“Everybody has jumped to conclusions that Mike Floyd is going to play football," Kelly told the media. "Mike has so many things on his plate that he has to handle before he can even think about football. Academics, and personally, he’s got a lot of things in front of him that he has to go through before we even start thinking about football.”
It's the third time Floyd has been in trouble with alcohol and the third time he's had a run-in with the law because of it. Though the perennial "three strikes" might come into the conversation, it doesn't seem to have mattered to the school as a whole. Would Notre Dame expel a normal student after three alcohol related arrests? Especially for under age drinking?
We can't answer the question and we shouldn't put words in the mouths of the university. But if anyone thinks Kelly isn't going to be the next to cave and allow Floyd to return to the team prior to the start to the 2011 season, I'll say naive is the right word to describe such a thought.
The Irish need their leading wide receiver and Kelly knows it. He'll stay strong until he absolutely has to but Floyd will be allowed to return to the team. Maybe not now and maybe not next month, when September rolls around either the head coach or the school's athletic director himself will release a statement reinstating their start wide receiver to the team.
In a statement released by Floyd after the decision to allow him to return to school, it seems Floyd already believes he has a chance to return to the team. “I’m grateful that I still have a chance to earn my degree from Notre Dame and be a member of the football team."
I'm not going to say Floyd hasn't learned from his mistakes, though I might have said that two times ago. After three run-ins with the law I would hope there would be more than just a lesson to be learned from his experiences.
Some might argue college kids drink. Some might say college kids drink a lot. But not all college kids represent a nationally known football program and they're not a recognizable face and name with said football program. There is more expected from Floyd than, in my opinion, any other student at the school save for maybe the Dayne Crist, Notre Dame's quarterback.
If he keeps his nose clean and is able to stay out of trouble, than Kelly will have a decision to make as to whether Floyd has done enough to be able to return to the team. Make no mistake, there will be some, myself included, who already know that day is coming regardless of how tough the head coach wants to talk.
We have a long way to go before the start of the 2011 season and the start wide receiver has a lot to prove to himself, to his head coach, his team, but more importantly the university itself.
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Who didn't drink in College, be honest. Floyd is human, but also under a microscope at ND. Get it together Floyd, get that Degree for Mom and don't miss the boat like so many over privledged, over entitled and talented kids do these days. You are ND, act like it.
ReplyDeleteYou're right on. While college is a time where a lot of students do a lot of drinking, the normal student isn't looked at the way Floyd is looked at.
ReplyDeleteWhen he puts on the Notre Dame uniform and helmet, he's in the national crosshairs