This Has to Stop! And, It Has to Stop Yesterday!

Source:http://sportact.net

Yesterday, Florida State University dismissed De'Andre Johnson after his arrest in June after an altercation with a woman at a Tallahassee, Fla. nightclub. Note: I did not include allegedly in the previous sentence because the video below clearly shows Johnson delivering a stiff right to the woman he was arguing with.

There is absolutely no excuse for this. Yes, the woman was clearly aggressive and deserved to probably be removed from the club; but, by security not an ambulance! I don't care how many times she kicked him in the groin or uttered a racial slur! I'm not condoning her behavior at all, but knocking her out is not justified no matter the circumstance. At no point in time is there evidence that Johnson's life was in eminent danger at the hands of woman. Thus, I'm not sure how anyone could say that he was somehow defending himself or that "she deserved it."

I have a daughter and this world that we live in is scary enough to think about raising her in without having to account for instances like this where there are numerous other men around who do absolutely nothing. Has our society become so immune to this type of behavior that we just act as if nothing is going on? I know it's loud, but a woman gets punched and her blood goes flying across the bar and the patrons just continue with their evening?

That has become especially true with our athletes. For instance, Oklahoma Football's Joe Mixon is still a part of the program after nearly destroying a woman's face last spring. He was suspended for the entire season last year, but remained enrolled and eligible for financial aid. Would this have been the case for the humanities major? Ray Rice was floundering around with the benefit of doubt until the brutal elevator video surfaced of him knocking his wife out.

When a man hits a woman he has no business playing football, having a job or the benefit of a first class education! At least not right now. Everyone deserves a second chance, but one must pay for such an egregious act of violence. The whole entitled athlete and Jimbo Fisher's acceptance of any bum off the street who can play ball will be left for another day.

The real issue is that we allow this behavior to continue in all walks of life and it is not OK. It's time that we as a culture say "Enough is enough," and stop talking about it and do something. It starts at home with not forgetting to teach our young men to control the aggression that we instill in them at a young athletic age, how to respect women and how to act like a decent member of society. Now, the woman in the video shows the need to teach many of the same lessons to our young women.

Anyway, my incoherent rambling is over (ode to Billy Madison) is over and I shall move on to much more cohesive content later. Hopefully, as a message to the many young men heading into similar situations as Johnson, he stays CONQUERED and off the football for a few years.