Normally when a member of the New England Patriots is answering questions from the media, he knows what is ok to talk about and what is taboo - most likely the media knows as well. So why is it that if both parties are aware that a hot topic is under a Bill Belichick imposed gag order, the question is still brought up repeatedly?
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| Belichick has vouched for Dennard's character more than once |
When the athlete or coach says that they aren't going to discuss something, it is inevitably brought up by the next guy, then the next and the next - like a bunch of kids in the back of the car who know they are nowhere even close to their destination, but still ask the annoying question...
It kind of makes one curious as to if the athlete or coach wants to pull the car over and give them all something to whine about - particularly if the coach is Bill Belichick and if that athlete is Alfonzo Dennard.
Dennard is in Foxboro, Massachusetts participating in the New England Patriots training camp after spending last Wednesday afternoon in a Lancaster County, Nebraska courtroom - he and his attorney fighting to maintain his freedom after Dennard potentially violated the terms of his probation from a 2012 assault conviction, and probably was in no mood for the media and their redundant questions.
Careful, boys and girls, this is the guy that slugged a cop in the face last April, causing his draft stock to slip to almost nothing - and if he opens a can on one of Lincoln Nebraska's finest, what makes you think he's going to tolerate you?
In reality, the personable Dennard has been a model citizen in his time with the Patriots, and all indications are that he is primed to make the fabled second year jump to stardom in the New England secondary - which is neither here nor there as long as the potential exists for Dennard to spend time in the country jail instead of on the field at Gillette Stadium.
But as long as he was on the field and accessible to the child-like media, they are going to ask about his pending court case, even though they know what the answer will be.
"I'm not going to talk about that right now." Dennard said, quoting the company line, "It's football right now."...
..."Alfonzo, can you tell us about the night you were arrested?" came a question from another direction, to which he replied, "I'm just here to play football. I'm not going to get into it."
"Alfonzo, are you confident the judge will allow you to continue playing football this season?"
"I'm not going to talk about it, not going to get into it"...
Alfonzo this, Alfonzo that...Alfonzo, are we there yet?
When Alfonzo Dennard slugged the cop, he was engaged in fisticuffs with another bar patron outside a Lincoln nightclub after being out for a few drinks, and when the plain-clothes officer approached him from behind and tried to pull Dennard away from the scrum, the former University of Nebraska cornerback fed him a knuckle sandwich...
...which had more to do with the cop violating the Rudy Tomjanovich rule of never running up behind someone who is in the midst of a physical confrontation than it did Dennard targeting a cop, but the jury didn't buy it and convicted him of felony assault on a police officer for which he could have received 5 years in the poke, but got off with a wrist-slap month in jail and two years probation...
...something that the Lincoln cops considered a miscarriage of justice - so when they pulled Dennard over early one morning a few weeks ago for straddling a lane line and arrested him on suspicion of DUI, it left his freedom an ambiguous entity, as an arrest of any kind could be considered a violation of his probation and land him in jail.
So given the volatility of the situation, Dennard's attorney asked for and was granted a ruling as to whether his client was still eligible to leave the State of Nebraska to attend Patriots' training camp, or did the DUI arrest place that right in jeopardy. This question was to be posed at a probation revocation hearing this week, but training camp would have started by then, and Dennard needed clarification.
And District Judge Robert Otte provided just that, not just for Dennard, but also for the Lancaster County Attorney, ruling that Dennard could return to Massachusetts for work, but must return on August 12th for a hearing on the suspicion of DUI allegation - but also putting off the revocation hearing until after the Patriots' camp and all but one preseason game has been completed.
Given the fact that Wednesday's hearing came as a surprise to the County Attorney's office and also to the Parole and Probation folks, one could be compelled to wonder how the leniency shown towards Dennard in allowing him to continue his work despite his pending legal issues reflects the attitude of the courts regarding his DUI arrest.
The facts of the case are in dispute and, in fact, are mirror opposites of each other. The County Attorney represents the police claim that after Dennard was pulled over for straddling a lane line in the early morning hours of July 11th, he was given a sobriety test, failed it and was given a breathalyzer test, which the cops claim he failed because he didn't blow hard enough to activate the sensors, then he refused a "Chemical test" once at the station...
...while Dennard claims he had two beers early in the evening, fell asleep between 9pm and 1am, got up and drove to his girlfriend's house. On the way, pulled over, given the sobriety test which he claims the cops said he passed, then took him to the jail anyway where he blew the breathalyzer then refused the chemical test - spending a little time in the detox portion of the facility.
The leniency of the court could have been simple due process in granting a hearing for a person on probation to leave the State for work purposes, but back-scheduling the revocation hearing until after the initial hearing for the Suspicion of DUI charge is telling - because had the court any reservations regarding a suspected probation violation, he would still be in Nebraska, probably in a jail cell...
...and probably not a member of the Patriots secondary any longer. But team owner Bob Kraft and coach Belichick obviously believe Dennard's account of the Suspected DUI arrest and have lent their weight to the proceedings, vouching for the character of their second year corner via letters to the court.
Since Dennard was convicted last summer for the assault of a police officer and sentenced to those two years of probation, the parameters of which allowed him to leave Nebraska for work, so long as he stayed out of trouble - when he was pulled over and arrested on suspicion of DUI, the courts could have revoked his probation and sent him to jail...
...causing him to miss training camp, the preseason and most likely at least part of the regular season - but it didn't happen. Instead, Dennard was ordered back to the court on August 27th for the revocation hearing, allowing him to participate in camp and preseason games - and that doesn't happen with a stone-cold lock case against the defendant.
In fact, it appears on the surface that the early morning arrest was more a matter of Dennard being targeted by Lincoln police in an attempt to gain retribution for the flaky "assault" on one of their own than of Dennard being guilty of anything - that the court recognizes that this may be the case and is making it's judgments based on what could turn out to be a damage control effort for both the police and the County Attorney's office...
...and when this episode with Dennard is done, and whatever becomes of his status after the commissioner gets hold of him, you can add another positive on the list of what the Patriot Way means - to stay the course, sticking to your guns and continue to do what has brought your franchise the success that it has enjoyed for a decade and a half...
...not giving in to pressure from those in the local media that have been trashing the Patriot Way since the Hernandez thing came up, not changing the way you do things just to appease that thinking - instead, continue to build the juggernaut that this team should be and save the talking for the field, where questions like these are never asked.
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