Is it time for Baylor football to suffer the Death Penalty?
By Jack Crosby
It might be time to levy the Death Penalty against the Baylor football program.
It was right around this time last year, the second half of the month of May, where the college football world received the news that it knew was eventually coming down the pipe. Amid a myriad of sexual assault accusations against players as well as other off-the-field discretions, the Baylor University administration made the conscious — and 100 percent correct — decision to relieve head football coach Art Briles of his duties. With the face of the Baylor program during these egregious times gone, one of the hopes for some was that a year from now we could all be talking about how a new administration was working vigorously to repair the reputation of one of the fastest-rising programs in the Big 12.
Yeah, well, that’s not even close to happening.
Sure, there’s a solid coaching administration in place with former Temple head coach Matt Rhule leading the charge, but not only are the transgressions of the Briles era continuing to come to light, they’re somehow getting worse.
Wednesday, it was revealed through a Title IX lawsuit which was filed that former Baylor players would use gang rapes as initiation for freshman members of the team. Tenured members of the team would have these youngsters bring female students to house parties, where they would be drugged and raped. According to the suit, this activity was considered “bonding” among the members of the Bears football team.
They allegedly called it “bonding,” I’m gonna go ahead and call it yet another revolting blemish on the Baylor program — a program that should probably be on its last legs at this point.
Given the latest accusations, of course the talk of a potential “Death Penalty” being levied against the Baylor football program has resurfaced. It’s lingered around since day one of all this, but after Wednesday’s reveal, it seemed to pop up more than it has in the past. Many of the immediate responses on Twitter that you see included the words, “Death Penalty.”
Many people live on the side of the Death Penalty really never being used again for the most part. While they entertain arguments of those opposed to that opinion, what it comes down to for those against brining the Death Penalty into play again is the closing shot that includes the fact that they’re not on board with punishing those who had nothing to do with the crimes; it’s just a logic that never made much sense.
However, slowly but surely, this entire, stomach-turning drama surrounding Baylor should be showing everyone that this doesn’t matter anymore. It’s no longer about what’s fair to the football program.
The fact of the matter is none of this is ever going to go away. Some Baylor fans probably did hold out hope that a complete overhaul of the coaching staff and administration would eventually move the black cloud away from Waco, Texas, but that’s just not going to happen — nor should it!
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Allegedly, innocent college students were disgustingly violated repeatedly by members of the Baylor football team, which is something that goes miles beyond whatever happens on the gridiron. A parent or guardian sends their beloved daughter off to college with lofty aspirations for the brightest of futures, and instead they’re left with scars that will probably never truly heal; scars that not only the victims have to live with, but their family and loved ones as well. So, where in the hell is the fairness in the Baylor football program just “moving on” while these victims more than likely will never get a chance to do the same? There is none — point blank, period.
The culture at Baylor University while the football program was under the direction of Briles was completely reprehensible beyond reproach. Sadly, we’re constantly reminded of this sad state of affairs, with the latest example hitting the world on Wednesday. No matter who comes in with the greatest of intentions to shed a positive light on the Bears’ program once again, that bulb will never burn again as long as football exists down in Waco.
Big 12 expansion is a subject that’s a running joke among us who work in the college football industry, but what’s far from a joke is the mess that Baylor University is at the moment.
The reality is that the Big 12 should not expand, but should contract by way of the NCAA coming in and announcing a punishment they haven’t since Feb. 25, 1987 on that rainy day in Dallas. While they’ve been reluctant to break the glass on the Death Penalty after seeing what it ultimately did to the SMU program, the hammer needs to be brought out to break that glass and the Baylor football program should be no more.
Ultimately, this isn’t a matter of the NCAA doing something to Baylor. The Bears program did it to themselves, and we unfortunately have all the evidence we need to point in that direction. The legal ramifications surrounding all of this will probably prevent the NCAA from going through with it, but if there were ever a time for it to be revisited, that time is now.