Mississippi State Football Should be Ashamed

Dec 30, 2015; Charlotte, NC, USA; The Mississippi State Bulldogs flag is waved in the endzone after a score in the second quarter against the North Carolina State Wolfpack in the 2015 Belk Bowl at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 30, 2015; Charlotte, NC, USA; The Mississippi State Bulldogs flag is waved in the endzone after a score in the second quarter against the North Carolina State Wolfpack in the 2015 Belk Bowl at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mississippi State football, and all involved with it, should be ashamed of what happened with Jeffrey Simmons.

The staff here at Southbound and Down has not hidden the fact that most of us firmly believe Mississippi State should disassociate themselves with 5-star defensive end signee Jeffrey Simmons.  Ben Richardson (@benrich86) was the first here to say there was no way Simmons should be allowed to play for the Mississippi State football team when he published this article.  It appears Mississippi State football does not agree, however.

It was announced earlier today that Jeffrey Simmons would be allowed to enroll and play Mississippi State football.  This may have been predictable after Mississippi State football coach Dan Mullen downplayed the incident earlier this year, claiming he and his staff needed more time to evaluate the few seconds of footage.  

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We’ve linked the video before and I felt weird about it then.  A simple google search will do the trick for you.  If you haven’t seen the video and decide to, though, you will know the following to be true:  Mississippi State football committed a disgusting act today.  By allowing Simmons to enroll, they are sending the message they believe that it is ok for elite athletes to beat women.

“But wait!” some say.  “Simmons is being punished!”

Let me first say that I do not believe in discarding young people from one mistake.  This is much too vile, though, to be considered a lapse in judgement and forgiven.  I’m not versed well enough in law to say what his punishment should be.  I do know, however, Mississippi State football sends a very sad message by allowing him to enroll, however.  But back to the claim he is being punished.

No, he’s really not.  And those associated with Mississippi State football are lying for him.  Simmons will be suspended for the season opener and required to attend counseling according to hailstate.com.  The Mississippi State football site did not stop there, though, as they made the following claim:

“Simmons is awaiting final resolution on misdemeanor charges where, in an effort to break up a domestic fight between his sister and another adult woman, he used physical force against one of those involved in the altercation.”

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At this point, I can only encourage you to go look up the video.  It is indeed linked in Ben’s article, linked earlier in this post.  I can’t bring myself to attach it yet again.  But if you haven’t seen it, don’t buy the message being sent above.  In short, Simmons punched a woman in the face multipole times who was already on the ground.  There is no defense for that.  Mississippi State football, you’ve left us all feeling sick.