Four Vanderbilt University Football players were dismissed from the team amid a sex crimes investigation:
Four Vanderbilt University football players were kicked off the team Saturday and banned from the campus amid a Metro police sex crimes investigation.
According to the
link, there are about 100 football players on campus even though it is summer break, who are participating in organized team activities and workouts.
Friday, Metro police said that sex crimes detectives were investigating a case that arose Wednesday at a Vanderbilt University dorm. Shortly after revealing that investigation, Vanderbilt University suspended the four players.
Both police and the university have acknowledged that the action against the players was related to Metro's sex crimes investigation. In a Saturday email to The Tennessean, Vanderbilt athletics director David Williams wrote that he had "no statement at this time."
Police have declined to elaborate on exactly what they were investigating. None of the players has been named, and no arrests had been made by late Saturday. It's unclear how damaging the case could be to the university or its football program, particularly as the exact nature of the investigation remains secret.
The police and University of course are not revealing anything about the case but a former Tennessee Volunteers quarterback who now hosts a local
radio show said
this:
Former Volunteers quarterback Erik Ainge disclosed some of those details this morning on his Tennessee Sports Radio program, and they're ugly.
Former Tennessee Volunteers quarterback Erik Ainge, who now hosts a show on Tennessee Sports Radio, revealed this morning that a Vanderbilt football player under investigation for sex crimes “allowed” three teammates to rape his girlfriend.
Earlier this month, The Tennessean reported that sex crimes detectives and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation were investigating four Vanderbilt players, who had been kicked off the team for a violation of team rules.
This morning, Ainge provided what he said was “very reliable information” about the alleged crime.
“It is four football players, one of whom had a girlfriend — girlfriend victim,” he explained. “The four players, that girl were out, they were drinking.”
“They went back, boyfriend, Vandy football player, had sex with his girlfriend and then allowed his three drunk teammates with him to also have sex with his girlfriend — and she obviously did not want that to be the case.”
Ainge said that he was not given any names of the football players or the victim.
Audio is
here.
The case is being taken seriously, with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation testing evidence in its crime lab.
"Decisions in regard to charges will be made at the appropriate time as warranted by the investigation, which is expected to remain open and active into the near future," police said in a statement.
Evidence has been collected for examination by police investigators as well as by scientists at the TBI crime laboratory, the statement read.
Commenters at sites where this has been reported have expressed surprise at the j"surge" of such occurrences and wonder what is happening? Of course, it's no surge in women being treated this way, it's the attention such acts are starting to garner. Football is clearly a big thing at Vanderbilt University and after a visit to the
website you might not know there was a University associated with this team. iI think we may be witnessing a turning point in high school and football athletics and tolerance of crimes against girls and women. I believe that with the Steubenville case being reported and followed through on (thanks in part to
Anonymous) such acts are no longer being tolerated as they have in the past. The University wasted no time in acting on this, not just suspending them but dismissing the players from the team. It looks like the day is coming when football is not considered more important than a woman's dignity.