SB Nation - Jacques Rickerson

Florida State should dismiss troubled receiver Cameron Wade

FSUncensored — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 17:41:24 -0000

With a bench warrant issued for failing to appear in court, Cameron Wade has again put FSU in the spotlight. Now the Seminoles should return the favor and cut him. It has to happen and it makes sense. Florida State needs to send a message not only to their players, but also to the public. Cutting Cameron Wade is the smart move because Wade is a garbage football player. Wade was a three-star prospect out of Cairo, Georgia, a member of Jeff Bowden's final recruiting class. To say he was a lightly recruited throw in is an understatement. Wade is slow, uncoordinated, and lazy. His only redeeming quality as a player is his height (6'5"). Now he's putting FSU in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. With only three career catches, wade doesn't figure to contribute much in the coming seasons as FSU is pulling in talented kids who figure to be ahead of wade on the depth chart.

A source of ours says Wade was was taking an economics final during his missed court date. That doesn't matter. The facts are that through his laziness, he embarrassed the Seminoles for the second time in less than a year over something that he could have easily avoided. Wade's absence shows a lack of accountability that FSU shouldn't tolerate. He should have made prior arrangements to avoid this embarrassment. What other areas could Wade be slacking off in? Route running? Schoolwork? Film study? We know (the photos are out there if you look) that he has not been missing opportunities to drink and club it up with former (dismissed) FSU running back Brandon Paul.

College students don't have many responsibilities. A college student shouldn't be missing a court date. It should be important. Apparently, it wasn't. Wade should have been focused on getting in the court's good graces and instead chose to bury his head in the sand.

Further, his facebook status last night was troubling to say the least:

"Cam Gothellaswag Wade is ha ha ha ha wowwwwwwww the news is crazy….now im on the run ha ha ha im a criminall!!!! Wtf? Man im in strozier chillin studying for this 6th and final exam!"

[He did delete that status message this morning after someone directed him to remove it.] Wade's status shows that he doesn't care. It's all a joke to him. I think he will continue to embarrass our program without offering anything positive in return-- on the field or off. There are other troubling aspects of Wade's behavior that aren't pertinent to this discussion, but you get the point.

Remember that Wade stands accused of throwing the first punch in the 2008 student union brawl. FSU should have dismissed him back then.

I can live with really talented guys making mistakes. Fans of "amateur" athletics don't want to hear that, but double standards exist for a reason. We see them in every walk of life, including the next level of football. In the NFL, great players get away with a lot more misbehavior than practice squad players. I'm okay with our superstars running wild and a great program must be willing to look the other way when an elite player messes up, but to allow the scrubs of the team to conduct themselves in a manner showing that they are appreciative to have a scholarship and be part of the team is foolish and unwarranted. Wade does not deserve the same leeway afforded to a superstar.

Take Florida as an example. Did Urban Meyer kick Percy Harvin off the team for failing drug tests or assaulting teammates? Of course not. He did boot backup safety Jacques Rickerson after a domestic violence incident. Why? Harvin's positives outweighed his negatives and Rickerson's did not.

The double standard exists to maintain elite talent and to inspire others to reach that level. Wade seems to be on his third chance, and that's unnacceptable for a guy who likely wouldn't have been recruited by the new coaching regime. He has embarrassed FSU time and again. Recruiting him was a mistake, but allowing him to stay on the team and stealing a scholarship would be an even bigger mistake. FSU can offer his scholarship to a more talented and better behaved player. Dismissing Wade tells the Media that FSU is committed to dealing with the problem, and more importantly, it tells the players that they better be damn good if they want to act like a thug.

GO NOLES!!

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University of Florida Gator Football Players Jacques Rickerson and Ronnie Wilson arrested for beating and strangling women

FSUncensored — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 16:13:50 -0000

Urban Meyer only recruits the top 1% of the top 1%.

Gainesville Police arrested University of Florida football player Jacques Rickerson overnight on a charge of domestic battery by strangulation, battery, and obstruction of justice. The charge is a felony. An arrest report stated Rickerson was at the woman's home and became upset when he was told to leave. Police said he hit the woman on the side of her face and choked her around the throat. When she screamed for help, he pushed her neck further into the mattress of the bed and used a pillow to cover her face. After he let her go, the woman told police she tried to get out of the room but he blocked the door. He also took her cell phone when she said she was going to call police. If the prosecutor is aggressive, he could go after Rickerson for some domestic violence prevention law violations (laws that prevent you from blocking a victim so seek help from domestic abuse). This isn't the first legal trouble the backup cornerback has faced as a Gator. Back in February 2007, Rickerson was cited by University police for possession of marijuana.

via gximg.ny.publicus.com

More charges and mugshots inside...

Meanwhile, in an unrelated incident...

A sworn complaint was filed against offensive lineman Ronnie Wilson, charging him with one count of assault and one count of battery.

According to a Gainesville Police Department incident report, Wilson became involved in a “verbal altercation over a female at a birthday party,” which was at the Lexington Crossing apartments in Gainesville. Wilson is accused of hitting the victim with a closed fist while at the party.
Wilson then followed the victim outside and confronted him in a breezeway near the apartment where the incident began, the report says. Wilson tried to punch the same person again but instead hit a second woman as she tried to step in between them; she suffered a broken wrist. Wilson then tried to hit a third person who came to help the others.
Wilson was thrown off the team in 2007 for firing an assault rifle into the air during an altercation. This is Wilson's 3rd violation of the law that is likely to stick, and there have been other alleged crimes as well.

Hat Tip: Atlanta Journal Constitution as well.

You have to be insane to invite Ronnie Wilson to your birthday party.

via img236.imageshack.us

Yes, this is the same Ronnie Wilson who, in 2007,

spit on and slapped Francis Fuller at a nightclub early on the morning of April 5. Fuller then waited for Wilson to leave the club. According to the report, Fuller drove behind Wilson and called 911 to report the incident in the club. After Wilson realized he was being followed, he turned into a parking lot, stopped his car, got out and pulled an AK47 Assault Rifle from the trunk and proceeded to fire the gun to scare Francis, as Francis ducked behind his steering wheel. After firing off the rifle, Wilson made a mad dash into an apartment complex and stashed the evidence at his cousin's crib.

This is where the alleged "feel the fear" quote came from.

Gainesville police recommended Wilson be charged with a felony count of aggravated assault and a count of using a firearm in the commission of a felony. SA Bill Cervone instead charged Wilson with much less, opting for one count of battery and one count of discharging a firearm in public

Here is the 911 call from Wilson's target practice in 2007. You can hear the shots from the AK47 assault rifle.

Wilson's 2nd incident might be even more incredible:

In January 2008, a Gainesville police dog sniffed something in Wilson's car. An officer removed six grams of marijuana, but Wilson got lucky. The state attorney's office didn't notice Wilson was on probation, so he wasn't immediately thrown in jail. Then, an assistant state attorney dropped the possession charge!

To say that Gainesville players have received questionable treatment is well, an understatement.

Slow day here, but these aren't the stuff you want to say. I especially like how the gatorsports article tries to hide that Wilson was beating on women *allegedly*.

This is the Gators 4th arrest in 2008. In the interest of full disclosure, I will also note that the Noles had an arrest in 2008. The Gators, however, are far outpacing the Noles in the "charges" and "felony" categories.

Other 2008 Gator misbehavins...

Stealing and using the credit card of a dead teammate's dead girlfriend.
Underage Drinking
Open container
The weed thing mentioned above

The Fulmer cup measures misbehavior of college football teams. Link Here.

The Gators are currently 13th, while FSU sits at 31st, and Miami is not ranked.
The gators won't stay at 13th for long, however, as they will definitely vault up the rankings, possibly to # 1. The gators will receive 13 points for these latest arrests by my best guess: 4 (hitting girl + intensive care), 2 (simple battery), 2 (obstruction of justice), and for Wilson: +2 (assault) and + 2 (battery). They might also receive a bonus point +1.
The gators finished 3rd in 2007, while Miami and FSU did not even make the leader board.
UFelony finished 6th in 2006, while Miami finished 9th, and FSU did not make the leader board.
Factoring in even the most conservative of estimates, UF is now the ALL-TIME most misbehaved team in the Fullmer Cup!

As you can see, 1st?, 3rd, and 6th is some serious consistency.