11/21/24
October 29, 2009
Suspension ends season for Oklahoma State's Dez Bryant: Bryant was suspended by Oklahoma State Oct. 7 after admittedly lying to NCAA officials about the details of a meeting with former NFL star Deion Sanders. The NCAA informed OSU that the suspension will last a calendar year and keep Bryant out through September 2010
First Crabtree and now Bryant. It seems that Deion Sanders wasn't content to alienate just himself with the league and a host of fellow players, he now seems bent on putting that curse on the next generation.
posted by irunfromclones at 01:33 PM on October 29, 2009
Deion did nothing wrong here and the only thing Dez Bryant did was lie about going to Deion's home but what LeGarrette Blount did was a whole lot worse than this and he's back to playing this year.
I always thought that these kids were supposed to learn from their mistakes. Dez Bryant has apologized for lying but to lose a whole year because he basically lied about nothing is just wrong.
posted by BornIcon at 02:19 PM on October 29, 2009
It's probably going to be the end of Dez's college career. Okie State QB Zac Robinson is a senior and has (to the best of my knowledge) no heir apparent. I can't see Bryant wanting to return to Stillwater to help break in a new QB.
Hopefully Dez will get the last laugh on the foolhardy folks at the NCAA and go on to have the great professional career he seems capable of.
posted by Ufez Jones at 02:26 PM on October 29, 2009
Lying to the NCAA is a big deal. Making an example of Bryant will discourage other athletes from trying to pull a fast one when NCAA officials come knocking.
posted by rcade at 02:28 PM on October 29, 2009
Lying to the NCAA is a big deal, but the penalty shouldn't be more severe than if he had broken a real NCAA regulation by receiving improper benefits.
posted by bperk at 02:37 PM on October 29, 2009
I think the athletes that have gotten away with much worse (did that Reggie Bush house situation ever get resolved?) have a much larger impact on the shady dealings of College Sports than an overzealous punishment for a quasi-mistake about nothing, really.
The only real effects I can see this having are ending Bryant's college career (not to mention hurting OSU's chance at beating Texas this Saturday) and hurting Deion's reputation.
posted by Ufez Jones at 02:56 PM on October 29, 2009
Lying to the NCAA is a big deal ...but it's not as big of a deal as sucker punching your opponent, taking a swing to your own teammate, going after some fans and resisting security gaurds and the police.
Then again, maybe your right that it is a bigger deal since Blount is back this season while Bryant is sitting this one out for sucker punching the truth.
posted by BornIcon at 03:09 PM on October 29, 2009
Blount lost his head and threw a couple punches in the heat of the moment. At this point I gotta say "big whoop" to that incident.
I think it's a bigger deal to lie to the NCAA than to do what Blount did. I'd feel otherwise if he hadn't been stopped before he went after those fans, but he was. It's also true that fans were harassing Blount because the scoreboard crew made the judgment error of replaying his punch several times.
posted by rcade at 03:14 PM on October 29, 2009
I agree with your point that Blount lost his cool in the heat of the moment which is why he was reinstated to play this season since he was also apologetic. What Bryant did doesn't come close to Blount's incident and I don't believe that Bryant deserves a full year suspension for lying over nothing.
What is this supposed to teach Bryant? That although he is remorseful for not telling the truth, he doesn't deserve to play again this season?
posted by BornIcon at 03:27 PM on October 29, 2009
What is this supposed to teach Bryant?
To never lie to NCAA officials.
posted by rcade at 03:29 PM on October 29, 2009
So a 2 game suspension wouldn't have been suffice?
If that's the case, can Blount go around punching his next opponents because he'll be reinstated as long as he's remorseful?
Bryant lied because he assumed that he was going to get in trouble even though he didn't do anything. That's what kids do sometimes when they're scared but IMO it doesn't warrant him losing this year just like after I thought about Blount's situation and heard his apology, I didn't think he should've been suspended for the year either.
posted by BornIcon at 03:36 PM on October 29, 2009
Making an example of Bryant will discourage other athletes from trying to pull a fast one when NCAA officials come knocking.
No way. You don't get to be a big-time college football player without feeling at least a bit like you're invincible. I find it hard to believe this suspension is causing 15 year-old tailbacks across the country to modify their mental flowchart for dealing with NCAA officials.
posted by yerfatma at 03:40 PM on October 29, 2009
What is this supposed to teach Bryant?
To never lie to NCAA officials.
Not hard to do since he'll never deal with the NCAA again.
posted by jmd82 at 03:42 PM on October 29, 2009
The real lesson is never ever, no matter who you are or what you do, talk to Deion "Jesus helped me fly my car over a cliff" Sanders again.
posted by cjets at 04:20 PM on October 29, 2009
... and hurting Deion's reputation
? Who is it that considers Deion a reputable guy ?
posted by cixelsyd at 05:43 PM on October 29, 2009
I doubt Dez and Michael Trabtree are the only ones, so apparently a few young athletes, cixelsyd.
posted by Ufez Jones at 05:56 PM on October 29, 2009
And you think this will stop people from lying to the NCAA? It seems to me that the majority of lying is done by coaches and schools - and while the fines and penalties are severe, they don't quite seem to prevent two or three revelations a year.
So no. This is not going to change anything but this guy's life.
Plus these rules are fucking stupid.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 07:56 PM on October 29, 2009
And you think this will stop people from lying to the NCAA?
Yes. I think some athletes will hear about Bryant's case and think twice about lying to the NCAA. I feel sorry for the guy losing his season, and if it is lowered on appeal that's OK with me, but lying was a colossally stupid thing to do.
posted by rcade at 07:59 PM on October 29, 2009
First, he actually loses two seasons...this one and next year's as he wouldn't be eligible until next October. No way he stays in college.
This was a witch hunt by the NCAA. Yea, lying is bad, and he should have known better. But, at the end of the day he was lying about something that wasn't a violation so to deal out this level of punishment seems excessive.
posted by dviking at 12:26 AM on October 30, 2009
in a word.."ridiculous"...sucker punched ... ala one other NCAA athelete who actually landed one and is back on the playing field...and we still haven't heard the last of the vaunted NCAA re FSU...
posted by wildbill1 at 06:17 AM on October 30, 2009
....at the end of the day he was lying about something that wasn't a violation so to deal out this level of punishment seems excessive.
Exactly! Which is why if the NCAA were smart (and we all know they have a bunch of idiots running the show over there), they would've suspended Bryant 2-4 games so that he would recognize that lying is not a way out and will not be tolerated. Just tell the truth and the rest will work itself out since there really wasn't anything to lie about in the first place. Suspending him for the season was a bit too much and IMO, overblown.
I could totally understand suspending him for the season if he actually did something wrong but lying over nothing doesn't equate to him losing the rest of his college career while some other college kid (Blount), that the NCAA had valid reason to keep benched for the rest of this season is back to playing after just a few weeks of being suspended. The math on that just doesn't add up.
posted by BornIcon at 08:06 AM on October 30, 2009
The moral of the story I learned? Lie better. If the truth never comes out, Bryant never gets in trouble. Problem solved. In the future is a kid lies and latter learned it was a mistake, he has no incentive whatsoever to clear the air since he'll be ruled ineligible anyways.
posted by jmd82 at 09:13 AM on October 30, 2009
If we're comparing Dez and Blount, and saying Blount "lost his head" "in the heat of the moment" and went all fists of fury, well, what was Bryant's lie if not a guy losing his head to the heat of the moment? With a little reflection or consultation he wouldn't have bothered lying about not breaking NCAA rules. Seems like both guys were put on the spot and reacted poorly.
Sure, the NCAA's making an example of Bryant, and maybe behind-closed-doors lying is worse than televised fisticuffs, but characterizing one as a mental flop in a time of stress and the other as a calculated lie (or for that matter, anything other than hot-moment head-loss) is simply wrong.
posted by Hugh Janus at 11:14 AM on October 30, 2009
This was the NCAA getting pissed that someone would lie to them, and then reacting. A revenge suspention, you might say. Plenty of college students break the rules (or use loopholes), and get off scott-free. Off the top of my head I can think of Reggie Bush, OJ Mayo, Derrick Rose... In "The Blindside," the book about Michael Oher, you really get a taste of how money, influence and "sell value" can help you deal with the NCAA. Bryant being suspended wasn't to send a message to other students reguarding rules; it was to warn them not to fuck with the NCAA.
Or maybe I've been reading those excerpts from Tim Donaghy's book for too long.
posted by Goyoucolts at 02:56 AM on November 02, 2009
This is ridiculous. If he actually had received improper benefits, he would have received something like a four-game suspension.