I posted this in the Notre Dame Winter topic, only mention so that nobody who doesn't read that topic will think we Irish are ignoring this situation. First off Drunk driving is very bad, people get killed by drunk drivers. Tom and Cindy have seen way too much of this in their careers. So from me he gets no slack. I'm not really worrying about the football team. I hope this is a wake up call for him that he has an alcohol problem. While it is his 1st DUI he's had 2 other alcohol related offenses back home in Minn, I think both are MIP. As far as how ND will handle this, I believe it will be handled much more severe than most schools and I would not be surprised if he is expelled from the University and never play again for ND. The reason he may never play again is that I would not be shocked if he is readmitted for his Sr. year should he apply for readmission but suspended for his Sr. year on the field. If that ends up being the case then the only way he will suit up for ND again is if uses next season like a redshirt season and returns for his 5th year. I doubt that, since it was 50/50 that he would return for this upcoming season to start with in the first place. I guess it's possible the punishment will be less, and that he will play all or part of the 2011 season. But I'm not holding out any hope.
I apologize Terry, I didn't know you had posted it. If you want to delete this go ahead. Can he still apply for the NFL if Notre Dame takes that severe an action?
No need to apologize, it's just that we've all had our problems with players in the last year or so and I didn't want anybody to think that we ND fans were trying to bury this one. BTW. One of our players, Dan Wenger, was granted a 6th year but Kelly decided not to clear him to play due to a hist of medical problems. Wenger has asked for and received a release to transfer to Fla. If the Gators take him, he will be eligible to play next fall as he has graduated from ND already. He is a center and was highly regarded in HS, St. Thomas Aquinas in Fla. Odd twist no.
Did Kelly make this decision based on a concern for the player's well being? Sounds to me he is concerned for the young man.
That's the first I heard about Wenger wanting to transfer to Florida. I doubt it happens but I haven't heard about it on GatorCountry.
Well that was the first I heard about Wenger, however it is now on GatorCountry that Wenger wants to come to Florida. The feeling seems to be that he may not be cleared by the Doctors to play at Florida either but if he does play he will probably be a backup center. I don't know what I want to happen. Here's a couple of links. Wenger eyes transfer to Florida Wenger May Transfer To Florida
I assume that Dan still has hopes for playing in the NFL, and playing next season would give him a little better chance of catching on either as a late round draft choice or as a free agent. If the Irish won't clear him to play then he has to find another school and he already knows Verducci and Weis so no surprise he's looking at UF.