Why would he want to have someone else’s used gear?
His 3 stars merit at least a bunch of good gear from lots of other sources besides having to buy any…
And what kind of guy (player) posts his haul all over the internet?
Just stupid…
At this point, guilty or innocent, I don’t want this kind of stupid being anywhere near the Coog’s locker room…
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there’ve been worst we probably never were aware of unfortunately
I don’t think this is a big deal, this article talks about taking gear being a wacky part of recruitment and how the active players don’t like it and will even hide their gear, this is not the same as the recruits that stole the jewelry from Colorado players. Also Lane declared for the draft on 12/15 and did not play in the Alamo Bowl so these allegations are months old.
How is theft not a big deal?
The same way there is no police report and we are hearing about it months after it happened, when USC is not recruiting him. All the items are team issued, Ja’Kobi can be pissed, but somebody let him walk out of there with the stuff, he even posted the pic on Instagram. The response is I hate recruits like that, not he needs to be put in jail. Ja’Kobi’s post was even “Yall kids out there just know this is simply unacceptable” and publicly shaming him, not I notified the police and am pressing charges.
I haven’t said he needs to be in jail.
All I’ve said, as it relates to the theft itself, is…
…he doesn’t need the play for the Coogs.
Saying it’s not a big deal because he isn’t the only one who does it, or that it doesn’t matter because the team paid for the gear, are both points I completely disagree with.
If someone breaks into your house, is it okay because others do it?
If they kill your dog, is it okay if you picked it up from the shelter and didn’t have to pay for it?
But to be clear, I have said from the very beginning, that if he’s guilty of stealing the stuff, or “paying for stolen stuff”, he should return the items and COME CLEAN.
It appears he has returned the items, but I don’t think he’s come clean. He’s just in “damage control”… which still speaks to his character.
If I’m wrong about that, I’ll accept it. But the entire thing gets stinkier the more he tries to make it out to be a “misunderstanding”.
One last point…
It doesn’t matter if it happened last Fall or yesterday. The story has broken out recently, and that’s why it’s being discussed on this MB.
He had a Houston offer, which I would say the majority of Coog Fans have an issue with…
Not just because it was a bad thing, but because of the way he’s handled it.
If he was a USC commit or even had an USC offer and Ja’Kobi wanted his stuff back they would have handled it internally. Personally I think this has more to do with the wild recruiting entitlement system than the character of 1 athlete. Something can be wrong and allowed at the same time, I would 100% agree with you if it included a single non-team issued item. I guarantee he is not the only one, he may have been the only one to take that much stuff though.
This is only making the rounds in the content creater space, if this was something it would be on ESPN.
The story is evolving. Apparently he got them from an early enrollee OL.
https://collegefootballnetwork.com/lincoln-rileys-recruit-jakobi-lane-accusations/
So…
Esun Tafa stole the items.
Brawley Tuitopoa willingly accepted them.
Receipts?
Not so sure about that, at this point.
To suggest Lane is guilty of ANYTHING, as the victim of theft, is ludicrous and unfair…
The author of this article went too far.
He should have stuck with what he KNEW, and left out the speculation about Lane in the draft, IMO…
We know enough now to know the entire situation is sad.
2 young players took part in things that put their character in question.
Lane is not at fault, in any way, for anything.
As long as Brawley doesn’t come to Houston, I could care less about this topic any more.