http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080725/SPORTS04/807250393

Rodriguez also said that junior running back Kevin Grady, who was arrested for drunk driving this month, is suspended from the team. He said Grady is on a week-by-week basis as to when he may return, and will then face playing time penalties when he gets back.

Thanks a ton for the update.  I was wondering what the status was now regarding this issue. 

I'm glad he didn't just get a little slap on the wrist.  Although, he probably should have been kicked off of the team; this is probably the next best punishment.

if you get a DUI, do you get fired from your job?  do you get kicked out of school?.......then why should he get kicked off the team?  He made a mistake, and he's getting punished.  His livelyhood shouldn't be taken away........IMO

 

Wolverine316


if you get a DUI, do you get fired from your job?  do you get kicked out of school?.......then why should he get kicked off the team?  He made a mistake, and he's getting punished.  His livelyhood shouldn't be taken away........IMO

I may regret this but:

yes, there are plenty of jobs and plenty of schools that you get kicked out of from an alcohol related offense.

But please do explain: how is Kevin Grady, getting free college tuition and room and board, how is this his  livelihood?  Are you suggesting that our student athletes are paid in violation of every NCAA regulation out there?  Does being convicted of a criminal offense give one a right to free education and room and board and the cooperation of a school so that he may parlay playing a game into a multi million dollar contract with a professional team?

I fail to see the civil rights issues you seem so concerned with.

 I think the punishment handed down seems to be fair. He's lucky he didn't kill himself or worse kill somebody else. But I also believe in second chances. Everybody should have a chance to redeem themselves. Hopefully this is lesson to everybody on the team. Keep your nose clean and stay away from trouble. It's to bad because I thought he could've been a faster Owen Schmitt in this offense.

westchamp

Wolverine316


if you get a DUI, do you get fired from your job?  do you get kicked out of school?.......then why should he get kicked off the team?  He made a mistake, and he's getting punished.  His livelyhood shouldn't be taken away........IMO

I may regret this but:

yes, there are plenty of jobs and plenty of schools that you get kicked out of from an alcohol related offense.

But please do explain: how is Kevin Grady, getting free college tuition and room and board, how is this his  livelihood?  Are you suggesting that our student athletes are paid in violation of every NCAA regulation out there?  Does being convicted of a criminal offense give one a right to free education and room and board and the cooperation of a school so that he may parlay playing a game into a multi million dollar contract with a professional team?

I fail to see the civil rights issues you seem so concerned with.

Once again, we're assuming a lot here.  All we know is that he isn't practicing with the team but does have a chance to get back on the team.  We don't know anything else so let's not act like we do.

westchamp

Wolverine316


if you get a DUI, do you get fired from your job?  do you get kicked out of school?.......then why should he get kicked off the team?  He made a mistake, and he's getting punished.  His livelyhood shouldn't be taken away........IMO

I may regret this but:

yes, there are plenty of jobs and plenty of schools that you get kicked out of from an alcohol related offense.

But please do explain: how is Kevin Grady, getting free college tuition and room and board, how is this his  livelihood?  Are you suggesting that our student athletes are paid in violation of every NCAA regulation out there?  Does being convicted of a criminal offense give one a right to free education and room and board and the cooperation of a school so that he may parlay playing a game into a multi million dollar contract with a professional team?

I fail to see the civil rights issues you seem so concerned with.

Totally agree Champ.  Yes, if you get a DUI you lose your license which then means you can't get to work which then means you can lose your job.  I'm also not sure what "livelyhood" means.  He gets a free top-notch education no matter what and as far as 2nd chances, he already got his.  He's still alive and didn't kill anyone else-the ultimate 2nd chance.  The Michigan FOOTBALL Program owes him exactly nothing.  I would have dumped him and believe me, I'm not a hard a$$ about this stuff by any means.  But this was waaay over the top and not something we need.  But, that's just me.  I guess what he got is the next best thing so I'm not getting too upset about it-I just would have handled it differently.

"I have marked down losses for Wisconsin, Michigan State, Penn State, and Ohio State. And then there could be others such as Illinois".-BigHouseFootball March 08

I was really interested to see how RichRod would handle this. I think he did a decent job. I don't know what would be considered a "fair" disciplinary action. Would everyone here say suspension is fair if it was a player from OSU?

Also, I went to a D-II university but we had a girl kicked off our softball team for doing the exact same thing. I thought that was a bit extreme then and still do. I could see if it happened during the season. But our coach said that NCAA has rules against drinking. I thought those rules only applied during term or if the team was practicing. IDK though...

ame1316


I was really interested to see how RichRod would handle this. I think he did a decent job. I don't know what would be considered a "fair" disciplinary action. Would everyone here say suspension is fair if it was a player from OSU?

Remember when Alex Boone (OSU OT) got a DUI?  I beleive the vest gave him the usual slap on the wrist and suspended him for ONE SERIES in their opening game. 

http://www.cantonrep.com/printable.php?ID=281577

 

I have to admit, I'm torn on this issue.  On one hand, Grady hasn't been a perpetual trouble maker.  Adrian Arrington seemed to find trouble a lot more frequently than Grady has.  I'm not going look down on Rich Rodriguez if he chooses to give Grady a 2nd chance.  But if I were Rodriguez, Grady would be on the shortest leash imaginable.  If he even thought about doing something wrong, he would be gone!

The part I struggle with in this whole situation is how far over the limit Grady was.  He was over 3 times the legal limit!  As TK stated, maybe Grady's 2nd chance was the fact that he didn't kill an innocent person or even himself.  I would have totally understood, given the circumstances of how high over the limit Grady was, that Rodriguez would have given him the boot.

All in all, I think we have to remember that Michigan football is like a family despite what some whiny overweight offensive linemen say.  Would you kick your own son or daughter out to the curb if they messed up like Grady did?  I know I wouldn't.  I would make sure they got all the help and support they needed to get them back on the right track. 

Giving Grady the boot may have sent a strong message to the team, but at what cost to Kevin Grady?  I think suspending him and making him earn his way back on the team will also send a message that Rodriguez cares about his young men even when they screw up.  He'll give you a 2nd chance, but you'd better not screw up again or you will be gone.

And Ytown also brought up a good point regarding Alex Boone.  Not only was he nearly twice the legal limit, but he was not even of age to be drinking in the first place.  And he didn't even miss a game!?  I think Rodriguez's handling of this has been more than adequate so far compared to the master of discipline down in C'bus...

All in all, I think we have to remember that Michigan football is like a family despite what some whiny overweight offensive linemen say.  Would you kick your own son or daughter out to the curb if they messed up like Grady did?  I know I wouldn't.  I would make sure they got all the help and support they needed to get them back on the right track. 

Giving Grady the boot may have sent a strong message to the team, but at what cost to Kevin Grady?  I think suspending him and making him earn his way back on the team will also send a message that Rodriguez cares about his young men even when they screw up.  He'll give you a 2nd chance, but you'd better not screw up again or you will be gone.

Very good point. Agreed 100%!

The Michigan football team is like family is a dreadful analogy, a really bad one.

I did not recruit my children, they don't have to meet certain expectations or get cut from the family, etc etc etc and I don;t have to buy a $60 @ seat ticket + other $$$$ to see them 7 times a year for a few hours in an afternoon.

His second chance is he did not kill anyone,

His second chance is that no one here has said away his scholarship.

His second chance is his pro career is all in front of him.

His second chance is that he is alive, because he was getting close to the fatal limit.

A .27 is more than 3 times the legal limit.  You don't want to kick him to the curb?  What does that mean?  Have we shot him?  Let him keep his scholarship.  Let him use university resources for all the counseling, therapy, and substance abuse education he needs. 

But he should not be representing Michigan.

No one has what Rodriguez is doing is too lenient - we'll see.  But I don't understand the crying for Grady either.  He has a been a favorite player for my family from western Michigan.  

No matter what, he's coming out of this better than my kids would be had it happened to them because they aren't a starters at Michigan.

Two years ago I was at a party in between the hill st/state street area and Kevin showed up with a bottle of liquor in his hand lol. I don't know him but it's probably nothing new, it's just that he was caught. The "harsher than normal" punishment is a gift for the team because I get the vibe that he just doesn't have the motivation to be at the top of his game. Just the feeling that I get.

All i've been hearing all off-season about kevin grady this summer is that he completely embraced the RR way and has been workin at 120%. So i really dont see where you are getting that vibe from?

westchamp


The Michigan football team is like family is a dreadful analogy, a really bad one.

I did not recruit my children, they don't have to meet certain expectations or get cut from the family, etc etc etc and I don;t have to buy a $60 @ seat ticket + other $$$$ to see them 7 times a year for a few hours in an afternoon.

His second chance is he did not kill anyone,

His second chance is that no one here has said away his scholarship.

His second chance is his pro career is all in front of him.

His second chance is that he is alive, because he was getting close to the fatal limit.

A .27 is more than 3 times the legal limit.  You don't want to kick him to the curb?  What does that mean?  Have we shot him?  Let him keep his scholarship.  Let him use university resources for all the counseling, therapy, and substance abuse education he needs. 

But he should not be representing Michigan.

No one has what Rodriguez is doing is too lenient - we'll see.  But I don't understand the crying for Grady either.  He has a been a favorite player for my family from western Michigan.  

No matter what, he's coming out of this better than my kids would be had it happened to them because they aren't a starters at Michigan.

Thankfully, Coach Rodriguez doesn't appear to share in your rather harsh opinions:

Coach Rodriguez
Rodriguez said he hopes all his players learnfrom the suspension of junior running back Kevin Grady, who wasarrested this month for drunken driving.

"I think certainly Kevin has, at least that's my hope," Rodriguez said."I heard somebody say I should just kick him off the team and make anexample of him. If a guy is a bad guy or has gotten in trouble a coupletimes, yeah, you do that. If you can teach a lesson off of it and helearns a lesson from it, you can turn it into a positive."

Rodriguez said he is rooting for Grady.

"Kevin's a good guy that made a bad mistake and he's paying a price for it."

KG is practicing..

RR on KG:"He's still suspended as far as actual games, but he's practicing," Rodriguez said after Monday's workout. "He's done enough to earn his status back on the team, but he's not done enough yet to warrant playing time. There'll be some playing suspension, but that's yet to be determined."

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3519448

Pleads guilty
http://blog.mlive.com/grpress/2008/08/um_running_back_kevin_grady_pl.html

westchamp


The Michigan football team is like family is a dreadful analogy, a really bad one.

I did not recruit my children, they don't have to meet certain expectations or get cut from the family, etc etc etc and I don;t have to buy a $60 @ seat ticket + other $$$$ to see them 7 times a year for a few hours in an afternoon.

His second chance is he did not kill anyone,

His second chance is that no one here has said away his scholarship.

His second chance is his pro career is all in front of him.

His second chance is that he is alive, because he was getting close to the fatal limit.

A .27 is more than 3 times the legal limit.  You don't want to kick him to the curb?  What does that mean?  Have we shot him?  Let him keep his scholarship.  Let him use university resources for all the counseling, therapy, and substance abuse education he needs. 

But he should not be representing Michigan.

No one has what Rodriguez is doing is too lenient - we'll see.  But I don't understand the crying for Grady either.  He has a been a favorite player for my family from western Michigan.  

No matter what, he's coming out of this better than my kids would be had it happened to them because they aren't a starters at Michigan.

Ummm...Earth to westchamp....

This is football. Not some chess club, or church choir. If you had it your way this team would have 10 players left and none of them would be able to win a ballgame. These guys are COLLEGE STUDENTS. As unfortunate and shameful as it may be - what Kevin Grady did is common among Americans, and especially young kids.
He got a scholarship for being a great athlete, not for being an upstanding citizen. Welcome to 2008. It may take some getting used to, but observe sports for a few weeks, and you'll get the hang of it.

No matter what, he's coming out of this better than my kids would behad it happened to them because they aren't a starters at Michigan.

If your son skipped school one day, would it be on ESPN?

If your son got in a food fight during lunch, would it be on CNNSI?

Kids get into trouble ALL THE TIME, I'm not condoning any of it, BUT frankly, nobody cares if your son is a choir boy or a terror in school b/c he's NOT playing for Michigan.  He probably gets away with more than any football player at Michigan could EVER get away with.  High school and college kids that are non-athletes probably get away with more crap than anyone else b/c they are non-athletes and not in the spotlight.

My wife's dumbass 18 year old cousin got busted for smoking weed in Iowa last summer.  I might have been busy that day with work, but I don't remember seeing anything about it on the 11 o'clock news.

The details have come out on the night of Grady's arrest

http://www.mlive.com/sports/grpress/index.ssf?/base/sports-6/121886732221470.xml&coll=6

The officer also wrote that Grady was off-balance and unable to recite the alphabet, with Thompson quoting Grady as saying "O, R, S, J, L, P." Thompson said he asked for a number between 12 and 14, and Grady answered "15." And when asked whether Mickey Mouse is a dog or a cat, he answered "dog."