Zac Crews…

[rivercat]

The process is coming along. A lot of what you’re taking about has come and gone. My hunch is that it will probably work out for Crews.

I think you nailed it. He's a part time student at MSU so he doesn't burn any eligibility. He'll be on campus and will probably be around the football program. It will be Zac's responsibility to get to know the players, have discussions, and prove that his repulsive post doesn't define who he is. It's all on him.

If he is accepted by the players, my bet is he will have to walk on at first to later earn a scholarship. It will be an organic process that won't be forced. Zac will have to earn everything he gets.

This is how people earn second chances. It will go one of two ways and the final outcome is largely up to Zac. This could be a great story of redemption or a sad tale of a squandered second chance.

I am certain that this has been discussed from the presidents office down. I absolutely trust the leadership of our University.

Relax everybody and give Zac his shot at a second chance.

[GoldstoneCat]

Phat Cat, I think you have made the best point in all of this. Must be a lot of sinless people out there who can throw these stones at a young man who used an "improper" word when he was a 17-year-old. I agree. Let's get the social media opened up from all of these holier-than-thou types - whether it be former or current Griz players, journalism students from that wreck of a mess to the west, or anyone else who wants to cast stones - even here on the Nation or in Bobcat athletics. Are they willing to show everything they have shared with friends, as a teenager or as an adult, they thought was out of the public realm? I don't know the Cruz family, but I have raised 4 children to adulthood. I can't imagine what that family has been put thru due to the use of one word by a 17-year-old, not even yet an adult, in a communication to a friend. One word over the short course of the kid's 17 years of life. There is a reason we, as a society and in law, distinguish between adolescence and adulthood and that expectations and laws differ when addressing actions of a minor vs. an adult. There is no basis for believing Mr. Cruz is a racist. This whole situation and the ongoing treatment of Mr. Cruz is shameful. To let this turn into what it has become is a travesty and is lunacy. Time to accept that Mr. Cruz has paid more than a just price for that one little word he used as an adolescent and has learned mightily from it. Accept his apology fully and move on. Let the young man play.

While I believe Crews deserves a second chance, your post seems to indicate that he apologized so it is time to move on. I don’t agree with that. The n word and the context with a gun was a dumb mistake made by a 17 year old, but that word is so derogatory to a whole race that a simple apology is not sufficient. It is a word that categorized a whole race as not human. To just say “let’s move on” is not being fair to black members of the team. As I stated earlier, give him a chance to prove what type of person he is.

I guess my thought would be this: why should we, Montana state university, our football team and the ecosystem around it, be the ones to give this kid his second chance? I've said dumb things, done dumb things, regrettable things, and depending who you ask I've mostly turned out fine. But is this kid worth the potential disruption of culture and team chemistry? Is he that good? It feels like the primary motivation behind it would be to get one over on UM, and i think that's a dumb reason. I'll happily support the kid and be glad to be proven wrong but it just smacks of "take that, Bobby" and the risk of it blowing up is not zero.

It is BECAUSE of the culture is why you give him the chance. If this was able to destroy the culture, then the culture really isn’t strong. A strong culture doesn’t avoid issues, it deals with them in a good way. You have an opportunity to strengthen the culture, not weaken it. This is a situation where you can have supreme confidence that this is a mistake that won’t be repeated. This is a situation where people that are against bringing him in are more worried about optics than reality. This reality is Zac is a good kid that will highly likely been good friends with his teammates of all different skin tones. And from all I gathered, odds are Zac will have a much more mature grasp of all of this than just about anyone. He lived it. He was forced to grow up quick, which isn’t a bad thing.

Fair, excellent point. I guess it's a bit like willie mack Garza, you take the risk if/because you believe in your program. I still wouldn't, because of the optics you mention and how quickly it could blow up either in the locker room, in recruiting, or both, but i concede thatv your point about culture is a good one. I don't see crews as a victim or a sympathetic figure in any of this, but he should also have another opportunity. The cost/ benefit isn't strong enough for me on this one but i won't hate it if he plays for us either.

[Cataholic]

Phat Cat, I think you have made the best point in all of this. Must be a lot of sinless people out there who can throw these stones at a young man who used an "improper" word when he was a 17-year-old. I agree. Let's get the social media opened up from all of these holier-than-thou types - whether it be former or current Griz players, journalism students from that wreck of a mess to the west, or anyone else who wants to cast stones - even here on the Nation or in Bobcat athletics. Are they willing to show everything they have shared with friends, as a teenager or as an adult, they thought was out of the public realm? I don't know the Cruz family, but I have raised 4 children to adulthood. I can't imagine what that family has been put thru due to the use of one word by a 17-year-old, not even yet an adult, in a communication to a friend. One word over the short course of the kid's 17 years of life. There is a reason we, as a society and in law, distinguish between adolescence and adulthood and that expectations and laws differ when addressing actions of a minor vs. an adult. There is no basis for believing Mr. Cruz is a racist. This whole situation and the ongoing treatment of Mr. Cruz is shameful. To let this turn into what it has become is a travesty and is lunacy. Time to accept that Mr. Cruz has paid more than a just price for that one little word he used as an adolescent and has learned mightily from it. Accept his apology fully and move on. Let the young man play.

While I believe Crews deserves a second chance, your post seems to indicate that he apologized so it is time to move on. I don’t agree with that. The n word and the context with a gun was a dumb mistake made by a 17 year old, but that word is so derogatory to a whole race that a simple apology is not sufficient. It is a word that categorized a whole race as not human. To just say “let’s move on” is not being fair to black members of the team. As I stated earlier, give him a chance to prove what type of person he is.

I guess my thought would be this: why should we, Montana state university, our football team and the ecosystem around it, be the ones to give this kid his second chance? I've said dumb things, done dumb things, regrettable things, and depending who you ask I've mostly turned out fine. But is this kid worth the potential disruption of culture and team chemistry? Is he that good? It feels like the primary motivation behind it would be to get one over on UM, and i think that's a dumb reason. I'll happily support the kid and be glad to be proven wrong but it just smacks of "take that, Bobby" and the risk of it blowing up is not zero.

It is BECAUSE of the culture is why you give him the chance. If this was able to destroy the culture, then the culture really isn’t strong. A strong culture doesn’t avoid issues, it deals with them in a good way. You have an opportunity to strengthen the culture, not weaken it. This is a situation where you can have supreme confidence that this is a mistake that won’t be repeated. This is a situation where people that are against bringing him in are more worried about optics than reality. This reality is Zac is a good kid that will highly likely been good friends with his teammates of all different skin tones. And from all I gathered, odds are Zac will have a much more mature grasp of all of this than just about anyone. He lived it. He was forced to grow up quick, which isn’t a bad thing.

Very well put! In response to Goldstone, I really couldn’t have answered your question any better.

[Cataholic]

First, please accept my apologies for misspelling his last name, Crews.
Cataholic, did you read the article in the College Athletics forum about this situation? If you did, what would you impose as a punishment that you would think was sufficient? That the young man would have his whole life turned upside down and be branded with a scarlet letter? Because it sounds like that is basically what has happened. And how long does he have to "prove what type of a person he is"? What does he have to accomplish, specifically, to meet your standard of sufficient proof?

I did read the article. It has been tough on Crews. It has been tough on his family. As for how do you know when he has “served his time”, please look at my earlier post and some others subsequent posts to let Crews prove himself as good person. Be around the team, grey shirt, work out, enroll part time, etc.

To further elaborate on this, it is really not up to us or even university officials to decide when he can become a member of the team. It is up to his teammates. They will figure out what type of person he his. And it is up to Crews to prove himself by working hard and gaining their trust - both on and off the field. That is what Crews asked from Hauck, and Hauck completely blew the situation. That is the stark difference in leadership at MSU and lack of leadership at UM.

[ND0479]

First, please accept my apologies for misspelling his last name, Crews.
Cataholic, did you read the article in the College Athletics forum about this situation? If you did, what would you impose as a punishment that you would think was sufficient? That the young man would have his whole life turned upside down and be branded with a scarlet letter? Because it sounds like that is basically what has happened. And how long does he have to "prove what type of a person he is"? What does he have to accomplish, specifically, to meet your standard of sufficient proof?

I did read the article. It has been tough on Crews. It has been tough on his family. As for how do you know when he has “served his time”, please look at my earlier post and some others subsequent posts to let Crews prove himself as good person. Be around the team, grey shirt, work out, enroll part time, etc.

To further elaborate on this, it is really not up to us or even university officials to decide when he can become a member of the team. It is up to his teammates. They will figure out what type of person he his. And it is up to Crews to prove himself by working hard and gaining their trust - both on and off the field. That is what Crews asked from Hauck, and Hauck completely blew the situation. That is the stark difference in leadership at MSU and lack of leadership at UM.

Just an FYI - when you grey shirt, you’re not allowed to be involved in any team activities at all. You’re just a regular student for the first semester.

Personally, I hope it works out for Crews at MSU. Like Tdub said, a great culture should be able to handle the situation appropriately to turn it in the right direction.

[seataccat]

This is all so unfortunate and I am certainly glad that my personal jokes as a 17yo were not dragged into public and scrutinized. I could have certainly been portrayed in a horrible light. I don't know the kid at all but after reading the article I do feel a bit bad for him. I have read the comments on the article which seem to be supportive. But sometimes the high end athletes that are well connected in the community get favorable treatment by their inner circle. I think his character could be more accurately judged by the reactions and comments of people he interacts with outside of his connected circle. How does he treat the common student at sentinal high school?
It has never been a requirement for a div I athlete to be a nice person or even a non racist. I have known plenty of athletes that were real aholes. Team chemistry and comraderie is certainly important and my experience on sports teams and in my service in the Marine Corp has been the same. There is an underlying bonding, kinship or brotherhood that exists between team members under high stress but that doesn't mean you like everyone on the team. I promise there is some animosity between some of the players on the current bobcat roster. Tension between teammates and coaches under the pressure of a stressful season will always be a thing. If the kid truly is a high character person, then it seems unimaginable that an insensitive comment made years ago would rise to the top of a teammates radar during the stress of a season. Let the kid greyshirt this year, reflect on his mistake and join the team next year if he still wants to. If an existing player needs to make a principled stand against it then let them leave the team and find greener pastures.
Also, I have no doubt that Hauck over at UM would do the politically expedient thing. He has no moral character and is truly a complete narcissist that only cares about himself so what he did in this situation should only be judged in those terms imho.

[Helcat72]

He can't be so good that we make a big change in our culture to get him. We have passed on other good players and expect so in the future.

Chasing him would be just to get one up on the Griz, and we don't need to!
Perhaps a culture change is a little too far, but I meant to "steal" one of UM's recruits by extending our hand where nobody else has....

If he wanted to be a Bobcat it may be a little different....

[tdub]

Phat Cat, I think you have made the best point in all of this. Must be a lot of sinless people out there who can throw these stones at a young man who used an "improper" word when he was a 17-year-old. I agree. Let's get the social media opened up from all of these holier-than-thou types - whether it be former or current Griz players, journalism students from that wreck of a mess to the west, or anyone else who wants to cast stones - even here on the Nation or in Bobcat athletics. Are they willing to show everything they have shared with friends, as a teenager or as an adult, they thought was out of the public realm? I don't know the Cruz family, but I have raised 4 children to adulthood. I can't imagine what that family has been put thru due to the use of one word by a 17-year-old, not even yet an adult, in a communication to a friend. One word over the short course of the kid's 17 years of life. There is a reason we, as a society and in law, distinguish between adolescence and adulthood and that expectations and laws differ when addressing actions of a minor vs. an adult. There is no basis for believing Mr. Cruz is a racist. This whole situation and the ongoing treatment of Mr. Cruz is shameful. To let this turn into what it has become is a travesty and is lunacy. Time to accept that Mr. Cruz has paid more than a just price for that one little word he used as an adolescent and has learned mightily from it. Accept his apology fully and move on. Let the young man play.

While I believe Crews deserves a second chance, your post seems to indicate that he apologized so it is time to move on. I don’t agree with that. The n word and the context with a gun was a dumb mistake made by a 17 year old, but that word is so derogatory to a whole race that a simple apology is not sufficient. It is a word that categorized a whole race as not human. To just say “let’s move on” is not being fair to black members of the team. As I stated earlier, give him a chance to prove what type of person he is.

I guess my thought would be this: why should we, Montana state university, our football team and the ecosystem around it, be the ones to give this kid his second chance? I've said dumb things, done dumb things, regrettable things, and depending who you ask I've mostly turned out fine. But is this kid worth the potential disruption of culture and team chemistry? Is he that good? It feels like the primary motivation behind it would be to get one over on UM, and i think that's a dumb reason. I'll happily support the kid and be glad to be proven wrong but it just smacks of "take that, Bobby" and the risk of it blowing up is not zero.

It is BECAUSE of the culture is why you give him the chance. If this was able to destroy the culture, then the culture really isn’t strong. A strong culture doesn’t avoid issues, it deals with them in a good way. You have an opportunity to strengthen the culture, not weaken it. This is a situation where you can have supreme confidence that this is a mistake that won’t be repeated. This is a situation where people that are against bringing him in are more worried about optics than reality. This reality is Zac is a good kid that will highly likely been good friends with his teammates of all different skin tones. And from all I gathered, odds are Zac will have a much more mature grasp of all of this than just about anyone. He lived it. He was forced to grow up quick, which isn’t a bad thing.

Fair, excellent point. I guess it's a bit like willie mack Garza, you take the risk if/because you believe in your program. I still wouldn't, because of the optics you mention and how quickly it could blow up either in the locker room, in recruiting, or both, but i concede thatv your point about culture is a good one. I don't see crews as a victim or a sympathetic figure in any of this, but he should also have another opportunity. The cost/ benefit isn't strong enough for me on this one but i won't hate it if he plays for us either.

I actually think there is less risk here than with Garza. Garza was in a role leading student athletes already. An adult influencing young men. There’s more recruiting risk there from a parent’s perspective. Garza was an adult and his actions could have had real world consequences beyond people being offended. DUI’s often hurt and kill people. Stupid words from a 17 year old can’t. But we agree as well; I too do not see Zac as a victim or sympathetic figure. He made his bed and then had to sleep in it. But now let him get out of that bed and let him make a new one. And the end of the day, they both paid a price, learned lessons, and if they don’t repeat the same mistakes and became better people because of them, let them move forward in life.
To your point of cost/benefit: my opinions have nothing to do with the benefit of adding a potential elite player. Quality of play between the lines has nothing to do with how to treat a kid outside the lines. Hold them all to equitable standards.

[catatac]

This whole thing is a crappy deal, and I do feel bad for the kid if in fact he is not racist whatsoever..... and if in fact it was just a stupid inside joke comment between friends. However, what he posted was pretty extreme. In my opinion, he needs to explain exactly what the inside joke was, who the friend was, how it came up earlier in the day, and provide every single detail that led to that post. That might actually help his case if the general public know the context of why he posted that.

[MSU01]

This whole thing is a crappy deal, and I do feel bad for the kid if in fact he is not racist whatsoever..... and if in fact it was just a stupid inside joke comment between friends. However, what he posted was pretty extreme. In my opinion, he needs to explain exactly what the inside joke was, who the friend was, how it came up earlier in the day, and provide every single detail that led to that post. That might actually help his case if the general public know the context of why he posted that.

I don't see the need for that level of public explanation because the public will have no say in his future football career with MSU or another school. He made a terrible mistake, apologized for it, and has accepted the consequences of his actions, which have been deserved but quite severe. Personally I trust MSU's leadership 100% to decide whether and at what point he earns a spot on MSU's football team.

[coloradocat]

He was 17. The hand wringing around here is so over the top.

[rivercat]

This whole thing is a crappy deal, and I do feel bad for the kid if in fact he is not racist whatsoever..... and if in fact it was just a stupid inside joke comment between friends. However, what he posted was pretty extreme. In my opinion, he needs to explain exactly what the inside joke was, who the friend was, how it came up earlier in the day, and provide every single detail that led to that post. That might actually help his case if the general public know the context of why he posted that.

I don't see the need for that level of public explanation because the public will have no say in his future football career with MSU or another school. He made a terrible mistake, apologized for it, and has accepted the consequences of his actions, which have been deserved but quite severe. Personally I trust MSU's leadership 100% to decide whether and at what point he earns a spot on MSU's football team.

Well stated.

[Cataholic]

First, please accept my apologies for misspelling his last name, Crews.
Cataholic, did you read the article in the College Athletics forum about this situation? If you did, what would you impose as a punishment that you would think was sufficient? That the young man would have his whole life turned upside down and be branded with a scarlet letter? Because it sounds like that is basically what has happened. And how long does he have to "prove what type of a person he is"? What does he have to accomplish, specifically, to meet your standard of sufficient proof?

I did read the article. It has been tough on Crews. It has been tough on his family. As for how do you know when he has “served his time”, please look at my earlier post and some others subsequent posts to let Crews prove himself as good person. Be around the team, grey shirt, work out, enroll part time, etc.

To further elaborate on this, it is really not up to us or even university officials to decide when he can become a member of the team. It is up to his teammates. They will figure out what type of person he his. And it is up to Crews to prove himself by working hard and gaining their trust - both on and off the field. That is what Crews asked from Hauck, and Hauck completely blew the situation. That is the stark difference in leadership at MSU and lack of leadership at UM.

Just an FYI - when you grey shirt, you’re not allowed to be involved in any team activities at all. You’re just a regular student for the first semester.

Personally, I hope it works out for Crews at MSU. Like Tdub said, a great culture should be able to handle the situation appropriately to turn it in the right direction.

Thanks. I was not sure what a grey shirt allowed.

As for culture, in discussion with a player from the team, it is really hard to find someone on the team who is not a good dude that cares about their teammates. These kids are family. Let them decide if Crews should be part of the team.

[Cat Grad]

I can understand the reticence by the powers that be; my mouth got me in uncomfortable situations as a 1st LT and I paid for it. However, why does an idiot like Mike Leach get a free ride for the way he talks to kids, how he treats them, and he's even stated the obvious: the PAC 10 games are fixed. As a coach, he has crossed more than a few acceptable boundaries.

Maybe I get a free ride because I'm part Native American? I've been called worse than what that Missoula kid said and I've joked around with my many black friends and colleagues about quotas, token appointments and the list goes on. Actually, I hope Crews goes to the south or plays for somebody who coached Josh Allen--talk about posting racial ******! He was forgiven by a certain coach and his college teammates...

In fact, he only had one Division I opportunity...his position coach rings a bell...

[arvcat2]

To complete the punishment of this now young man and his singular transgression as a 17 year old, he should:

• Take a knee for 5 minutes every hour on the hour throughout the fall semester.

• Be exonerated by a DOJ/FBI domestic terrorism investigation.

• Get, at a minimum, at least 2 BLM tattoos on visible parts of his body.

• Hand writes an “I am sorry” personal apology letter to every known citizen in the state of Montana.

Perhaps then he MIGHT be able to appease the self-righteous mob and MAYBE be able to play football in Montana again.

[Hi-Line Bobcat]

To complete the punishment of this now young man and his singular transgression as a 17 year old, he should:

• Take a knee for 5 minutes every hour on the hour throughout the fall semester.

• Be exonerated by a DOJ/FBI domestic terrorism investigation.

• Get, at a minimum, at least 2 BLM tattoos on visible parts of his body.

• Hand writes an “I am sorry” personal apology letter to every known citizen in the state of Montana.

Perhaps then he MIGHT be able to appease the self-righteous mob and MAYBE be able to play football in Montana again.

It would probably help if he stamped LGBQ on his forehead and spray painted his hair. Then he needs to protest at the capital in the name of seahorse equality.

[catatac]

This whole thing is a crappy deal, and I do feel bad for the kid if in fact he is not racist whatsoever..... and if in fact it was just a stupid inside joke comment between friends. However, what he posted was pretty extreme. In my opinion, he needs to explain exactly what the inside joke was, who the friend was, how it came up earlier in the day, and provide every single detail that led to that post. That might actually help his case if the general public know the context of why he posted that.

I don't see the need for that level of public explanation because the public will have no say in his future football career with MSU or another school. He made a terrible mistake, apologized for it, and has accepted the consequences of his actions, which have been deserved but quite severe. Personally I trust MSU's leadership 100% to decide whether and at what point he earns a spot on MSU's football team.

I can see where you're coming from, but I guess the problem I have with it all is that the post was super confusing... i.e. it doesn't even make sense the way it was typed, and the inclusion of the gun emoji. If that emogi was in fact in reference to something related to duck hunting, I'd feel much better about it. Maybe they shot a black duck, and were just making a bad joke about that. That would still be terrible, but would be much better than if it was in reference to something sexual, or shooting a black person, etc. Again, was just super confusing.

[Bobcat4Ever]

Interesting read:

https://buttesports.com/sentinel-great- ... all-limbo/

He is attending MSU - football future in air . . . Sounds like he got dragged around a bit by UM, but tough situation for any coach.

I think the comments that were posted online at the end of the article are very revealing of the xenophobia (at the minimum) that’s being injected into our society. One bright commenter wrote that all natives of “eastern montana” towns are “born-racists” and “ignoramuses.” Talk about belittling a large group of people — I cannot believe how much vitriol has been injected into so many people. It’s frightening. How that writer decided that he is a far superior being to Zac Crews is beyond me.

[P.S. I read the comments last night and they seem to have been shut down or censored since then.]

[MSU01]

Interesting read:

https://buttesports.com/sentinel-great- ... all-limbo/

He is attending MSU - football future in air . . . Sounds like he got dragged around a bit by UM, but tough situation for any coach.

I think the comments that were posted online at the end of the article are very revealing of the xenophobia (at the minimum) that’s being injected into our society. One bright commenter wrote that all natives of “eastern montana” towns are “born-racists” and “ignoramuses.” Talk about belittling a large group of people — I cannot believe how much vitriol has been injected into so many people. It’s frightening. How that writer decided that he is a far superior being to Zac Crews is beyond me.

[P.S. I read the comments last night and they seem to have been shut down or censored since then.]

If you want to find America's biggest morons and hate-filled weirdos of all kinds, look no further than comment/reply sections on newspaper articles and social media posts.

[wbtfg]

Interesting read:

https://buttesports.com/sentinel-great- ... all-limbo/

He is attending MSU - football future in air . . . Sounds like he got dragged around a bit by UM, but tough situation for any coach.

I think the comments that were posted online at the end of the article are very revealing of the xenophobia (at the minimum) that’s being injected into our society. One bright commenter wrote that all natives of “eastern montana” towns are “born-racists” and “ignoramuses.” Talk about belittling a large group of people — I cannot believe how much vitriol has been injected into so many people. It’s frightening. How that writer decided that he is a far superior being to Zac Crews is beyond me.

[P.S. I read the comments last night and they seem to have been shut down or censored since then.]

If you want to find America's biggest morons and hate-filled weirdos of all kinds, look no further than comment/reply sections on newspaper articles and social media posts.

Truth....