The Daily Nebraskan is reporting Andy Christensen has been reinstated to the NU football team. Coach Bo Pelini said, “We do not take the misdemeanor charges against Andy lightly. His actions were unacceptable for a player in our football program.”
A jury claimed there wasn’t enough evidence to convict Christensen of sexual assault. The Omaha World-Herald pointed out that former Nebraska quarterback Mike Stuntz changed his story; he told police he could tell “…Christensen had done something to her,” but he later testified he didn’t know of any connection to Christensen. Christensen himself admitted he was the only person standing behind the victim. After dumping drinks on the head of the girl who accused him of assaulting her, Christensen refused the manager’s requests for him to leave. He then grabbed the bar owner by the neck and threw him across the room.
Those misdemeanor charges Pelini refers to stem from Christensen’s 15-minute battle with six police officers and damaging a police vehicle. Judge David Arterburn would not allow the jury to hear testimony about Christensen’s struggles with police that night.
I think I can tell by the tenor of your writing that you are less than impressed with this decision…but maybe I’m wrong. What are your thoughts on this decision?
I guess I don’t see a big problem with it. He was found not guilty of the sexual assault. What he did in the fight with the police and the bar owner were stupid, but we’ve all done some stupid things under the influence of alcohol. He pleaded guilty in the incidents with the police, and took responsibility for those actions. He’s been punished by the law, and by the team. I say let him play.
BTW, minor typo to point out, but at the end of the second paragraph, you spelled his name ‘Christiansen’.
Thanks for pointing out the typo. It is now corrected.
I’ve definitely done stupid things after drinking. Fighting with six police officers for 15 minutes after throwing a man by the throat are not among them. I’m all for redemption, but I don’t think getting to play on a football team is necessarily among the basic rights I feel people should be able to retain.
Thanks for bringing up the guilty plea in the misdemeanors — I meant to mention that I haven’t been able to find anything regarding a sentence on those. What punishment did he serve? I honestly don’t know.
Okay Mike, I’ve finally found something on those misdemeanors, and he actually hasn’t been punished by the law for those actions. According to the Omaha World-Herald,
So we now know that those sentencings won’t factor at all into Pelini’s decision to reinstate him.
Thanks for the update. I suppose it’s to be expected with the speed of our wonderful legal system. My guess is that Pelini would factor his being guilty of the crime itself, rather than the punishment, in the reinstatement decision-making process.
What he did was stupid, and I’m in no way, shape, or form excusing him for his behavior towards the bar owner and the police. We all make our own decisions and must accept the consequences for those decisions. As you pointed out, when you drink, you don’t fight with police and damage their cars…but if you’re the kind of person I believe you to be, you’re like me in that we don’t get confrontational when we get drunk…at least I don’t. By nature, I’m not a guy who gets physically confrontational…which is probably why I wouldn’t make a good collegiate offensive lineman.
Alcohol has the power to diminish or completely remove inhibitions. If he were sober, I suspect the incident would not have ended up as it did. His inhibitions to engage in physical confrontation off the football field may have kept this whole thing from happening. The nature of his job as a lineman is, when pushed, he pushes back. That’s what happened here.
Now don’t get the impression that I’m blaming alcohol…like I said, it was his choice to drink, and to quote Clint Eastwood, “A man’s got to know his limitations.” But, I do believe the alcohol was a major factor, and if Christensen obeys the zero-tolerance policy that Pelini has put in place, then I doubt this type of thing will happen again.
It will be interesting to see what kind of punishment is handed down by the courts. For the record, I do believe a longer suspension was probably warranted, but I also believe that reinstatement was the right choice.