BREAKING NEWS: BUCS SIGN TE STEVENS, RELEASE QB GRADKOWSKI

[Fresh]

signing stevens is a terrible move. even more work for the gruden myster to make cuts. kinda mornic to mee

[MiltonMack21]

The hit and run episode is the one that has me concerned the most. Really... hit and run... 4Bucs there is no way to defend that one. Think about if that was a member of your family? Or in the rape case.. think about it if it was a member of your family? We can all say "Go to church on sunday if you don't like criminals playing on your team." The guy never did get punished truly for his actions, he skated because he was a football player plain and simple.

And you know this because you were an attorney assigned to the case?  Because I KNOW you're not so gullible you believe everything in that story was 100% accurate, un-spun, and nothing (like the entire OTHER SIDE OF THE STORY) was left out.

Yep... keep on believing Stevens was a "victim". He got away with it because he was a good football player.

signing stevens is a terrible move. even more work for the gruden myster to make cuts. kinda mornic to mee

10 points for irony

[fbickley]

Sure he is a turd, but so are half of the league.   I saw a statistic that 70% of the league has been charged with a felony.  We aren't talking about saints here, we are talking about gridiron gladiators.  He took advantage of a girl who was blacked out drunk.  That is all we know.  We can probably assume that he was stupid drunk too and most likely impaired.  It was a perfect storm.  Neither party was a victim or a criminal.  The bubble of innocence turns into ignorance in high school if not middle school these days.  And it's the parent's responsibility to prepare them for the real world.

[CurtR1995]

Sure he is a turd, but so are half of the league. I saw a statistic that 70% of the league has been charged with a felony. We aren't talking about saints here, we are talking about gridiron gladiators. He took advantage of a girl who was blacked out drunk. That is all we know. We can probably assume that he was stupid drunk too and most likely impaired. It was a perfect storm. Neither party was a victim or a criminal. The bubble of innocence turns into ignorance in high school if not middle school these days. And it's the parent's responsibility to prepare them for the real world.

Uh...No.  Just No. 

[GameTime]

this is laughable to get upset over this imo.  the bucs knew everything and signed him last year.  they told him to keep his nose clean and he did.  and now fans want him ostracized because they have a bit more information?  info that was readily available last year.  c'mon.  lets quit it with the holier than thou attitude.

[fbickley]

Sure he is a turd, but so are half of the league. I saw a statistic that 70% of the league has been charged with a felony. We aren't talking about saints here, we are talking about gridiron gladiators. He took advantage of a girl who was blacked out drunk. That is all we know. We can probably assume that he was stupid drunk too and most likely impaired. It was a perfect storm. Neither party was a victim or a criminal. The bubble of innocence turns into ignorance in high school if not middle school these days. And it's the parent's responsibility to prepare them for the real world.

Uh...No. Just No.

Then good luck to your children.  My sister and I were prepared by my family, as I will prepare mine. 

[BuckEmUp]

So much for being able to play in the church league.  I guess the Bucs will have to go back to playing in the NFL.  Oh wait, they never played in a church league.

I am glad Stevens is on the team.  If he stays clean and plays solid ball he is well worth the money and risk.  If he doesn't he was still well worth the "no money" and risk.  The guy is getting or got married and is in the process of moving from childhood to manhood.  Some people act like they do nothing wrong.  The only thing you can really insinuate from the story is that Stevens was at a party and had sex with a girl that was drunk.  He also got in a fight in HS, wow I wonder who else can not play football now.  And he has had some driving incidents.  The bottom line is one mistake and the guy is out of the door working at McDonalds.  Maybe he has a reason to act right and play the game.  A wife, maybe kids, and the decision of millions of dollars compared to hundreds.......

Maybe I just do not have any morals.

[Pewter Spot]

By Ken Armstrong and Nick Perry - Seattle Times staff reporters -


Rick Neuheisel, head coach of the University of Washington's football team, was playing golf when a cart came rolling up and someone handed him a phone. The UW's sports-information director was on the other end: One of the team's best players had just been arrested, on su**CENSORED**ion of rape. Before 7 that morning � Thursday, July 27, 2000 � Seattle police detectives, accompanied by a SWAT team, had served a search warrant at the home of Jerramy Stevens and taken him away. The UW football team was used to run-ins with the law. It even had a system, of sorts, for dealing with them. Randy Hart, the defensive-line coach, had police contacts who would tell him when players were in trouble. Other coaches had names of attorneys players could contact.

One lawyer stood out: Mike Hunsinger, a UW alumnus and longtime fan. In time, Hunsinger would represent at least 14 members of the 2000 football team � players accused of hit-and-run, animal cruelty, punching a security guard, DUI, taking part in an attack on a fraternity, sexual assault, punching windows out of cars, domestic violence, assaulting a parking attendant. He'd charge the players a few hundred bucks and let them pay over time. Neuheisel got in touch with Barbara Hedges, the university's athletic director, to see what she wanted to do. At 1:30 p.m., less than seven hours after Stevens' arrest, a fax arrived at the Seattle Police Department's sexual-assault unit. It was addressed to Maryann Parker, the lead detective, who had been investigating the case for seven weeks. The fax came from Hunsinger's office. We're representing Jerramy Stevens, the message said. Please call us immediately.

The month before, just after 3 a.m. on June 4, a UW student called 911 to report a possible rape in progress. Walking back to his dorm, he'd passed a row of fraternities and sororities and seen two people against a building. A woman, wearing only a bra and maybe underwear, leaned against a wall, arms to her side. A tall man faced her, his back to the passer-by. The situation didn't look right, the student told police. The woman looked right at him but did nothing to cover up. She looked drugged or drunk: "Half passed out ... eyes glazed ... no one home." "The male was controlling things," the witness said. "It wasn't a two-person interlude." When the man turned and caught sight of the passer-by, he moved the woman behind a bush. Seattle police responded but couldn't find the two.

Nine hours later, around noon, a 19-year-old freshman woke up at the Pi Beta Phi sorority. She had a headache, stomach pain, sore ribs, scratched legs. She could barely move. Her bra and tube top were around her waist and covered in dirt. Her underwear was missing. "What happened to me?" she asked her roommate. About the same time, Jerramy Stevens emerged from his room. He lived with several teammates in a house north of campus. He pulled a pair of women's underpants out of his jeans pocket and, according to a police report, told a roommate, "Look what I have." Stevens said he'd had sex with the freshman, whose middle name was Marie. "No way," the roommate said. He couldn't believe it, because he had heard Marie was a virgin. Stevens' story made the rounds. A friend of Marie's heard one football player ask another: Did you hear that Jerramy had sex with Marie in the dirt outside a fraternity? Meanwhile, Marie and her friends tried to figure out what had happened. Inside Marie's room, a friend saw a fleece jacket that Stevens wore the night before. The jacket, covered in dirt, appeared to be stained with blood. Marie couldn't remember how she got home, she later told police. She'd had three beers over dinner before going to a fraternity party, and two more drinks while there. Stevens, a friend, had been at the party, too. The last beer Marie remembered being handed had already been opened. After that, she remembered next to nothing.

She stayed in bed most of the day. Her friends searched for her underwear outside the sorority and in an alley, but returned empty-handed. That afternoon, word of what was being said at Stevens' house got back to Marie. Her eyes "got huge," a friend said later. "She had [a] look of complete horror on her face." Marie worried she may have been sexually assaulted. She worried about pregnancy and disease. Should I get a morning-after pill? she asked one friend. About 9:30 that night, Marie got Stevens on the phone, she later recounted to police. What happened? she asked. Stevens told Marie he'd walked her home. "We kissed and some stuff," he told her. Did we have sex? she asked. "No," he told her. "Don't trip, it's nothing, don't worry about it." Marie, crying, asked: Then why are you telling your friends we did? He denied saying that to anyone. Afterward, Stevens told a roommate about this conversation. The roommate told Stevens: You have to call her back. You have to let her know you had sex. You at least owe her that. Late that night, Marie went to the university hospital, across the street from Husky Stadium. She got a shot for nausea and was directed to Harborview Medical Center for a sexual-assault exam. Marie's parents went with her. The medical staff found semen in her vagina and rectum, and a doctor told Marie that her anus had been lacerated. The semen was placed in a rape kit, for testing.

On June 6, the case landed on the desk of Maryann Parker, a 14-year veteran of the Seattle Police Department. She interviewed Marie, who suspected she'd been slipped a date-rape drug. Investigators couldn't say. Too much time had elapsed before Marie's blood was drawn for testing. Parker interviewed people who had been at the fraternity party. They said Marie's condition changed suddenly that night. Her speech was slurred. She had trouble standing, leaned against people, and acted drugged: "Out of control." Marie's friends told Parker they had escorted her from the party. Although the sorority was nearby, Marie was in no shape to walk home alone. Behind the fraternity, a police car pulled up, and an officer asked if Marie was all right. We're just driving her home, Marie's friends answered. On the way, the group saw Stevens in the alley. Marie's friends dropped her off at the sorority but didn't walk her in. On the morning Stevens was arrested, Parker escorted him to the police station. She asked if he'd be willing to answer questions, but he said no. His blood was drawn for DNA testing, and he was booked into jail. This same day, another detective interviewed a defensive lineman who lived with Stevens. The lineman said he didn't believe Stevens committed rape. Why not? the detective asked. "Well ... he's my best friend," the player said. "I hang out with champions." Stevens, the player said, was "the type of guy where usually when he fools around he ends up having sex cause he's a charming guy, chicks dig him." Stevens spent that Thursday night in jail.

The next day, about 15 of Stevens' teammates showed up to support him at a scheduled bail hearing. But prosecutors said they needed more time to review the evidence and released Stevens without charges. Some of Stevens' teammates cheered when told the news. King County's elected prosecutor, Norm Maleng, didn't know beforehand that Stevens was going to be arrested. He and two top deputies � Dan Satterberg and Mark Larson � were "livid," Parker says. "They were mad that we had arrested him, because they had to deal with the media fallout," Parker says. "After all, he was going to be a superstar." That Friday afternoon, a faceoff took place at the prosecutors' offices. Parker said a meeting was called � "for me to explain my actions." Four of her superiors accompanied Parker: an assistant chief, a lieutenant and two sergeants. Six prosecutors attended, including Satterberg and Larson. Satterberg, the office's No. 2, reported straight to Maleng. Larson ran the criminal division. Satterberg sat across from Parker. Why did you arrest him? she said he asked. One of Parker's bosses told Satterberg: We don't need your permission to arrest someone. All we need is probable cause.

[GameTime]

a good time to bring this up was about 7 years ago.

[bucnut]

Bah.  We're only hearing one side of the story, and while I don't condone the lifestyle that Stevens has led, I can't become the judge and jury without ALL of the information.  He's been on the straight and narrow during his time in Tampa, and as long as he continues on that path, I don't have a problem with the Bucs re-signing him.

I'll tell you who's names ought to come out.  All those people who say they saw the young woman in trouble, but didn't do anything to help her. 

[BuckEmUp]

Some of the people on this board act like he is 100% guilty because this came out.  They also act like you have to be a model citizen to play in the NFL. 

I was charged with running a guy over when I was 16.  The charge was Aggrevated Battery with a deadly weapon.  After fighting the case in court I was found to be not guilty.  Then when I was 17 I was charged with assult which agian I had to fight in court to be found not guilty.  However, you could easly say that I was charged with these so I must be guilty, just like people are doing with Stevens.  Therefore, without hearing my side of the story I shouldn't be able to play in men's league softball, teach high school, or be able to spend any time in the community.  I was charged therefore I am a crazy man that can fly off the handle and try to run you down with my car. 

Sounds kind of ignorant to believe that when it is pointed out in another light? 

this is why the last thing you should believe is a story that presents one side.  How many article do you believe in the Trib or Times?  This guy just write for the local media like our hacks here do.

[Uncle Stan]

On Christmas eve morning 1975 I was charged with a vehicular felony. Don't remember exact verbiage, but it was serious.

The case ultimately went to court. I was found not guilty.

That didn't stop the dirty looks and comments I received.

On Christmas eve morning 1975 I was charged with a vehicular felony. Don't remember exact verbiage, but it was serious.

The case ultimately went to court. I was found not guilty.

That didn't stop the dirty looks and comments I received.

You molested a car?  Is this you?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2000899/Man-admits-'having-sex'-with-1,000-cars.html