Don’t rush to judgement regarding Mazi

Submitted by TK on December 1st, 2022 at 12:26 PM

Yes, I know this is the third thread, don’t really care. 
There are a lot of rumors that this should be cleared up hopefully quickly. Sounds like a paperwork issue. I only say this because the other threads have gone off the rails with a lot do commentary that might not apply to this situation at all. And yes, I do recognize the hypocrisy of fans. We would be calling out the program if this was as one of our rivals as well. But overall, sounds like there is a pretty good chance there was a reason this wasn’t brought to the medias attention until charges were filed, and hopefully will be cleared up soon. 

MGoBoard

LB

December 1st, 2022 at 12:30 PM ^

Unless you're Mazi's attorney with new information this should be in the existing threads. Those among us who leap to conclusions will continue to do so. Those among us who know the first article is seldom accurate will not do so.

Joined: 09/26/2009

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BTB grad

December 1st, 2022 at 12:31 PM ^

I think the bigger problem is how Warde Manuel has always fumbled these sorts of issues. Like waiting 3 months to read the Mel Pearson report and then trying to hope you can quietly re-sign him instead of reading it in May and letting his contract expire and hiring a new coach. After getting letters from former players alleging abuse by Dr. Anderson, he sent the letters to the University’s lawyers to get a warning & heads up about potential liability instead of sending to Title IX investigators which violates university policy.

I don’t think the charge against Mazi is that big of a deal: he made a dumb mistake by not getting a CCP for his gun and driving around with it. My thing is the AD has lost any benefit of the doubt with how they handle issues after they happen. They’re consistently behind the 8 ball on these issues which makes them looks far too reactionary rather than getting out in front of it. Bad optics

Edit: Brian’s tweet explains what I’m trying to say far more concisely https://twitter.com/mgoblog/status/1598349830077747203?s=61&t=gN31Dzu9vs6CD2c4vVcmaQ

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bronxblue

December 1st, 2022 at 12:32 PM ^

Could someone share these rumors then because everyone keeps referring to them and they seemingly range from "he didn't have the license on him" to "he had an expired license" to "the 2nd Amendment is the only license he needs!" and all of those mean different things.

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goblu330

December 1st, 2022 at 12:58 PM ^

I really do feel like somebody from UM needs to address this, though.  The longer this goes on without comment from Athletic Department, the more realistic it becomes to me that he may really not have informed the team of the incident.  Harbaugh went into detailed praise of Smith in his Monday press conference and Smith was available to the media Tuesday.  This is not adding up.

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rc15

December 1st, 2022 at 1:04 PM ^

Just because you want them to?

We're going to get a "We are aware of the incident regarding Mazi Smith, but will not comment on an ongoing investigation/open case." As they should.

If he's going to be suspended this weekend, they'll probably announce that, but beyond that they shouldn't be talking about the case, what they knew, etc.

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Blue@LSU

December 1st, 2022 at 12:34 PM ^

And yes, I do recognize the hypocrisy of fans. We would be calling out the program if this was as one of our rivals as well.

I'll just add that maybe this should serve as a lesson that we shouldn't rush to judgement if this, or something similar, happened to another team.  

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redjugador24

December 1st, 2022 at 4:42 PM ^

I can rush to judgment that the Athletic Department and football program have mishandled this, though. Like always.

That was my initial reaction as well, and I still haven't dismissed it as a possibility.  But.... Its definitely plausible that Mazi was upfront with them and based on the circumstances they didnt know if any (or which) charges would be brought and decided the right thing to do was let the legal process play out. Along those same lines, had they made this public that long ago and before any arrest or charges, that's not really fair to Mazi either.  

Honest question, how would you suggest they handle this assuming they were made aware of all the facts back in early October?  Suspend for 1 or games?  Suspend indefinitely? No punishment, just a statement?  There are serious downsides to all those approaches, and the fact is the circumstances make this much less serious than the headlines will convey.  It's much less serious than say the recent Emoni Bates arrest (he admitted he was driving after just smoking weed, had somebody else's weapon concealed in the vehicle)  and he was suspended for 1/32nd or so of his season.  

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preed1

December 1st, 2022 at 12:49 PM ^

There’s only one person for judgment.  He was a carpenter, had long hair, had ideas about brotherhood and love.  His name is gunner and he’s dating my mom.

Joined: 03/08/2009

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Booted Blue in PA

December 1st, 2022 at 12:52 PM ^

I wasn't going to rush to judgement when he was charged the first time....

I was willing to give him the benefit of doubt when he was charged the second time.....

But now that he's been charged three times in one day?

I'm sorry.... where there's smoke, there's fire!

 

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Blau

December 1st, 2022 at 12:57 PM ^

The fact that there hasn't been any immediate suspension is sort of confusing. I mean, even if he's totally innocent, that's sort of the default while the AD gets his questions answered. 

Also could Mazi in his right mind keep this quiet for almost 2 months without letting anyone know?

This seems much more like leveraged damage control to impede the media narrative than actually looking at the charge against M. Smith. Even with all of Warde's incompetence with recent allegations, this seems especially idiotic for him to keep this under wraps. I'd say if M. Smith doesn't have a suspension by later tonight, we see charges dropped or greatly reduced to where this is a slap on the wrist.

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goblu330

December 1st, 2022 at 1:04 PM ^

The thing is, if there was going to be greatly reduced charges, the length between the incident and the charge would likely indicate that the prosecution and his attorney have already had discussions, and they would just charge him with something that he could plead to on the nose.  Disorderly conduct or something like that.  There really is no "slap on the wrist" version of a CCW charge.  None of this makes sense.

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Blau

December 1st, 2022 at 1:20 PM ^

And that's what I don't understand. Even if they waited to press formal charges, wouldn't the university and football program be made aware of the situation. I'm not sure how these things work but if it's serious enough, wouldn't they have arrested/cited him on the spot and therefore it would be publicly available?

There's got to be an element to this story that makes sense between the time he was stopped and to now. Even if Warde bungled this situation, I cannot see JH letting Mazi play without addressing what happened. Also if no one had any prior knowledge to now, Mazi can keep a hell of a secret.

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