4 LSU players facing arrest including JJ... possible suspension

[Conan]

Source: LSU's Jefferson, three teammates face battery charges

Saturday, 20 August 2011
By: SportsNOLA.com
Category: LSU News

Four LSU players including starting quarterback Jordan Jefferson will be taken in police custody Monday, according to a SportsNOLA.com source with the Baton Rouge Police Department.
Jefferson and numerous teammates were allegedly involved in a fight early Friday morning outside of Shady's, an off-campus bar. Four people were injured in the incident and are reportedly pondering legal action.
"Whatever legal proceedings that are ongoing we will cooperate with and see how that all figures," said LSU head coach Les Miles in a press conference earlier Saturday. "I know that (the police) are still gathering information and at the appropriate time we will take strong action."
The news comes two weeks before LSU, ranked 4th in the preseason coaches and AP polls, faces 3rd-ranked Oregon in the season opener at Cowboy Stadium in Arlington, TX.
Jefferson and redshirt offensive tackle Chris Davenport are expected to face second degree battery charges while sophomore linebacker Josh Johns and freshman wide receiver Jarvis Landry could be charged with simple battery.
(NOTE: Johns was mistakenly listed as junior DT Josh Downs in the intial report; we deeply regret the error).
Sgt. Don Stone, Baton Rouge Police Spokesman, insists that the player in question have only been asked to come in for questioning Monday morning. “They’ve been implicated and we need to talk to them and get their side of the story,” Stone told TigerSportsDigest.com beat writer Randy Rosetta Saturday evening. "We’re not going to arrest them at this time. We’re not ruling out that they won’t be arrested."
If found guilty of second degree battery, Jefferson and Davenport could face as serious a punishment as three to five years in prison and up to a $2,000 fine.
None players in this case have previous criminal records and are unlikely to face the most severe potential sentences if convicted. Johns and Landry would likely receive community service and probation if found guilty.
The arrests will likely lead to suspensions to the foursome. Jefferson has been the starting quarterback of the Tigers since late in his freshman season.

 

[MackDonald]

This this "stuff" ever end?

 

[rolltide]

guessing this isn't one of the guys who was taken to the hospital

http://rivals.yahoo.com/footballrecruiting/football/recruiting/player-Chris-Davenport-71459

why would you want to fight him? :smoking:

 

[stander]

Perhaps Phil Knight hired some surrogates to do a bit of agent provateur here... After seeing Chris Davenport's stats, I sure hope he paid them a lot...

 

[BigdaddyQH]

This is going to be one major mess for LSU. Fortunately, it appears that their defense will not take a hit.

 

[Conan]

guessing this isn't one of the guys who was taken to the hospital

http://rivals.yahoo.com/footballrecruiting/football/recruiting/player-Chris-Davenport-71459

why would you want to fight him? :smoking:

Great example of a big ugly. He can work for the Whale if he blows out a knee and can't play in the NFL. Since he's from Texas, I wonder if he knows Willie Lyles.

 

[russ1945]

Just wanted to report than I have a self-imposed curfew of 10:00 PM tonight. I am home and I am not going to sneak out and go to a bar looking for a fight. I also made it a point not drive 118 mph or smoke any marijuana today. It was tempting but I would never attempt it without having someone asleep in the back seat who was not smoking either. Self discipline is tough but even without a coach to answer to I found the self-restaint to not do anything stupid today, that is until I posted this. 11 days.

 

[doogieboy]

Now all four have "lawyered up" and are not going to meet with the police on Monday as originally scheduled. Not sure that is a good idea. Maybe not JJ but someone I feel is in some pretty serious do do concerning assault charges. Word is that the victim pulled from the truck was beaten worse than the "sustained minor injuries" reported. Things like 3 broken vertebras from being kicked and a very nasty swollen cheek bone.
True freshman WR Jarvis Landry was expecting to be the no. 2 or 3 starting WR.
Will be interesting to see what pans out this week.

 

[LSUpete]

You guys need to move along.....nothing to see here.

HERE is what happened and will be released.

A drunk patron whipped his car out of the parking lot of the bar and almost ran over a football player. The player hollered at him. The patron stopped his truck and got out to confront the player. At that time, he was hit by another player.Now, this is when it escalated to a group. A passenger got out and came around to stop the fight and break it up but as punches were being thrown, he was considered an opponent. Once he touched a player, he was thrown in. At this point 2 others joined in. There are arguments from their friends, WITNESSES are what they are being called, that say they tried to break it up but were jumped by a group of players. When fists are being thrown and you grab a guy from behind, if he turns and doesn't know you, you may be knocked out. That is what happened here. If you weren't on the team and grabbing guys, you were considered against us. That's how it works.There are people who will say JJ was not involved. There are some saying he was right in the middle. He says he saw the fight and got out of there. Gonna be hard to prove that.The police will have to uncover any relationship between witnesses and the victims. If they know them, it could be good for the players. If they don't, it could get interesting.Nobody was pulled from the truck. There are some serious injuries but all in all, don't get out and confront someone if you don't want to get into a fight or at least have that possibility.


Did it go too far. Sure. But when you have that many people pushing and shoving and throwing, it's amazing to me nobody got run over or killed. Both sides were at fault. It will be hard to arrest anybody over this.

 

[Conan]

Well FWIW, I wish I could do 2 a day's for 2 weeks and still have enough left in me to go out and kick some ass in a bar fight the same night.

 

[EatTheChalk]

I saw this posted on TigerDroppings:

I've talked about it in another thread, but I talked to the girlfriend of a starter on the team. She says he got a call at 11pm saying if the media approaches him to not comment. Also that JJ would be booked for 2nd degree battery but would plea down to simple, most likely. He is already suspended from 2 games, but Miles said it could be more. He was witnessed by several people stepping on the guys head. The fact that the guy is a marine has not even been an issue outside of a media report. Take it fwiw, I have no reason or history of being an attention whore, but this is basically from the team. He also said that some of the players have fessed up to seeing JJ do that

-etc

 

[EatTheChalk]

And then there's this little gem from the advocate:

Miles, surrounded by a group of team leaders Saturday, said he has already begun disciplining his players as a group over this incident by “running them.”

That's what everybody loves the SEC for.

-etc

 

[Albatross]

Mutt should be the starter in LSU anyways. Maybe this was all staged by Miles so it would let JJ down softly?

 

[GoSooners]

You guys need to move along.....nothing to see here.

HERE is what happened and will be released.

A drunk patron whipped his car out of the parking lot of the bar and almost ran over a football player. The player hollered at him. The patron stopped his truck and got out to confront the player. At that time, he was hit by another player.Now, this is when it escalated to a group. A passenger got out and came around to stop the fight and break it up but as punches were being thrown, he was considered an opponent. Once he touched a player, he was thrown in. At this point 2 others joined in. There are arguments from their friends, WITNESSES are what they are being called, that say they tried to break it up but were jumped by a group of players. When fists are being thrown and you grab a guy from behind, if he turns and doesn't know you, you may be knocked out. That is what happened here. If you weren't on the team and grabbing guys, you were considered against us. That's how it works.There are people who will say JJ was not involved. There are some saying he was right in the middle. He says he saw the fight and got out of there. Gonna be hard to prove that.The police will have to uncover any relationship between witnesses and the victims. If they know them, it could be good for the players. If they don't, it could get interesting.Nobody was pulled from the truck. There are some serious injuries but all in all, don't get out and confront someone if you don't want to get into a fight or at least have that possibility.


Did it go too far. Sure. But when you have that many people pushing and shoving and throwing, it's amazing to me nobody got run over or killed. Both sides were at fault. It will be hard to arrest anybody over this.

I think your missing the point. What was a 20 year old doing in a bar in the first place? I don't care who punched who or who started what. Last time I looked it was still illegal. Even if Jefferson was of age, what was a senior from a NC contender team doing in a bar until 1:30 in the morning.

 

[GoSooners]

Well FWIW, I wish I could do 2 a day's for 2 weeks and still have enough left in me to go out and kick some ass in a bar fight the same night.

If it was me, I would have him running stadium steps until he called me his Daddy. And then do the normal SEC protocol of having the 4th string waterboy say he started it, and take the fall for the team.

 

[groundhog11]

hopefully it gets pushed back so they all play against oregon.

 

[Albatross]

I think your missing the point. What was a 20 year old doing in a bar in the first place? I don't care who punched who or who started what. Last time I looked it was still illegal. Even if Jefferson was of age, what was a senior from a NC contender team doing in a bar until 1:30 in the morning.

Not trying to be an ass, but when was the last time you were on campus somewhere? More than half the kids in the bars are underage. I agree with you on the NC QB leadership stuff, but that is my more mature side coming out. When I step back and think about it, why wouldn't a 21 year old college student that happens to be the starting QB be out socializing and getting laid? These are still kids out having fun. As long as they stay out of trouble there is no problem with them hanging out in a bar or club. Tough for me to be critical there.

 

[rolltide]

don't get out and confront someone if you don't want to get into a fight or at least have that possibility.

ah, good ol LSU Pete resurfaces from under his rock

I guess to the Marine you'd tell him "don't try to help out a guy getting his ass kicked by a handful of football players unless you want to end up in the hospital with head injuries?"

god bless the bayou

 

[cloverleaf]

On Saturday, Les Miles apologized for the fight, which he said occurred after "the entire team checked in at Thursday's 10:30 p.m. curfew."

If these players had been at home like the rest of their teammates, how could this fight have ever happened.

Good try Pete.

 

[rolltide]

Not trying to be an ass, but when was the last time you were on campus somewhere? More than half the kids in the bars are underage. I agree with you on the NC QB leadership stuff, but that is my more mature side coming out. When I step back and think about it, why wouldn't a 21 year old college student that happens to be the starting QB be out socializing and getting laid? These are still kids out having fun. As long as they stay out of trouble there is no problem with them hanging out in a bar or club. Tough for me to be critical there.

i guess what sooners is saying is what is a 20 year old (he turns 21 this week btw) doing in a bar when it's illegal. but I'm with you, who the hell hasn't stepped foot in a bar before their 21st birthday? That to me is not an issue at all. it's the dude with multiple fractures and the marine with the head contusions, especially if applied by JJ himself