Arkansas State University football coach Gus Malzahn was forced yesterday to provide a little more explanation for running back Michael Dyer’s abrupt dismissal from the football team.
Turns out Malzahn knew about a March speeding stop in which a state trooper turned up a gun and some apparent marijuana. Turns out — and this is important — a state trooper who had provided “security” for the football team had alerted Malzahn to the stop. Turns out Dyer admitted presence of a gun, but said it had been carried legally in the car trunk. But he denied the trooper’s report that marijuana was present. Malzahn got yet another heads-up from the State Police last week, about the time newspaper reporters began snooping around about the stop and requesting the video of the incident. Apparent pot featured prominently. Dyer was gone.
Several questions. 1) Why didn’t Malzahn trust the state-supplied security officer in the first place? 2) Do State Police troopers provide courtesy calls on traffic stops to other employers?
The answer to the second question has been self-evident forever. Football is special. Even ASU football. But we now have two episodes of unpleasant consequences for people who, given the opportunity to come clean, didn’t reveal all to athletic authorities.
Fox 16 has full video of Malzahn’s remarks.