Wide receiver Josh Jarboe was dismissed from the football team by coach Bob Stoops after a video of him rapping about guns and shooting people appeared on YouTube.
"We are disappointed in this outcome, but our complete review and this final decision is in the best interest of our program," Stoops said in a statement. "We outlined for Josh the expectations we had for him when he arrived and, unfortunately, those expectations have not been met. Josh needs to learn from this experience."
Let's stop right there....
Before anyone goes rushing into judgement on whether Stoops deserves kudos for dismissing this "distraction" from the team, let's get a little deeper in this issue.
Before signing with the Sooners, Josh had been arrested for bringing a stolen gun to his Georgia high school campus. He eventually pleaded guilty on two felony gun counts that a judge reduced to misdemeanors under Georgia's First Offender's Act, allowing Jarboe to initially keep his scholarship under OU policy.
*Pause*
Josh was ranked the 10th best receiver in the class of 2008 and ranked No. 69 overall by Rivals.com. He was widely considered one of the premier prospects in the Sooners recruiting class, which was ranked No. 6 by Rivals.
*Pause*
So, Stoops knew previously about the gun rap and still signed the kid. Jarboe was allowed to keep his scholarship after felony gun charges were lowered to misdemeanors. He was even promised a jersey number and a shot to start immediately.
So now the prize recruit makes a rap about what's heard all the time in "mainstream-rap" music and is booted off the team.
This is a strange turn from the coach who said, "Kick a guy off the team for what? We're starting to talk about everything kids say and do. Now we're in people's homes, in their private spaces."
This is a big joke. I honestly can say that if Stoops would have come out and said, "We as a University and a football team could not stand by the actions of a freshman who has not contributed to the program. I mean, c'mon this isn't Adrian Peterson we're talking about here. It's not even Dusty Dvoracek." I really could have handled that better than the outright PR mess that he spit out.
My biggest problem is that Josh didn't direct the freestyle at anyone, and there is no direct threat involved. Was it a very stupid thing to say, yes. However, the kid took no further action that would lead you to believe it was serious. The fact of the matter is that it was simply a horrible freestyle that he never should have done in the first place. To me, that alone isn't enough to kick someone off the team.
It's the typical double standard that unfortunately most schools use when dealing with discipline.
So, to sum up the Oklahoma reasoning, carrying a gun is okay, but rapping about it gets you kicked off the team...
