Talk:2000 Washington Huskies football team

Criminal Charges
Mabye the article should mention some of these things... http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/the-disturbing-story-behind-the-last-great-uw-team-8212-and-how-its-legacy-still-casts-a-shadow-on-the-huskies/ When that Rose Bowl season began on Sept. 2, 2000, against the University of Idaho, the UW’s starters included:

• A safety who, according to police reports, had cut his wife’s face, broken her arm and broken her nose. He had already served time for choking her into unconsciousness. While playing in front of 70,000 fans on Montlake that day, he was wanted on an outstanding warrant.

• A linebacker under investigation for robbing and shooting a drug dealer. He had left behind a fingerprint stained with his blood. By the season opener, police knew the print was his — but they didn’t charge him until the season was over.

• A tight end under investigation on suspicion of rape.

At least a dozen members of the Rose Bowl team were arrested that year or charged with a crime that carried possible jail time. At least a dozen others on that team got in trouble with the law in other seasons.

On the occasions that Neuheisel did take disciplinary action, his message was muddled.

When a star player made headlines for crashing his pickup into a retirement home and fleeing, Neuheisel suspended him — for half a game. When another player was late to a team meeting, the coach suspended him — for a full game. Then, after the game, Neuheisel said: “We decided we’d put him in if it was necessary. We decided it wasn’t necessary.”

Legal authorities weren’t much tougher on Husky outlaws. When one player was sentenced to 30 days in jail, the judge wrote in her order: “To be served after football season.” Another Husky, facing a felony charge of assaulting a police officer, was released without bail and granted a delay so that he could keep playing. Yet another player in trouble was allowed to perform 150 hours of community service at football camps.

Hedges, who recruited Neuheisel without asking around, stood by him even as he violated recruiting rules and his players broke the law. She wrote in his 2000 evaluation that Neuheisel “represents the university in an exceptional manner. … He is a role model in every sense of the word.” — Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.211.108.63 (talk) 12:20, 17 September 2015 (UTC)