Hawkeye Football Players' Criminal Records

March 3, 2011, 7:30 a.m.

[Related: "Hawkeyes' Criminal Record Lengthens," February 25, 2008.]

We're Number Two! We're Number Two!
(bought to you by FromDC2Iowa.blogspot.com*)
Sports Illustrated and CBS News have once again brought some national attention to the Hawkeye football program -- publicity we could have just as well done without. Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian, "College Football and Crime," Sports Illustrated, March 2, 2011.

Last time it was the hospitalization of 13 players following a workout, when neither the Athletic Director nor the Coach had much to say initially. "Crisis Communications 101; There Are Three Steps," February 14, 2011.

This time it is SI's revelation that Iowa's football program ranked number two in the nation among the top 25 teams in terms of the criminal arrest records of its players -- and Barta and Ferentz had their responses out early enough to be included in the local press' SI report stories. Tom Witosky, "Iowa responds to report that 18 football players had criminal records," HawkCentral [Des Moines Register; Iowa City Press-Citizen], March 2, 2011; Gazette Staff, "Iowa releases statement on report detailing charges against athletes," The Gazette, March 2, 2011; Jordan Garretson, "Barta: Background checks on athletes worth discussing," The Daily Iowan, March 3, 2011.

As the report characterizes the highlights of its findings:

Story Highlights

A six-month SI/CBS News investigation ran criminal background checks on Top 25

Of 2,837 players, 7% had criminal records; 8.1% of scholarship players in trouble

Only two of Top 25 schools did background checks; none checked juvenile records

Thankfully, the University of Pittsburgh, not Iowa, was number 1. Iowa was actually tied for second place with Arkansas.

The SI/CBS report is chilling in its revelations of the serious crimes committed by athletes before as well as after arriving on campus: "Of the 277 incidents uncovered, nearly 40 percent involved serious offenses, including 56 violent crimes such as assault and battery (25 cases), domestic violence (6), aggravated assault (4), robbery (4) and sex offenses (3). In addition there were 41 charges for property crimes, including burglary and theft and larceny."

And note that in its chart the report only counts the number of players, not offenses. Moreover, it does not include players cut from the team because of their criminal behavior. Nor does it provide a report of the school's criminal record over a period of years.

Three years ago, when Iowa's football program was also singled out for its players' criminal records, I wrote in this blog,

I've suggested in blog entries here before, but it bears repeating that in addition to whatever else the Athletic Department may be doing to improve its criminal record, it might give a little more attention to who it's recruiting.

And, No, I don't mean that a teenage athlete's single indiscretion should bar his or her entering our program. And I don't mean we should be probing in depth the private lives of potential recruits. And I understand that juvenile court records are not always available. And, Yes, I agree that living in a community like Iowa City, the added maturity of a couple of years, and a strong and positive relationship with the right coach can sometimes turn lives around.

But I do think it might be appropriate to make at least some greater effort to find out, before we bring them here, if those we are recruiting have already established patterns of anti-social and criminal behavior, and a disrespect for law, such that the data indicates the mathematical odds are it is likely to continue.

"Hawkeyes' Criminal Record Lengthens," February 25, 2008.

Today's SI/CBS report reveals that the failure to investigate recruits' criminal records, which I highlighted three years ago, is in fact a central cause of the problem.

Among the 25 schools in the investigation, only two -- TCU and Oklahoma -- perform any type of regular criminal background searches on recruits. But even TCU and Oklahoma don't look at juvenile records. No school does, even though football and basketball players are among the most high-profile representatives of a university. (Of the 25 schools, only Virginia Tech did any type of background checks on admitted students, and admissions questionnaires at more than half the other universities ask applicants if they have ever been arrested.)

Yet it wouldn't take much for schools to access this information. Take Florida, for example. The Sunshine State is not only one of the nation's largest football hotbeds, it also has the nation's most open public records law. Through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, anyone can check a person's complete criminal history -- including many juvenile arrests -- for $24.

Using this service, SI and CBS News checked all 318 Florida-based players in our sample. Thirty-one players (9.5%) had a criminal record. Twenty-two of those players had a juvenile record. Their juvenile offenses included felonies such as armed robbery, assault, domestic violence and possession of cocaine with intent to distribute.

Despite the easy access to this information, not a single school contacted by SI uses the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to check the criminal backgrounds of the players recruited from the state of Florida -- not even Florida, Florida State and Miami.

The report goes on to provide an illustration of what such a simple check could have revealed about one player.

On March 22, 2010, Darling [Antwan Darling, a Miami native and now a freshman linebacker at Cincinnati] was arrested for burglarizing a residence in Miami. That day, 17-year-old Kimberly Lewis was home alone from school sick when she heard two men prowling around the outside of her house, locked herself in a room and called 911 . . .. Miami police responded quickly and Darling was arrested at gunpoint and charged with felony burglary of an occupied dwelling. He subsequently entered a pretrial intervention program and the charge was dropped, clearing the way for him to accept a scholarship to Cincinnati.

But the burglary wasn't Darling's first run-in with the law. In 2006 he was charged with a felony count of firing a weapon in Dade County (which was disposed in juvenile court) and in 2008 he pleaded no contest to possession of marijuana after being arrested by police in Orlando.

When SI contacted Cincinnati for comment on Darling, a football spokesman said he was unaware of the player's arrest in the burglary case. Bearcats coach Butch Jones declined to comment specifically on Darling but said in a statement: "When recruiting a prospective student-athlete, we do our due diligence in exhausting all avenues looking into an individual's background."

Perhaps we need to redefine "due diligence" to the higher level that would require the effort to make a couple clicks on a laptop computer.

Additional commentary:

1. I think both the Iowa AD and Coach are to be congratulated for getting out front on this one, and for avoiding the natural inclination to "blame the media" for the University's bad public relations (something Barta did on the earlier SI criticism of the Hawkeyes handling of the hospitalized players).

2. Witoskey (linked above) reports, "Asked if the university had been treated unfairly by the report, Barta said, 'We are being lumped in and there is no differentiation between a misdemeanor or something more serious on the felony level"; and earlier, "Iowa officials pointed out that 15 of the 18 players were charged with alcohol related infractions, particularly underage consumption."

I think this is a valid criticism of the SI/CBS report -- but without more precise data from all schools one can't say whether or not Iowa was comparatively disadvantaged. And if Barta is including drunk driving as a mere "alcohol related infraction" that may be stretching the point.

When the Press-Citizen listed the violations of football players three years ago, see "Hawkeyes' Legal Troubles," February 25, 2008, below (embedded in "Hawkeyes' Criminal Record Lengthens," February 25, 2008), the list included some underage drinking. But it also included multiple examples of: interference with official acts; public intoxication and disorderly conduct; unauthorized use of a credit card; domestic assault; credit card fraud; shoplifting; drunken driving (at least three); second offense of underage possession of alcohol; public urination; driving with suspended license; failure to show at scheduled court appearance; possession of marijuana in dorm room; running from Coralville police; unlawful possession of prescription drug (oxycodone and carisoprodol) in dorm room and tax stamp violation.

These were from a prior time. They were not what Barta was talking about. But they did exist at one time, and they clearly include offenses more serious (not that underage possession of alcohol is not serious) than mere "alcohol related infractions."

3. The report can also be criticized, I think, for not providing statistics on the comparable criminal arrest statistics for (a) the student population generally at the football teams' schools, as well as (b) the general population within some standard distance from the campus in that community. (Otherwise it's kind of like the media reporting on the stock market stats by revealing the number of points the Dow Jones and S&P have moved, rather than the percentages, when the former is 10 times the points of the latter). When Iowa is ranked the ninth best party school (i.e., alcohol accessibility and quantity consumed) university in the country, it's likely the entire student population may have a higher percent arrest record than some other schools.

4. On the other hand, I think the DI's report of Barta's response to the idea of background checks leaves a good deal to be desired. I cannot imagine anyone who had read the SI/CBS report coming to his conclusions. The DI reports,

But Barta said he has some reservations about the idea, noting that screening potential recruits and conducting background checks might not be the most effective way to keep athletes out of legal trouble.

“Maybe this will provide us another opportunity to open the discussions,” Barta told The Daily Iowan in a phone interview. “If it would help guarantee us that we wouldn’t have student-athletes making bad decisions, I certainly would consider it. I don’t know whether it would accomplish that, however.”

Not "the most effective"? He'll only consider improvements if they will "guarantee us that we wouldn't have student-athletes making bad decisions"? Which of his present approaches to the problem are "the most effective"? What does he have in mind that would "guarantee" no more "bad decisions"? How has his current approach to these problems been working for him? Why would you not want to consider advance information that is easily available to you before bringing a recruit on campus? Even if you do decide to go ahead and recruit with scholarship a player with a number of serious felony convictions, wouldn't it be helpful to know of that record ahead of time in arranging for the support and additional attention that might benefit the player (not to mention other students and the community)?

Here is the full text of the earlier blog entry,

Hawkeyes' Criminal Record Lengthens
February 25, 2008The latest arrests of Hawkeye football players are a stark reminder that the football program's problems with the criminal records of its players doesn't show many signs of going away soon. Kathryn Fiegen, "Ferentz suspends Hawkeyes," Iowa City Press-Citizen, February 25, 2008, p. A1; Rachel Gallegos, "Hawkeye football players arrested on drug charges," Iowa City Press-Citizen, February 23, 2008.

Feb. 27: And see, Editorial, "Football Team's Legal Troubles Need to Stop," Iowa City Press-Citizen, February 27, 2008, p. A12; and John Gray, "Maybe we should change football chant," Iowa City Press-Citizen, February 27, 2008, p. A12 ("With the two recent additions to the long list of Hawkeye football players arrested, perhaps the football fans should change the 'Go Hawks!' chant to 'Make bail!'")

I've suggested in blog entries here before, but it bears repeating that in addition to whatever else the Athletic Department may be doing to improve its criminal record, it might give a little more attention to who it's recruiting.

And, No, I don't mean that a teenage athlete's single indiscretion should bar his or her entering our program. And I don't mean we should be probing in depth the private lives of potential recruits. And I understand that juvenile court records are not always available. And, Yes, I agree that living in a community like Iowa City, the added maturity of a couple of years, and a strong and positive relationship with the right coach can sometimes turn lives around.

But I do think it might be appropriate to make at least some greater effort to find out, before we bring them here, if those we are recruiting have already established patterns of anti-social and criminal behavior, and a disrespect for law, such that the data indicates the mathematical odds are it is likely to continue.

Shame on us, if a part of the reason they have become that way is because the adults in their lives have contributed to these young men's belief that skilled athletes are entitled to special treatment; a culture and law of their own; second, third, fourth and fifth chances; a wink and a nod from coaches, high school principals, and judges -- so long as they can contribute to winning teams.

That doesn't excuse college athletes' behavior, but it does require us to think about the extent to which it is we who have at least contributed to the creation of the problem we confront -- from Little League through professional sports -- including right here in Hawkeye land.

We -- the responsible adults in Iowa City -- can't solve it all by ourselves, but perhaps we could give a little closer look at who we're bringing to town.

Meanwhile, here's the Press-Citizen's list of the football team's record so far:

"Hawkeyes' Legal Troubles,"
Iowa City Press-Citizen,
February 25, 2008, p. A4.
A list of Hawkeye football players who have had legal trouble since 2007.

Ryan Bain, DL: The 19-year-old junior-to-be was charged with interference with official acts, public intoxication and disorderly conduct April 15, 2007. Bain transferred to Akron before the 2007 football season because he wanted to improve his chance of starting.

Anthony Bowman, WR: The 19-year-old sophomore was charged with unauthorized use of a credit card, a Class D felony, on Aug. 18, 2007. On Dec. 26, 2007, he pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of credit card fraud, an aggravated misdemeanor, and was granted deferred judgment. Bowman was suspended for the 2007 season, but he has rejoined the team and will have three years of eligibility remaining.

Dana Brown, RB: The 20-year-old sophomore was charged with domestic assault on Oct. 16, 2007. He was dismissed from the football team.

Dominique Douglas, WR: The 19-year-old sophomore was charged with unauthorized use of a credit card, a Class D felony, on Aug. 18, 2007. On Dec. 4, 2007, Douglas pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of credit card fraud, an aggravated misdemeanor, and was granted deferred judgment. He also was charged with stealing $30 worth of DVDs from Wal-Mart, which he pleaded guilty to in November 2007. The judge ordered Douglas to serve two years probation as well as pay $221.53 in restitution, a $625 civil penalty and other court costs. He was removed from the team. Douglas returned to his hometown of Detroit and is attending community college.

Ben Evans, WR: The 19-year-old red-shirt freshman was charged with drunken driving on July 30, 2007.

Tyler Gerstandt, TE: The 20-year-old walk-on football player was cited for underage possession of alcohol on May 18, 2007. The simple misdemeanor carried a $200 fine for a second offense. Gerstandt was cited for underage possession of alcohol in January 2006, according to Iowa online court records.

Clint Huntrods, long-snapper: The 22-year-old senior was charged with public urination, interference with official acts and public intoxication Sept. 6, 2007 after a police officer caught him urinating on a sidewalk. He was dismissed from the team. He issued a written guilty plea Oct. 24, 2007.

Bradley Fletcher, CB: The 21-year-old junior was charged with drunken driving on July 15, 2007. He was suspended for one game.

Arvell Nelson, QB: The 19-year-old red-shirt freshman was charged July 2, 2007, with driving with a suspended license and was scheduled to have his initial court appearance Aug. 16, 2007, but didn’t show. A warrant was issued that day for failure to appear, but Nelson turned himself in to authorities and posted a $545 cash bond Aug. 21, 2007. Nelson was arrested Saturday for possession of marijuana after police found the drug in plain view on top of the desk in his dorm room.

Ricky Stanzi, QB: The 20-year-old red-shirt freshman was charged with underage possession of alcohol on May 5, 2007.

Lance Tillison, S: The 20-year-old red-shirt freshman was arrested Sept. 15, 2007, for drunken driving. Tillison pleaded guilty to the charge in Jan. 4, 2008, in a plea deal. Under the arrangement, Tillison received a deferred judgment with unsupervised probation provided his participation in a substance abuse evaluation within 30 days, attendance of a weekend drunken driving program within 120 days and payment of $625 in fines and court costs. He was suspended for two games.

Ryan Donahue, P/PK: The 19-year-old red-shirt freshman was charged with underage possession of alcohol on Feb. 15, 2008.

Brandon Myers, TE: The 22-year-old junior was arrested Dec. 23, 2007, and was charged with public intoxication and interference with official acts after running from Coralville police. Court records show Myers pleaded guilty to the charges the same day he was arrested and was charged $350 for the two offenses.

James Cleveland, WR: The 19-year-old was arrested Saturday for two counts of unlawful possession of a prescription drug and a tax stamp violation after police allegedly found 21 doses of oxycodone and 24 doses of carisoprodol in his dorm room desk.

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* Why do I put this blog ID at the top of the entry, when you know full well what blog you're reading? Because there are a number of Internet sites that, for whatever reason, simply take the blog entries of others and reproduce them as their own without crediting the source. I don't mind the flattering attention, but would appreciate acknowledgment as the source -- even if I have to embed it myself.
-- Nicholas Johnson
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