Floyd Reinstated

[IrishLax]

Darryl Stonum (I think that's the WR) has something like 2 DUIs both worse than Floyd and a pot charge.. and is going to miss no time.

USC has had a litany of players step out of line and get no punishment. Marc Tyler did worse than Prince Shembo... and no one batted an eye... not until he starts talking about how he's getting paid LOL.

And ND shows tolerance for one individual... and we're the amoral one. Hahaha. I love it. Bring on the hate.

 

[BeauBenken]

Blind hate against us?

Are we all back in high school?

And we all knew he would be reinstated. It's true though that some crazy crap has gone down in Kelly's one season here. For goodness sake, let's hope there none of those shenanigans again this year.

 

[tankjeep]

Darryl Stonum (I think that's the WR) has something like 2 DUIs both worse than Floyd and a pot charge.. and is going to miss no time.

USC has had a litany of players step out of line and get no punishment. Marc Tyler did worse than Prince Shembo... and no one batted an eye... not until he starts talking about how he's getting paid LOL.

And ND shows tolerance for one individual... and we're the amoral one. Hahaha. I love it. Bring on the hate.

not only that, think of what mike had to do to get to this point. granted, i'm glad bk went about it the way he did, but mike had to go above and beyond the scope of what most college football players do to get in the good graces of a school.

anyone passing judgment on that is plain stupid.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

 

[koonja]

Haters are really laying into BK on the espn article. It really pisses me off. Literally half of the facts they state are inaccurate, but I'm not going to battle haternation, lol.

 

[Ultimate Penn St. Hater]

I'm proud of Michael Floyd. I hope he keeps up the great work. it can't be an easy thing to go through and he manned up. Hopefully he can put this behind him and continue toward getting his degree and terrorizing opposing defenses.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

I fully expect the mouth-breathers who post on ESPN to hate on us for this, but I'm bothered when so-called Irish fans express embarrassment over Floyd's reinstatement.

A bunch of tweets to that effect just crossed my feed. #smh

 

[Irish Fam]

i love the hate. they wouldnt hate on us if we were irrelevant like some people claim we are.

 

[jfjkd01]

shhhh u can almost hear the weaping from the USF secondary!!!

Here is what I found on a USF message board:

Our Defense will show him PUNISHMENT !

Yeah OK, he'll toast that Defense........Michael Floyd will have a good game against USF....

Michael Floyd Reinstated

 

[Veer option]

What a joke, he is suspended from March until August? Did he even miss the spring game? Absolute garbage, but I would expect nothing less from Coach Kelly.

Rule # 76. Drink to your heart's content and go on a joy ride. It doesnt matter if its your 3rd offense, you'll still play!

 

[GoldenIsThyFame]

Here is what I found on a USF message board:

Our Defense will show him PUNISHMENT !

Yeah OK, he'll toast that Defense........Michael Floyd will have a good game against USF....

Michael Floyd Reinstated

USF has a message board?

 

[nlroma1o]

Just tried to read the comments on ESPN strictly for entertainment, but the screen updates every 2 seconds and the comments shift down while im reading. Its so f in annoying.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Here's a snippet from Eric Hansen's article on Floyd's reinstatement:

Notre Dame’s Office of Residence Life, the school’s disciplinary arm, had long been criticized for its heavy-handedness and lack of flexibility with its punishments and unwillingness to make coaches part of the disciplinary process when the offense involved ND’s student athletes.

A regime change in Res Life in the spring of 2010 was hardly a subtle one. The handling of Irish tight end Mike Ragone’s arrest in May of that year on marijuana possession charges was the first hint that the school was taking what some consider a more-enlightened approach. Floyd’s case reinforced that notion that Res Life was evolving.

But is a change for the better? Some feel Floyd is the test case for that answer.

Floyd had to meet a long list of conditions, most of which Kelly plans to keep private, to gain reinstatement. A preliminary step occurred in early June, when Kelly allowed Floyd to rejoin his teammates for voluntary summer workouts.

But Kelly also let Floyd know there was essentially a zero-tolerance policy in effect. Any back sliding, and Floyd would be off the team for good.

“In my experience, slapping somebody on the wrist is not a great deterrent,” Kelly said when asked why he decided against suspending Floyd for a specific number of games. “This was about Michael changing his life. One game here or there wasn’t going to do it.

“This was about him making a decision. And once he decided to change the way he handled himself and learned form his mistakes, I think we made the right decision as it related to Michael Floyd.

 

[ohara831]

Floyd met the conditions laid out before him. I am happy to see him back. And I am pulling for him to have truly learned his leason.

 

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

He earned it. No question that the haters are scared. Wouldn't you be? Top 5 receiver in the country.

He still needs to stay outta trouble though. No messing up now, Floyd.

 

[Rhode Irish]

Honestly, I feel strange quoting myself, but I reiterate what I think is the key point to all of this:

TI think Kelly handled the situation perfectly. He made Mike earn his way back onto the team through his actions. Announcing 4 months ago that Michael would miss the USF game and then proceeding as if nothing happened may have been seen as "real" punishment to the idiots on wearesc and mgoblog, but it would have been doing a disservice to the young man and letting him off easy. That would have been a one day punishment rather than a four month lesson.

The fans of other teams were going to complain about whatever ND did here, regardless of the facts or the reasoning involved. This is obvious because of the fact that they are still bring up the Declan Sullivan tragedy and attaching it to Coach Kelly, which is as absurd now as it was then (and probably more so because of everything we have learned in the interim).

People are going to say what they want. I feel proud as a college football fan knowing that my team represents all that is right and good about the sport. The idea that ND can compete while upholding their own virtues and values and living up to a standard that is unique among their adversaries bothers the hell out of opposing fans. I dismiss all of the vitriol directed at ND over this situation and the unfortunate circumstances that occurred during last season as nothing more than petty jealousy and I won't dignify it by responding on an opposing message board or in an ESPN comment section.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

georgedohrmann (SI senior writer) via Twitter:

Thoughts on ND reinstating Floyd: 1) Right move ethically. Res Life had been draconian. 2) Represents shift at ND, so critics not wrong.

 

[ryno 24]

So happy for Floyd Kelly and the entire ND family

 

[Dizzyphil]

wearesc and mgoblog

Usually the loudest dogs are the guiltiest..... USCUM both have NEVER been guilty of doing anything remotely shadey ..... ever.....


Diz

 

[BabyIrish]

Congrats to Floyd on completing the steps he needed to for the past 4 months. I hope and pray that he will continue in those same footsteps the rest of his life.
Forget the haters, don't give them any of our time or energy. No amount of truth will change their attitudes.

 

[Riddickulous]

I slept in and BOOM

 

[JeremyND07]

Just got a bad feeling in my stomach about this one guys. It is not his first run in with the law and he is missing no games. I am glad he is back because of how much better of a football team we will be but I believe since it is his 3rd offense he should sit a few games.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Just got a bad feeling in my stomach about this one guys. It is not his first run in with the law and he is missing no games. I am glad he is back because of how much better of a football team we will be but I believe since it is his 3rd offense he should sit a few games.

What purpose would that serve?

To quote Kelly:

“In my experience, slapping somebody on the wrist is not a great deterrent,” Kelly said when asked why he decided against suspending Floyd for a specific number of games. “This was about Michael changing his life. One game here or there wasn’t going to do it.

 

[JeremyND07]

It is a deterrent for anyone else in the program. Also, it is like a timeout for a kid while at the park watching all of his friends have fun. If this was a scum or usc receiver we would be talking about the integrity of their program. I am from Ohio and had to eat a lot of crow today with OSU fans because this is not typical slap on the wrist behavior after (3) offenses by ND. To me Notre Dame feels just like everyone else today! Just an opinion….

 

[NeuteredDoomer]

... I dismiss all of the vitriol directed at ND over this situation and the unfortunate circumstances that occurred during last season as nothing more than petty jealousy and I won't dignify it by responding on an opposing message board or in an ESPN comment section.

BAM. Beat me to it.

Why bother taking your time to look up responses from other schools?

 

[Rocket89]

I am from Ohio and had to eat a lot of crow today with OSU fans because this is not typical slap on the wrist behavior after (3) offenses by ND. To me Notre Dame feels just like everyone else today! Just an opinion….

I bolded the important parts of your statement. Notre Dame should never do or not do something based on how their poor fans are going to be treated by their enemies.

Who cares what everyone else thinks or does. Kelly obviously made Floyd make changes to his life and put his future on the line.

Those same people who make you eat crow were going to do it no matter what happened to Floyd. At least, Kelly and ND are trying to do something positive with No. 3.

 

[Rhode Irish]

It is a deterrent for anyone else in the program. Also, it is like a timeout for a kid while at the park watching all of his friends have fun. If this was a scum or usc receiver we would be talking about the integrity of their program. I am from Ohio and had to eat a lot of crow today with OSU fans because this is not typical slap on the wrist behavior after (3) offenses by ND. To me Notre Dame feels just like everyone else today! Just an opinion….

This was the last four months of his life. Like I said earlier, if they decided back in March to sit him a game or two and moved on, it would not have been nearly as effective in helping Michael as making him earn his way back over an extended period of time. It may have soothed the haters, but it would not have served any other purpose.

 

[military_irish]

It is a deterrent for anyone else in the program. Also, it is like a timeout for a kid while at the park watching all of his friends have fun. If this was a scum or usc receiver we would be talking about the integrity of their program. I am from Ohio and had to eat a lot of crow today with OSU fans because this is not typical slap on the wrist behavior after (3) offenses by ND. To me Notre Dame feels just like everyone else today! Just an opinion….

He kind of did that already. He stayed out of all spring football activities.

If he would have got a DUI during the season he would be out the whole season, it was the fact he got it right after the season. So he had to stay away from team activities for that much longer. Just because us as fans do not see his punishment by not seeing him in a game. Does not mean he was not punished.

 

[JeremyND07]

ND blinders...got it! moving on! Just my opinion!

 

[Whiskeyjack]

It is a deterrent for anyone else in the program. Also, it is like a timeout for a kid while at the park watching all of his friends have fun. If this was a scum or usc receiver we would be talking about the integrity of their program. I am from Ohio and had to eat a lot of crow today with OSU fans because this is not typical slap on the wrist behavior after (3) offenses by ND. To me Notre Dame feels just like everyone else today! Just an opinion….

I bolded the important part. Most fans who express sentiments like yours are really just frustrated because they feel like they can't lord ND's moral superiority over the fans of other schools anymore.

As others have mentioned, those OSU fans would have thrown this in your face regardless of what happened to Floyd. Even if he'd been summarily expelled, they'd point out how Irish players are no angels either, etc. Haters gonna hate. We simply cannot let such people dictate how we discipline our players.

The University is finally doing what's in the best interests of its athletes instead of sacrificing them on the altar of PR. Good riddance to yet another stain of Malloy.