My Take on Demar Dorsey

First of all, lets all remember that we're talking about 17 and 18 year old kids here. That, along with the fact that the world of recruiting is an ever-changing beast usually dissuades me from covering it too heavily. But since Dorsey is not just a recruit, but a committed member of the 2010 Michigan football squad...he deserves the attention that we'd give any other member of the team.

Demar Dorsey is a very gifted athlete...obviously. Without his ability on the football field, he'd never get into Michigan, much less be given a scholarship. The same goes for about 95% of the entire football team. So to assume that Dorsey doesn't fit some sort of high moral standard that Michigan is somehow known for is a useless argument. A checkered legal past is reason for caution. But there is a fine line between being accused of a crime, and being charged for it. That's a very slippery slope, and I realize that. So we're not going to get into it. I'll just assume that he did commit these crimes and for whatever reason was never charged.

But think back to when you were just a teenager...I bet you did some things that you might regret, or maybe got into a little bit of trouble that maybe could have been avoided. Now of course I never committed burglary...but I also never ran with the type of crowd that would do such a thing...Demar Dorsey did.

But from were I stand, I see a kid who knows he did wrong...expressed regret, has channeled that into being a great high school football player, and has gotten the attention of the some of the biggest programs in college football. What this kid needs is a fresh start in a place very far away from the life he led in Florida. And when he arrives in Ann Arbor this summer, that's what will happen.

I will not cast a "Rich-Rod recruits thugs" accusation until I see it. With Justin Feagin the lone exception so far, I have been impressed with the character of the players I've seen Rodriguez recruit. Feagin was a desperation offer made by a first year coach who needed someone at QB because the cupboard was as bare as it has ever been. But as it turned out, Feagin was a very bad seed...and he was dealt with accordingly.

I would also go ahead and say that one of the Lloyd's guys, Boubacar Cissocko has been maybe one of the biggest off-field distractions in the last year...and Rodriguez has given him two chances to make things right and Cissocko screwed it up, so Rodriguez said goodbye.

So until Dorsey does something for me to change my mind, if this kid is looking for a fresh start at Michigan, then that's exactly what he should get. I don't care about what the mainstream press is saying. The Detroit Free Press has continually made it clear that they can't stand Rodriguez and are looking for anything that will cast a bad light on the Michigan program so that Rodriguez will be run out of town.

From their crucifixion of Rodriguez in the "practice-gate" allegations from last August, they have had it out for the embattled Michigan coach. So when Rodriguez jumped a little bit at the press last week in defending his recruit, he might have overstepped the situation a little bit by attacking the media...but what would you expect for a coach who cares a lot about his players and has had to put up with way more than his fair share of media scrutiny. I'm not a Rodriguez apologist, but I am willing to back up a guy when I feel that he's being vilified for really no reason. Both Rodriguez and Dorsey share that in common these days, and like I said before...until I see something to rip these guys apart with, I'll let their actions on the field be the judge of their character rather than flimsy accusations (Rodriguez) and a couple bad decisions as a juvenile (Dorsey).