Culture vs. College Football: A Dark Day for Cam Robinson and Alabama
By Joseph Gelis
"“According to the police report, an officer approached their vehicle at a park that was closed and “detected the strong odor of marijuana.” The report alleges that a bag of marijuana and a handgun were in plain sight and a stolen handgun was found under the passenger seat. – Alex Scarborough, ESPN Staff Writer"
Offensive left tackle Cam Robinson, and his hometown buddy, safety Laurence “Hootie” Jones, upset the Alabama Crimson Tide applecart on Tuesday with news emanating out of Monroe, LA. What has folks in Tuscaloosa upset, and likely has Coach Nick Saban missing a couple of handfuls of hair today, is that both were arrested in Monroe on drug and weapons charges this past Tuesday. This isn’t your run of the mill, off-season mischief that many athletes run into. These are serious charges. Felony serious!
In all honesty, it is Robinson who has many in T-town now wringing their hands. Although Jones is a talent, Robinson is the rock-solid cornerstone on an otherwise young and inexperienced offensive line as the Tide prepare to enter the 2016 Fall campaign. In fact, he is the left anchor that was being called upon to keep Bama’s heir to the QB position upright and healthy.
As much influence as Saban is able to wield throughout the college football world, there is very little he can do within the legal realm,
especially in non-friendly Louisiana. Of course, when all is said and done in the Ouachita Parish justice system, Saban will then be faced with issuing his edict in the disciplining of his All-SEC lineman. What, and how severe, that ruling will be is on the minds of many as this saga moves forward.
What has happened at Alabama is most certainly a nationwide problem, where no program is exempt, big or small, prominent or obscure. And it is not just a football issue. Basketball and baseball at the college ranks are just as susceptible. It is just that football is dealing with so many more athletes, that it simply becomes a numbers game with regard to the odds of these unfortunate events popping up.
More from SEC Football
- SEC Football: Rattler, Cook, Mertz Rise in Week 4 QB Power Rankings
- 2023 Week 4 AP Poll Top 25: Every SEC team’s highest, lowest spot on ballot
- SEC Football: Florida, LSU rise in Week 4 2023 power rankings
- 4 SEC football picks to hammer and one to avoid in Week 3
- After down Week 2, Week 3 provides another opportunity for SEC football
This all brings us to the “culture” issue. Today’s societal norms have come to include, over the past couple of decades, a certain illusion of being “cool”, “hip”, “tough” or whatever term is used now, for those who embrace certain elements of the so-called “gangsta” lifestyle. I am not saying this was the case with Robinson or Jones, but, drugs and stolen guns are not something anyone who is trying to portray an image of responsibility is likely to be associated with.
Many of todays athletes, talented as they may be, come out of situations where this form of life is all they may have known, possibly from the time of early childhood. It is widespread and pervasive across all walks of life, regardless of race and economic status. It is drummed at them daily through music, movies, television and at public settings with their peers. In essence, it is all that some of them ever knew. It is in their DNA. It is what they identify with, as is seen today with a certain former Aggie quarterback.
Live Feed
Black and Teal
For those top athletes coming up through the high school ranks, opportunity comes calling one day. At that point for some of them, a hard decision must be made, and most importantly, there must be a commitment to that decision. Those particular athletes must decide between the seductive and self-destructive life of the past or the chance at a better life for the future through responsibility and accountability. As these two lifestyles are diametrically opposed, it goes without saying that there is great difficulty in managing both, and an ugly crash usually soon follows.
For the coaches, there simply is no formula out there that will spare any of them from having to deal with issues such as this at some point. There likely is no one, maybe a select few, who saw this coming from Cam Robinson. That makes it all the more perplexing and frustrating. From an outsider’s perspective, he seemed to have focus and a sense of “making the right decisions” with regard to moving his career forward and in the right direction. Obviously, there is an element within this talented giant of a man that escaped many.
Coach Saban has been down this road before, and is likely thinking about what it will eventually take to get through to these players who have the propensity to fall. He has hammered home the “make the right decisions” message repeatedly. Yet, in the end, there are still some who fail to absorb it and heed the warning. Even some of those who are promised by their talent a significant NFL fortune in the near future, provided they simply keep it on the straight-and-narrow, yet some still succumb to the outside pressures of their private lives giving way the head-scratching disbelief of fans and coaches alike!
In the end it always comes down to the same things; people, places and things. If one could manage to just get those three elements straightened out and prioritized in their life, a much better future usually awaits.
Next: 9 Reasons SEC Baseball is Set to Dominate Road to Omaha 2016