COLUMN: Guy: don’t be cruel
“I’m an Aggie, and I will be for life,” football star Tony Pennyman said two weeks ago to a Salt Lake Tribune reporter.
Well, not anymore.
Head football coach Brent Guy dismissed Pennyman after he was arrested on suspicion of domestic assault, a Class B misdemeamor. Initial reports indicate that Pennyman grabbed – but never hit – a woman described as his girlfriend. She had various injuries around her neck and arm, police said, though no medical attention was required. Both Pennyman and the woman deny any assault took place. Charges are still pending.
This is the same Pennyman who has been one of the few bright spot for the Aggies throughout the last several seasons. He was USU’s leading receiver on last year’s team and ranks 11th in receptions all-time at the university. In WAC games last year, he averaged 146 all-purpose yards per game. By comparison, the entire USU team has averaged just 189 yards of total offense during their first two games this season.
And now Coach Guy has dismissed him for good.
The coach called it standard procedure for such activity. You see, Pennyman is a repeat offender. Two years ago, Pennyman was arrested on another assault charge. He had also served a one-game suspension last season for undisclosed violations of team rules.
Anyone paying attention to the news these days knows that our football team loves trouble. Seven Aggies have had run-ins with the law during the last two months alone. Two more were dismissed from the team back in April.
My initial response is to give two thumbs up to Coach Guy. He’s cracking down on inappropriate behavior, and there is certainly a lot of it. He is consistent with his players. Even though Pennyman was one of the Aggies’ best players, Guy applied his same rules.
But is Coach Guy being a little too harsh with his rules, or perhaps a little too quick to judgment, especially in regards to Pennyman?
No one knows if the city attorney will prosecute his case. Both he and the woman denied any physical altercation took place. They admitted a verbal dispute had occurred, but nothing more.
I recognize that there is no room for sexual abuse anywhere in our society. Our “Red Zone” activities this week remind us of that. And athletes certainly don’t get a blank check.
But they do get a fair trial. They, like everyone else, should be considered innocent until proven guilty, even by their coach.
And if they are guilty, they deserve a fair punishment and eventually, a second chance.
One of my fondest college memories is seeing how USU students accepted former basketball player David Pak despite his past criminal record. Pak had previously served eight years in prison for forcible rape with a deadly weapon.
When Pak’s history was revealed in a Statesman article, I remember a letter to the editor submitted soon thereafter. It said:
“What about the woman that was raped? What are her needs? Maybe she could use a scholarship to play a game and professors who look the other way at just another jock trying to pass a class. What about her? Where is her second chance at life as a sexually abused woman?
“It seems that the message being sent is that it is OK to make choices that parentally (sic) hurt others if you can play a sport. Think about the trauma that he caused a woman when he held her at knifepoint and had his way with her. Anyone that has ever gone down that road should never be given a second chance” (Joe Kotynek, Feb. 4, 2005).
He brought up some good points. But students rallied around Pak. And I hope we would have rallied around his victim too, if she was here.
“I was totally aware that it would raise some eyebrows,” head coach Stew Morrill said at the time to a Statesman reporter. “I was also totally aware, having been raised in this state, that there’s a lot of talk about forgiveness and giving people second chances.”
Watching David Pak out on the basketball court made me proud to be an Aggie. Watching students support him both on and off the court made me even prouder.
Pennyman’s second chance might not come on USU’s football field. Penalties from Logan City could also be forthcoming. It is a harsh punishment, but if he’s guilty, a just one. But if he is deemed innocent, Coach Guy should reinstate him.
Either way, I hope his student peers give him a second chance.
Like all of us, he deserves it.
Jon Cox is a senior in journalism. Comments can be sent to jcox@cc.usu.edu.