Colorado coach Jon Embree discussed the weekend incident involving eight of his players and Boulder police after practice today at length. He praised the police for their handling of the situation considering recent mass shootings and other gun violence and was clearly bothered by the behavior of his players.
I thought I’d share all his comments here because there just isn’t space in the paper to include all of them. Here is what Embree had to say.
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“It was three guys making poor decisions. They’ve all been talked to. Their parents have been talked to. So they all know what’s happening. DaVaughn Thornton and Jeff Thomas will miss the first two games, and then Jermane Clark is no longer in the program.”
“For the most part our players, with an exception here of there, have done a great job of trying to be the type of citizen that we want and that we want our fans to be proud of. I know no charges were filed and any of that, but at the end of the day, we don’t behave that way. There is no gray area when you behave like those guys behaved. They’ve been punished appropriately.”
Is it an unfair standard because it’s a football player versus any other person who is in Boulder at the time?
“No, cause I don’t care if I’m coaching the checkers team. If you’re on my team, there is a certain way we have to behave. …It’s a privilege to be on the team, and people are going to look up to you. You have kids looking up to you. So if you don’t think it’s fair, don’t be on the team. So you have to behave with a different standard. That’s just part of the deal.”
That’s not the only reason Jermane Clark isn’t on the team anymore right?
“No, there are some previous issues and all that. And he had some personal things going on back home. It’s just probably better that he be back there to be around his family and get a fresh start.”
How did he find out about it
“Players called me. They know that when something happens, I better hear it from them first. So I started getting some phone calls. I wish it would have been earlier cause they still slept in. I don’t know how some of them slept. They called. The other guys that were involved were just in the cars getting a ride home, but they are still being punished because if you get in trouble after midnight, no matter if it’s your fault or not, there is a certain punishment that will go along with that. So those guys are being punished for being out after midnight.”
He met with the players in his office
And he met with some of the players’ parents on Sunday
“To me it’s a testament to them that it ended up being a minor (incident), and I say them, the Boulder Police Department, because of all the stuff that has happened recently. I know if I was a policeman I’d be a little bit on edge. You’ve got to have better judgement than that at the end of the day.”
“I do take this serious, and I understand that the job that (police) have is one that it takes a special person to do that and want to do that.With all the events and all the things that have happened in the past, it’s just bad judgement. But we’ve got it handled.”
