Thread: Ogletree's arrest was for stealing a $35 motor scooter helmet.

Originally Posted by lklrlolnlilklsox

Theft ... of a freaking helmet three years ago when he was 18 years old. My friends and I stole enough stupid crap from kids we made fun of in my frosh dorm to open a thrift store.

He smokes herb in college, big flipping whoop. I still blow one at the sky every so often when the time strikes. A lot of these kids have failed tests for the exact same thing and we've heard players and insiders claiming at least half the league gets high. We heard a stat leaked just a couple years ago saying almost half the first round prospects had a history of marijuana use.

The DUI isn't just dumb, it was BEYOND retarded. There's really no excuse for that. I've had more than a few good friends and even a girlfriend get them and spend AZ's mandatory time in the clink for them. I wouldn't call any of them reprehensible people beyond hope of reprieve or maturation -- just fucking idiotic kids who both failed and were failed by someone who thought it okay to let them drive. I would grill the crap out of him if I were interviewing him. About why he couldn't get a cab when he knows he's getting a ton of guaranteed money right around the corner. I would ask him who failed him, what he thinks of having those people in his life and what he plans to do to make it right.

Call me an excuse-maker, I call the lot of you unrealistic prudes. It's not like this guy is my best friend or that I even want to draft him at 20 (though I would if the top OL are gone and we couldn't trade down), I just think you saints need a wake up call to the reality of college life and the mistakes kids make. His record between the lines and in the locker room is very highly thought of, and I trust these evaluators (who know more about the dirty side of the game than we can dream up) to be rational and realistic about his activities to decide his value.

This has nothing to do with being a "prude." If he wants to get high..then have at it. I dont really care about his petty theft, and yes he is beyond retarded for attempting to drive after he was out drinking.

The NFL is a job, and he is a prospective employee. Lets say you are an employer and you have to interview people for a job at your company. If one comes in and says "Yeah, i get high, ive been charged with petty theft and last week i had a DUI," then how likely are you to hire that individual? And now imagine the job has millions of dollars in salary at stake. If the NFL wants to look past transgressions of college players, then thats their business, but dont sit there and tell me that i, as a fan, have to sit here and just suck it up and not voice my opinion on kids like this. Perhaps he goes on to have a trouble-free career and is an exemplary NFL player...if so, then great for him. But that doesnt mean right NOW i cant say that character issues with some candidates are just that...issues, that shouldnt be ignored just because he can play ball. In the end, when is it enough to question a player's character? How many "mistakes" are they allowed to make before you would be concerned? Obviously 3 wont cut it, so how about 4? 5? 10? What difference does it make? After the first one, you would think a player would have learned his lesson, not get caught with a DUI 2 friggin weeks before the damned combine.

I think someone mention this on this board before but this guy is a perfect draft pick for the Lions. Like we got Marshall and Cutler as BFF's, Suh and Ogletrees could become BFF's aswell.

Originally Posted by Jimmors

Or if i was a SAINT, could i throw stones then? Perhaps if the Saints had thrown a few stones, they wouldnt have been in that lil bounty scandal thing. (And WTF does this have to do with anything I posted? My post wasn't about the NOLA Saints. Don't be deflecting and trying to avoid the point I made. Have you never done a dirty deed in your entire lily white life? Because if you're that perfect then I guess you're entitled to your just criticism but if you're not then you're just another hypocrite who's pointing fingers the other way)

My point is, i grow tired of these College athletes getting into trouble and still getting a chance to make millions of dollars. (Well here's your real prejudice coming out isn't it. What difference does it make who he is and what he does in his life or how much he makes. If in your world it's crime it's a crime and it shouldn't make any difference who commits it right? The rich man or the poor man should all be the same so whether he's the product of the ghetto or the NCAA should make no difference but here you choose to make a distinction. On top of that you toss him in the same basket with others who have done far worse. Sounds more to me like you're bitter and jealous of their opportunities than anything else. Well start hitting the workout room until you can run a 4.6 forty and if you're 6'2 and 240lbs maybe you can make millions too. Is this is all just prejudice against his opportunities or is it about his so called "crimes"?)

But even more tired of everyone making excuses for them like its no big deal. Sure, one time could be a mistake, but this kid has 3 incidents already...theft, positive drug test and now a DUI. (It wasn't an excuse it was simply looking at the facts and putting them in the proper perspective which you seem reluctant to do. Does the fact that this kid has had some petty scrapes equate with Ray Lewis' involvement in a murder or the NT in Dallas who just killed his best friend driving drunk or Rae Carruth having his pregnant girl friend murdered? Don't you think we should examine the severity of these offenses before we pass judgement? Or do we just consider them all the same?

A petty misdemeanor theft at age 18, a positive drug test probably for weed at age 20 or 21? Hell if we stopped drafting every college kid who ever took a toke off a joint we better start drafting elementary school kids because most HS players would't pass a drug screening and half the elementary school kids wouldn't either either. And now he stands accused of a DUI, let me emphasize that word ACCUSED. Shoot Jimmors you've already convicted him judge and jury because you assume he's guilty or he'd never been arrested to begin with right? Nobody ever gets wrongfully accused right? I'm here to tell you from personal experience that they do. Even if all of it's true it doesn't make him a bad human being or a bad football player and we need good football players especially one who plays LB.

So should we be cautious? Hell yes we should be but that's what Phil Emery and his scouting staff are paid to do and I'm gonna let them judge his character vs his football skills and I'm gonna let the courts of Maricopa County Arizona judge him and find his guilt or innocence of a DUI and punish him accordingly if he's guilty because that's what that judge is paid to do. That's the way it works as far as I can see. You on the other hand seem to want to trash him because you think he shouldn't be able to use his talents to get rich in the NFL because he's been a bad boy. OK....then what Gulag should we send him to commissar?)

And i wasnt "interpreting" anything, i was making an observation based on the post you made: you were making excuses for his actions:

No....You called it an excuse so that is your interpretation of it. I was clarifying that in this case "theft" amounted to a case of petty larceny and the kid turned himself in on the warrant. Not exactly grand larceny which is also "theft". I just think when a headline screams out that he's was guilty of "theft" it might also be more fair to clarify when that happened and the nature of the crime. So in this case this 18 years old kid kiped a $35 dollar (retail value but probably far less used) helmet from another kid. Jesus lock him up and throw away the key or chop his hands off like they do in some Muslim regimes. I didn't say it wasn't wrong I simply said it wasn't like he went on a major crime spree.

My neighbor stole my squirt gun and broke it when we were about five so what should we do about that. Should we brand all thieves for life with a scarlet letter or brand them with a hot iron? There is a point when you gotta let the little things go and look at the big picture. I'm not granting him special privileges because he's an athlete I'm forgiving him for being human and fucking up a couple of times like humans do. One petty theft, an NCAA or U or Georgia violation (not even a crime) and a serious traffic offense that's still just a misdemeanor and will get knocked down in exchange for a plea. That's it. I don't see any real pattern here I see some fuck ups that are pretty typical of guys his age whether they're NCAA athletes or my neighbors kid.

Are you always as tough on yourself for your own mistakes as you're being about these?

Originally Posted by soulman

No....You called it an excuse so that is your interpretation of it. I was clarifying that in this case "theft" amounted to a case of petty larceny and the kid turned himself in on the warrant. Not exactly grand larceny which is also "theft". I just think when a headline screams out that he's was guilty of "theft" it might also be more fair to clarify when that happened and the nature of the crime. So in this case this 18 years old kid kiped a $35 dollar (retail value but probably far less used) helmet from another kid. Jesus lock him up and throw away the key or chop his hands off like they do in some Muslim regimes. I didn't say it wasn't wrong I simply said it wasn't like he went on a major crime spree.

My neighbor stole my squirt gun and broke it when we were about five so what should we do about that. Should we brand all thieves for life with a scarlet letter or brand them with a hot iron? There is a point when you gotta let the little things go and look at the big picture. I'm not granting him special privileges because he's an athlete I'm forgiving him for being human and fucking up a couple of times like humans do. One petty theft, an NCAA or U or Georgia violation (not even a crime) and a serious traffic offense that's still just a misdemeanor and will get knocked down in exchange for a plea. That's it. I don't see any real pattern here I see some fuck ups that are pretty typical of guys his age whether they're NCAA athletes or my neighbors kid.

Are you always as tough on yourself for your own mistakes as you're being about these?

I dont care if he stole a friggin pencil, its simply one incident in a series of incidents that indicate a character flaw at worst, poor judgement at best. And its something that SHOULD be discussed, and not simply dismissed or excused like you did. Yeah, ive made mistakes in my life, and i owned up to them. But i also grew the fuck up and dont let my mistakes threaten my career or future. I am required to take random drug tests as part of my job, you think if i failed one from smoking weed, my employer is gonna say "hey, thats ok, we all make mistakes?" Fuck no...my ass is getting fired, and i dont even make millions of dollars.

Originally Posted by Riczaj01

Here's my problem w/the 18yr I did stupid stuff to thought process....none of us were going to be worth millions in a potential draft for a sport. I highly doubt any of us were costing ourselves millions while we were in college for any potential job we were in college for.

This asshat is doing this shit playing for a major college program that could benefit his family beyond his and their wildest dreams and he cannot keep his nose clean for 2-3 years? That is f'n stupid and pointless.

And by the way, I never stole shit in college, or got high. I did drink and drive, but it was very irregular that is was more then a block or 2 from where i was going(home or to a friends house), so the likelyhood of a cop pulling me over was GREATLY diminished. It's not required that 18yr olds do stupid immature shit in college, it's not a right of adulthood to get smashed/high or become a theif nor is it required to graduate.

There is a common sense missing in the athletes that do these things b/c it could be a potential deal breaker. That DUI alone, he gets into an accident and gets seriously hurt or kills someone else and there is no 1st round draft for him, potentially no NLF.

If the Bears were deeper in the first I'd be more apt for them to take him, but at 20, they'd have to be high.

I agree.

And it's not like we have to take the risk here & spend our #1 pick on this guy. Let's not pull a "Jerry Angelo" and risk throwing away our #1 pick. We wasted say too many of these precious picks over the years and it's hurt our team.

Emery is too smart to risk throwing away our #1 draft pick this year on a known risk - criminal arrest for theft, drugs, a recent DUI - we don't HAVE to get this guy. It's like we now see this guy as the only good option. That's not even CLOSE to being accurate. We will have a number of GREAT options at #20 - great options that do not involve known risks like this.

Emery won't do this. He's too smart to do it.

Originally Posted by Jimmors

This has nothing to do with being a "prude." If he wants to get high..then have at it. I dont really care about his petty theft, and yes he is beyond retarded for attempting to drive after he was out drinking.

The NFL is a job, and he is a prospective employee. Lets say you are an employer and you have to interview people for a job at your company. If one comes in and says "Yeah, i get high, ive been charged with petty theft and last week i had a DUI," then how likely are you to hire that individual? And now imagine the job has millions of dollars in salary at stake. If the NFL wants to look past transgressions of college players, then thats their business, but dont sit there and tell me that i, as a fan, have to sit here and just suck it up and not voice my opinion on kids like this. Perhaps he goes on to have a trouble-free career and is an exemplary NFL player...if so, then great for him. But that doesnt mean right NOW i cant say that character issues with some candidates are just that...issues, that shouldnt be ignored just because he can play ball. In the end, when is it enough to question a player's character? How many "mistakes" are they allowed to make before you would be concerned? Obviously 3 wont cut it, so how about 4? 5? 10? What difference does it make? After the first one, you would think a player would have learned his lesson, not get caught with a DUI 2 friggin weeks before the damned combine.

Once you get the fact that this isn't a job and these aren't normal people going in for 9-to-5 interviews, the better off you'll be. These are professional athletes paid millions to play a kids game. This is a sport that has seen a man run over a guy while drunk in the morning, kill him, pay off the family, spend 30 days in jail and return to his job in the league a year later. It's a league where bar fights involving players are regular news, and tales debauchery are simply an every day thing. This isn't a cubicle job, these are guys who know that they will be lucky to live to make it to 50 without a physical or mental disability or two, and the bulk of them live the high life because of that fact (it's no wonder why 78% of them are broke three years out of the league). Accept it and move on.

Plain and simple, you are gigantically naive if you think this kids problems rival half the dirt coaches, GM and insiders see first-hand every single season. The theft shouldn't even be brought up, it was three years ago and really a nothing "crime." About the pot, it is an epidemic in college and the pros -- it is a fact of life with the NFL, more of these kids have tried it than not and an absolute ton of them show up to the Combine having to answer questions about it.

Like I said, the one gigantic black mark is that DUI, but this "three time trouble-maker" stuff is nonsense. The DUI needs answering and it does show a severe lack of common sense and downright stupidity.

Originally Posted by Zelezo Vlk

Theft of a scooter helmet three years ago? Something to laugh about now. No need to break down how this impacts our evaluation of his character, because nobody that's going to get drafted is without some blemish. It was petty, in addition to being several years ago.

Failing a drug test at the combine? Slightly worrisome, especially because he had already been suspended for four games because of failed drug tests at the beginning of the season. Quite frankly, it's none of my business to tell anyone whether or not they smoke or drink if they keep to themselves. Personally, I abstain from drugs, but I have plenty of friends and associates who do. Anyone saying that we should ignore it because all college kids are unthoughtful are just plain wrong. If you don't posses the foresight to realize that you shouldn't partake in any drugs (regardless of what it is) before you are going to be tested, then you probably have a problem up in your noggin. That being said, most likely it's the herb, so it isn't as big of a deal as if it were coke or something bad. Does anybody have confirmation of what drug he tested positive for? Maybe it's even Adderall and he has a prescription, although that seems unlikely. Bottom line: anybody should be careful with the decisions you make, especially if they will impact your future. I don't see how anyone car argue that it impacts his stock with at least some time in some minute way. How hard is it to live clean for a few weeks/months?

Getting a DUI weeks before the combine? C'mon man. Really, that's just inexcusable. Report -- Alec Ogletree, former Georgia Bulldogs linebacker, arrested for DUI - ESPN It certainly doesn't sound like he's contesting the charges and he's smart not to do so. Getting a DUI is a big no-no now. It's becoming less and less acceptable by the day, because people are sick and tired of others endangering the lives of others. I don't care if it was to just drive the car one block to his house. It can wait. No excuse for this, really. Say whatever you want; I know that I'm not perfect, but I also know that I have not and will not make this mistake and I cannot imagine what goes through some of these kids' heads when they know that they will soon be put under the lights and all of their flaws will be magnified.

Is he a talented player? Sure. He's not anywhere near a Patrick Willis prospect and he's not even as highly rated as last year's MLB Kuechly. There is no need for any team picking high, nor the Bears, to use a high draft pick on somebody with his combination of talent and questions. That is what second round picks are for: first round guys who have question marks. Then again, I'm not a GM (too bad, I'd like the money). If some team wants to spend a high first round pick on this guy, go ahead, but it doesn't appear prudent at all. Character matters. His actions also display his level of common sense. If he's there later? Sure, I won't have a problem with the Bears picking him up, but I don't like the idea of spending that #20 pick on this guy, especially when we have greater needs.

Just my two cents.

This ^^^

I'm probably a bit over sensitive to the DUI thing due to the recent wreck where Josh Brent killed another Dallas Cowboy player drunk driving. I know that Josh is a good guy, not a bum, but he's had problems like Ogeltree in college. He had been in trouble at the U of Illinois - just like Ogeltree did at Georgia (Josh had a 2009 DUI, and in fact was driving without a license the night he killed his teammate).

Josh played football for the same school my son played, so I watched him play every game in H.S. (including his basketball games.....he was a beast 300 pound power forward). He was known as a really good guy. But he made choices - bad choices - just like Ogletree.

Josh killed his best friend and is facing a heavy-duty vehicular manslaughter charge. He's going to get convicted. He will spend a LONG LONG time in prison for this latest offense.

He'll never play football again for anyone.

That's why I'm hesitant to see the Bears risk their 1st round draft pick on a guy who has multiple issues over the past few years, including just prior to the NFL Combine. It's not the stealing from the Georgia track and field player that is a "big deal" in and of itself. It's not that it's "only a $35 helmet. It's the pattern here.

Everyone deserves a 2nd chance in life. Maybe, in this case a 4th chance. But that doesn't mean we have to give him our 1st round draft pick either. Gotta be smart with it. Don't pull a Jerry Angelo here and blow yet another of our precious 1st round draft picks.

LINK to the article

Report: Josh Brent was driving 110-134 mph before fatal crash

By Larry Hartstein | CBSSports.com
February 20, 2013 3:30 pm ET

Police documents show Cowboys nose tackle Josh Brent was driving at least 110 mph and could have been driving 134 mph at some points before he lost control of his Mercedes in the accident that killed teammate Jerry Brown, according to NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth.
The station obtained documents stating three different surveillance cameras captured the car. Police earlier said Brown's blood-alcohol level was .189, more than twice Texas' legal limit of .08.
The station reported Brent and some teammates went to Eddie V's restaurant and Beamers Nightclub, and that surveillance video shows Brent leaving the club about 2 a.m.
Brent, who had a DUI arrest in 2009, was speeding on State Highway 114 in Irving, Texas, when he hit a curb, police said. His four-door Mercedes S600 flipped at least once and slid down the road on its roof, police said. The crash killed Brown, 25, who was in the passenger seat.
Prosecutors charged Brent with intoxication manslaughter.

The Cowboys nose tackle had been behind the wheel of a Mercedes in Irving in December when he lost control, hit a curb, and flipped the car. The wreck killed his long-time friend and Cowboys teammate.

..................................

Brent remained silent as he walked in and out of the Crowley Courthouse, where he spent about an hour meeting with his attorney. Brent needed to show up to prove he hasn’t skipped out of town, or on his $500,000 bond, and that he will face the felony charge for the deadly crash.


Brent looked very serious, as is the punishment he’s facing includes up to 20 years in prison if convicted.


The Cowboys nose tackle had been behind the wheel of a Mercedes in Irving in December when he lost control, hit a curb, and flipped the car. The wreck killed his long-time friend and Cowboys teammate.


Investigators said Brent's blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit.