now in prison was the older and was probably the instigator.
In reality, where were the parents? Who was in charge? We are talking about a 13, 14 and 17 year old left home alone? I can see 17, but not the other two.
When a 13 year old does something like this, it has to be viewed as a mental issue. In fact, in Tennessee he would have to have undergone a mental/sexual evaluation. Maybe he got (or still is) getting help.
If he has got his life in order, then he should be able to play football or attend the University of Tennessee.
I hope for his sake he has.