Keith Williams Suspended Two Weeks, Will Miss Four Games

Kernal said:
I think a four game suspension is too much, but I don't think it makes much of a difference either way. He's a coach, not the school bus driver. The legal system will penalize him. In the meantime, I still have to drive on I-80/-480/-680 with all manner of (likely sober) aggressive a$$hole$ speeding, tailgating, cutting people off, texting, etc.,... probably some of the same people criticizing Williams' "irresponsibility."
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All those things should carry the same stigma as drunk driving, but there's not organizations like MADD working around the clock to demonize all that wreckless behavior.
The problem isn't that drunk driving is stigmatized, it's that those other things aren't.

That being said, 4 games isn't exactly an insignificant slap on the wrist.

 
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Lets hope this drama is done with. I'm ready for the season to start. We have weathered tougher issues with the program, took some hits and got through it. Lets hope the rest of the season go's smooth.

GBR!!!

 
84HuskerLaw said:
The courts and the legal system is designed and operates as the arbiter of criminal and other legal wrongs and the consequences thereof. I do not believe the employer is or even should be responsible for or empowered to pass sentence upon an employee for any personal actions of that said employee, when not on the job. We do not know, so far as I have read, if he was 'at work' or on his personal business at the time. If he was driving a University vehicle, etc, then he should be treated in accordance with the employment contract which governs all public employees, etc. No better and no worse. If he was Williams being Williams, private citizen, then the University has no rightful business imposing criminal punishments or fines or such on him. He is a free citizen and entitled to be one when not on the job. In my opinion, schools passing judgment on students and employers passing judgment on employees when not on the job is wrong.
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Non-sense. All of it.

 
The Dude said:
Kernal said:
I think a four game suspension is too much, but I don't think it makes much of a difference either way. He's a coach, not the school bus driver. The legal system will penalize him. In the meantime, I still have to drive on I-80/-480/-680 with all manner of (likely sober) aggressive a$$hole$ speeding, tailgating, cutting people off, texting, etc.,... probably some of the same people criticizing Williams' "irresponsibility."
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All those things should carry the same stigma as drunk driving, but there's not organizations like MADD working around the clock to demonize all that wreckless behavior.
The problem isn't that drunk driving is stigmatized, it's that those other things aren't.

That being said, 4 games isn't exactly an insignificant slap on the wrist.
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I agree driving drunk is irresponsible and dangerous, I just don't think it should be singled-out and demonized as some huge moral failing. If anything, driving recklessly while sober is worse... because when you're sober you should know better.

That anybody is still getting a third DUI sorta speaks to our failings as a society to adequately deal with the problem. The "stick" approach doesn't seem to be working very well for anybody, except attorneys cashing in on DUI defense.

huskered17 said:
Lets hope this drama is done with. I'm ready for the season to start. We have weathered tougher issues with the program, took some hits and got through it. Lets hope the rest of the season go's smooth.

GBR!!!
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Two more weeks. I can barely wait. My nephew's very first football game is today (5th grade), so I'll get a little appetizer for football season.

 
Landlord of Memorial Stadium said:
Honestly...this punishment is pathetic. I relaxed off of, "He should be let go no matter what", but he doesn't get paid for less than two weeks, then he gets to do everything he normally does except be on the sidelines during games.

He could have killed someone, and it's not the first time he's done it. There has to be weight to consequences towards something so serious. He's not an evil or bad guy, he might not even have a habitual or addiction problem, but he deserves more than such a slap on the wrist.
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I thought the time off with no pay was light too, until it was noted that that essentially is a $15,000 fine. Thinking of it in those terms it felt sufficient to me.

 
suh_fan93 said:
Yeah with the powers that be currently running things in Lincoln I can't say I'm surprised with the basic slap on the wrist they're giving Williams. Strange strange times in Lincoln these days so when it comes to this program nothing surprises me anymore.
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I really don't want to open up the entire can of worms again, but in terms of legal jurisprudence and the UNL athletic department, the times in Lincoln these days are not nearly as strange as the 1990s.

I understand the desire to blame administrators for everything, but once you get past Keith Williams 100% responsibility for himself, the decision basically cut down the middle of admonishing Williams and protecting the football program. It felt a bit light to me, and I have no trouble with outside media chiming in and wagging a finger, but as someone else pointed out it will soon be forgotten by all unless Williams gives reason otherwise. Or --- yikes --- a student athlete crosses the same line and we have to decide if the penalties should match.

 
http://www.espn.com/blog/ncfnation/post/_/id/128396/nebraska-sends-wrong-message-with-suspension-of-keith-williams

Nebraska sends wrong message with suspension of Keith Williams
Aug 19, 2016
Brian Bennett
ESPN Staff Writer

Nebraska wide receivers coach Keith Williams was arrested and charged with DUI last weekend, and it was revealed that Williams had two prior convictions for the same offense. On Friday, the school suspended him without pay until Aug. 31 and said he will not coach in the Cornhuskers' first four games.

The discipline is not strong enough. Not even close.

Williams has begun counseling and will participate in outreach efforts about the dangers of drunken driving, Nebraska coach Mike Riley said in a statement. Let's all hope Williams gets the help he needs. By all accounts, he's a popular coach among the players. But he also clearly has a problem.

And Nebraska fans should have a problem with the penalty he received.

Huskers athletic director Shawn Eichorst said in a statement Friday morning that the situation "cannot be overstated" and that "Keith's conduct was reckless and potentially fatal." Yet the school's decision to levy a two-week suspension without pay and ban Williams from the sideline for four games hardly seems to live up to Eichorst's words.

Riley said Williams "admitted his error in judgment." Driving while intoxicated -- on at least three occasions -- is more than just an error in judgment. It's a crime. Any time you do it, you're putting your life and the lives of others at risk.

Ask yourself this: If you got your third DUI, how do you think your employer would react?

Williams works on a college campus and is in charge of teaching and molding young men. Alcohol abuse and drunken driving are problems on campuses around this country. Educators and coaches have to be held to a higher standard because they are setting the examples. What message is Nebraska sending to its young people by slapping Williams on the wrist here?

I don't like calling for anyone to be fired, and Williams needs support and help. Nebraska could have suspended him for the season, or moved him into an administrative, noncoaching role while he undergoes counseling. Eichorst said he hopes Williams will take the opportunity "to teach our student-athletes, staff and greater community about making the right decisions." By saying what, exactly? That they might lose two weeks' pay and miss four games if they don't?

The reality here is that Williams is valuable to the program. He's the team's best recruiter, and recruiting trumps everything.

Nebraska fans will defend Williams and the school's decision because that's what fans do. They're already doing it on Twitter. I hope this third arrest will finally force Williams to understand he should never get behind the wheel of a car while inebriated. He's fortunate to keep his job.

But should he have?
 
He is entitled to his opinion (wrong as it may be) A couple of years ago he praised NU for not punishing Bo for his taped tirade against the fans and media of Nebraska. He wanted to produce clicks on both by taking the provocitive side of the issue.

 
Magnus said:
http://www.espn.com/blog/ncfnation/post/_/id/128396/nebraska-sends-wrong-message-with-suspension-of-keith-williams

Nebraska sends wrong message with suspension of Keith Williams

Aug 19, 2016

Brian Bennett

ESPN Staff Writer
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After Bennett posted this article I asked him:


He didn't respond, and you can see why. Irvin's history of drug use/abuse is pretty grim. Multiple accusations of sexual assault as well. While employed by ESPN, Irvin was suspended for two days after a misdemeanor arrest for speeding when officers found drug paraphernalia in his car.

None of this is to excuse Williams for what he did, or to claim NU's punishment is severe enough. But it's difficult to take a lecture from an organization like ESPN when they have shown they're far more lenient with their employees.

 
I think people should pretty easily recognize the difference between being a coach of college athletes and a tv commentator.

Then again, people seem to equate third DUI that resulted in an accident with a private conversation about fairweather fans that had already been dealt with by the AD at the time.

So obviously reason is trumped by fandom.

 
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cm husker said:
I think people should pretty easily recognize the difference between being a coach of college athletes and a tv commentator.

Then again, people seem to equate third DUI that resulted in an accident with a private conversation about fairweather fans that had already been dealt with by the AD at the time.

So obviously reason is trumped by fandom.
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That makes no sense.

 
SABER said:
He is entitled to his opinion (wrong as it may be) A couple of years ago he praised NU for not punishing Bo for his taped tirade against the fans and media of Nebraska. He wanted to produce clicks on both by taking the provocitive side of the issue.
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Lol, thanks for that piece of info. Tells me the guy is a fool.

 
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