Does Tony Casillas Have A Point?

Former Sooner defensive standout Tony Casillas called out his alma mater for what he believes is a double-standard when it comes to the punishment meted out to Joe Mixon versus the punishment handed down to the OU SAE chapter in the wake of the racist chant controversy.

 On the heels of Florida State’s dismissal of quarterback De’Andre Johnson for striking a woman during a nightclub altercation, Casillas went on social media to take his alma mater to task.

Here is Casillas’ post:

Casillas called out the University of Oklahoma for exhibiting a double-standard when it comes to doling out punishment. Even though it’s the Florida State dismissal that clearly got Casillas going, his post referenced the handling by the OU administration of the SAE students filmed doing a racist chant, which ultimately resulted in the expulsion of the students who were videotaped and the elimination of the SAE chapter at OU. Casillas asks why Mixon deserved a second chance but the SAE students involved in the chanting incident – and the entire OU SAE chapter – did not.

Does Casillas have a point? Perhaps, or perhaps not.

OU and the SAE Punishment

By comparing the OU administration’s handling of the SAE incident to the handling of the Joe Mixon debacle, Casillas may be stretching things just a bit. These two unfortunate incidents were quite different, so they required different ways to handle them.

The SAE incident, captured on video and distributed virally, showed a part of the University in the worst possible light: a group of students, all or mostly white, engaging in a racist chant that made light of the one of the worst aspects of the Jim Crow era, the lynching of African Americans. If the University administration had not acted in some fashion, and swiftly, the impact on recruiting efforts for a diverse pool of students would have been nothing short of disastrous.

If nothing else, David Boren has strived to transform OU from a backwater regional university into a renowned campus that is not just known for athletics, but also for its scholarship, sense of community, and inclusion. This incident would have set back those efforts significantly – and may still do that – so Boren had no choice but to act swiftly and decisively to contain and minimize the damage.

The administration could have, as Casillas asserts, provided these students with second chances and handed down a lighter punishment to the OU SAE chapter than expulsion.

Did the administration cave in to the public pressures surrounding racially charged incidents today and dole out a punishment that was extreme and perhaps even unfair, especially to those SAE students who did not participate in the racist chant that unfortunate night? Perhaps, and in this aspect of the issue Casillas may have a point.

Jan 4, 2014; San Antonio, TX, USA; West running back Joe Mixon (28) watches from the sidelines during U.S. Army All-American Bowl high school football game at the Alamodome. The West won 28-6. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports

OU and the Joe Mixon Punishment

Those members of the media who saw the video of Joe Mixon’s attack on Amelia Molitor all agree this was a horrifying incident. And, Tony Casillas’ post raises a point that merits discussion: Was the handling of the case by the administration, which boiled down to giving Mixon a second chance, influenced by Mixon’s potential prowess on the football field?

One key point is the fact that the Mixon tape was not made public. So even though members of the media saw the tape, reading a description of an incident has much less visceral impact on the general public than viewing the actual event. Millions saw the SAE racist chant video, so the impact was real and the damage to Boren’s carefully crafted image of OU was swift and substantial.

Same goes for the De’Andre Johnson situation: this video was public, so millions all over the world saw Johnson strike the young lady. A stark, black and white video feed that removes any doubt whatsoever that, no matter what the young lady said, Johnson’s violent reaction was excessive and absolutely beyond the pale.

Still, it begs the question: why was Mixon granted a second chance for a similar offense that got FSU’s Johnson expelled from his program? Why the difference in punishment? Shouldn’t the punishment be the same, if both schools claim to have zero tolerance for players involved in altercations with women?

Even though both cases appear the same at first glance, the fact is every instance is different, and the personality and disposition of the player may have a lot to do with an administration’s decisions regarding punishment. Perhaps Mixon was contrite, admitted wrongdoing and pledged to do better. Perhaps Mixon had a support system of family and associates back home who pledged to support him in his efforts to rehabilitate himself.

Bob Stoops has given second chances before, so the move with Mixon is not unprecedented (the case of Dusty Dvoracek comes to mind). Perhaps Bob Stoops’ primary impulse is to provide an athlete with a second chance, provided the athlete is willing to rehabilitate himself and meet certain conditions to get back in the team’s good graces.

And perhaps De’Andre Johnson did not show remorse, nor contrition. It is telling that, through his lawyer, Johnson attempted to justify his assault by claiming the woman said something racially offensive to Johnson. Perhaps, in this case, Jimbo Fisher and the FSU administration felt Johnson was beyond saving and the best course of action was booting him off the team. Or perhaps the fact that De’Andre Johnson was a third-string quarterback made the decision to throw him off the team much easier.

It will be quite interesting to see how Fisher handles yet another unfortunate incident with one of his players and a woman. This time, it’s star running back Dalvin Cook who is facing charges for assaulting a woman. The Seminoles’ fortunes on the gridiron may take a substantial hit this coming season if they lose Cook.

One thing’s for sure: every time these unfortunate incidents happen, they cast a pall over the sport and negate the good deeds many athletes do that go unnoticed. Tony Casillas gave a lot to this sport and to his alma mater, so there’s little doubt his concern is genuine.