It doesn’t appear Watkins was charged at all. If Carter had just complied (no mention of him having any weapons or drugs) they may have gotten away with just being stupid.

As in, why did they get up in these guys’ faces? Carter and Watkins didn’t attack these guys, but what provoked them into wanting to fight? And really, instead of having the officer talk to the players like they did the other two guys, why would the officer call for back-up and perform a search? Was there no information of this kind in the report??

This kind of reminds me about the Tinsley incident and the “brawl” that occurred a short time ago. Why do I get the feeling of someone being baited? When an Augsburg player calls the cops and immediately say that there are MINNESOTA FOOTBALL PLAYERS coming after him, I sense the “victim” is not completely innocent. I get the same feeling when these guys weren’t attacked, yet they rat and go to mommy and daddy.

I’m speculating. I wish I knew the whole story.

being that it was a pizzeria, maybe they were eating a pizza? just a guess.

football players do have a lot of pressure on them. It’s no excuse for getting in a brawl, but people do tend to forget how young these players are. They are in a sport that requires aggression to be successful, yet they must not let that aggression spill over to their non-football lives. At that age, I cannot imagine trying to handle the attention from hecklers, opportunistic women, friends seeking a piece of fame, and troublemakers who want to start problems.

I believe that one of the greatest recruiting benefits of this school is that players can have a big city experience that has pro sports teams for every sport, the Mall of America, numerous festivals and events, concerts, and everything else within a short commute. Unfortunately, this opportunity also raises the risk for trouble to find them. It is probably much easier to remain insulated from trouble in a small town atmosphere such as can be found in every other Big Ten school besides Northwestern. I cannot offer any proof, but common sense tells me that incidents such as this happen at places like Florida, LSU, Texas, Alabama, and the like but usually never make the news or end in an arrest. It’s no excuse for their arrest, but it does make me wonder.

Can you imagine being a coach with 100 young players on your team who have unlimited opportunities to party and go to places where people might cause trouble? I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night. But, that’s probably why I ended up a writer from the outside looking in.

There is a big difference between suspending players for a bit until the facts are clear and cutting them off completely. I have no problem with how Maturit handled the Mbakwe situation. It sets a precedent that stupid behavior may cost you. I much prefer this to the Florida example above where thugs are allowed to keep playing in the interest of winning. Then let the courts handle it in the offseason.