Florida State University president John Thrasher last night met with the school’s football team in light of recent incidents surrounding its players, namely former quarterback De’Andre Johnson and suspended running back Dalvin Cook. Kevin McGuire of NBC Sports’ College Football Talk reported the meeting.
Thrasher addressed the meeting in a statement, and it’s clear that he meant business when addressing the players.
“In light of recent off-field incidents, I reiterated to our players that they simply cannot put themselves in situations that reflect poor behavior or cause harm to others,” a public statement from Thrasher read on Florida State’s official website after the meeting. “They must remember that playing football for FSU is a privilege, not a right. The actions of a few have the capacity to do serious damage to the reputation of our entire university.”
“I told them their coaches, the Athletics administration and I will do all we can to support them and help them learn the values we expect them to uphold,” Thrasher added. “But they will be held accountable for their actions.”
“We need to do better,” Thrasher said in his public statement, echoing the words from Fisher’s statement on Friday. “[A]nd I want to assure you changes will be made to address these concerns.”
Thrasher’s meeting with the team comes on the heels of Johnson being dismissed from the program last week after video surfaced of him punching a woman in the face at a local bar. Johnson had already been charged with misdemeanor battery, the same crime with which Cook was charged last week. Cook is currently on indefinite suspension from the team.
The situation with the team currently, combined with the lingering effects of former quarterback Jameis Winston’s sexual assault case (in which no charges were filed), has gotten so bad that Fisher imposed a ban on bars for all football players.
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*Featured Photo (above) credit to USA TODAY Sports
