Iceland12
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Starting receiver Brian Smith kicked off Gophers football team after fight - Strib
Speaking in general terms to KFAN, Claeys said: “Ultimately, I am responsible. But at the same time, I can’t be with them 24 hours a day, when you have 110 kids all over the place. I don’t know if they take you serious sometimes and think that [punishment] just won’t happen.
“Sometimes there’s a mentality out there that as long as you’re winning, you can do what you want, and people will oversee it and find a way to get around it and whatever. But that’s not the case.
“I tell them all the time, you can play hard and aggressive on the football field. But when you’re off of it, you can be a good person, you can go to class, you can be involved in the community, and that is your obligation. And whenever you make a bad choice, you’re taking a chance of losing a privilege of being a part of the football team at the University of Minnesota.”...
The 6-4, 210-pound Smith had been a revelation this season after not seeing the field his first three years on campus, including his redshirt year in 2013. He graduated from Brookfield (Wis.) East High School and chose to walk on at Minnesota after not getting many scholarship offers.
Smith had seven catches for 101 yards at Penn State in this year’s Big Ten opener.
“I think everybody has always known that he has what it takes,” quarterback Mitch Leidner said of Smith last month. “He’s always been a little bit of a knucklehead.”
Smith agreed, saying he had just been “irresponsible.”
“Typical putting my social life ahead of football, stuff like that,” Smith said last month. “Not prioritizing the right way, stuff you do when you’re young, you don’t really think about it straight, stuff like that.”
Claeys and Leidner both had heart-to-heart talks with Smith over the offseason, and he started showing his promise.
“It took a lot of growing up for me, which obviously is influenced by everyone around here,” Smith said last month. “Once I decided what I wanted to get out of this opportunity, that’s when it was easy for me to make the most out of it.”
http://www.startribune.com/starting.../?ref=nl&om_rid=AAFNEI&om_mid=_BYGe9qB8xYRHCT
Speaking in general terms to KFAN, Claeys said: “Ultimately, I am responsible. But at the same time, I can’t be with them 24 hours a day, when you have 110 kids all over the place. I don’t know if they take you serious sometimes and think that [punishment] just won’t happen.
“Sometimes there’s a mentality out there that as long as you’re winning, you can do what you want, and people will oversee it and find a way to get around it and whatever. But that’s not the case.
“I tell them all the time, you can play hard and aggressive on the football field. But when you’re off of it, you can be a good person, you can go to class, you can be involved in the community, and that is your obligation. And whenever you make a bad choice, you’re taking a chance of losing a privilege of being a part of the football team at the University of Minnesota.”...
The 6-4, 210-pound Smith had been a revelation this season after not seeing the field his first three years on campus, including his redshirt year in 2013. He graduated from Brookfield (Wis.) East High School and chose to walk on at Minnesota after not getting many scholarship offers.
Smith had seven catches for 101 yards at Penn State in this year’s Big Ten opener.
“I think everybody has always known that he has what it takes,” quarterback Mitch Leidner said of Smith last month. “He’s always been a little bit of a knucklehead.”
Smith agreed, saying he had just been “irresponsible.”
“Typical putting my social life ahead of football, stuff like that,” Smith said last month. “Not prioritizing the right way, stuff you do when you’re young, you don’t really think about it straight, stuff like that.”
Claeys and Leidner both had heart-to-heart talks with Smith over the offseason, and he started showing his promise.
“It took a lot of growing up for me, which obviously is influenced by everyone around here,” Smith said last month. “Once I decided what I wanted to get out of this opportunity, that’s when it was easy for me to make the most out of it.”
http://www.startribune.com/starting.../?ref=nl&om_rid=AAFNEI&om_mid=_BYGe9qB8xYRHCT
