Commentary: Watkins' punishment needs to fit the crime

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Fri May 04 18:13:57 GMT-04:00 2012

CLEMSON – The news came across this morning that star wide receiver Sammy Watkins Sammy Watkins
Fr. Wide Receiver
#2 6-1, 200
Fort Myers, FL
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Watkins is, in many ways, the face of the franchise right now, the Tigers’ most recognizable and polarizing figure. Whenever I talk with anyone who isn’t a Clemson fan, or knows just a little about the university, they almost always mention Watkins.

His accomplishments on the field are very recognizable. Off the field, he has always been a quiet interview, not one to say too much about himself or talk too much about his personal accomplishments. In most of the times I have spoken to Sammy, he always mentions the team and how the team goals come first.

And now, he has let his teammates, his coaches and his fans down. It happens. Kids do dumb things, and they make stupid decisions.

What shocked me most, however, was the number of text messages I received, most of them wondering what kind of punishment he would get. In other words: “How many games will he miss” and “how does this affect me as a fan.” The fans want to know the bottom line: will this affect the win-loss record next season.

As a parent, however, I wondered something a little different: How is this going to affect Sammy?

Clemson head coach Dabo SwinneyDabo Swinney
Head Coach
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Knowing Dabo, he will choose for the harder punishment, one that teaches a lesson to not only Watkins but to the rest of the team: No one is bigger than the team, and there has to be accountability for your actions at all times. Watkins is at that age, the age when a boy becomes a man, and is now learning that decisions have stiffer and farther-reaching repercussions than they did when he was younger.

If Swinney takes the easy way out on his punishment, it sends the wrong message to Watkins. Much like what happened at South Carolina and quarterback Stephen Garcia – if you learn that you can get away with something once, you have now been enabled and figure that because you are a star, you can get away with anything without consequences.

Putting aside Clemson’s potential record and how it affects what happens on the field , now is the time for a life lesson that will serve Watkins well throughout his life, one that will almost certainly include the NFL. What does that punishment need to be? I don’t know, I’m not the coach and not as close to Watkins as the coaches or his teammates. But the punishment needs to be stiff enough to make sure it doesn’t happen a second time, or a third, or a fourth…..

Watkins seems like a good young man, one who has made a stupid and foolish decision. We have all made them. He will grow and learn from this, and he will become a better man for having gone through this.

Does he deserve to pilloried or vilified? Absolutely not. If you are willing to put this teenager up on a pedestal and cheer his name and tell him how good he is, then you need to be willing to support him through this situation. And it all comes down to this – he made bad decision, and deserves to be punished. He has to face the consequences on this one, and the punishment has to fit the crime.

Once that punishment is over, you love him, support him and hope he takes it and becomes a better person. You cheer even harder for him, because he has proven he is human and can come back from this and be the player we want him to be, that he needs to be. But more importantly, he needs to become the man and the human being that HE needs to be.