it will be good to see what kind of tone willie taggert comes in and sets. will he go the jimbo route and let everyone get away with any and everything or will he make an example out of francious and let everyone else know anyone can get it. anyways... heres the story below. only posted because it may have implications on who the starting QB is on labor day.
Florida State quarterback Deondre Francois was reportedly served notice Thursday to appear in court on a misdemeanor marijuana charge.
According to the Tallahassee Democrat's Jim Henry, Francois is facing a charge of possession of fewer than 20 grams of marijuana.
"We are aware of the situation and it is being handled internally," head coach Willie Taggart told Henry.
Francois, a redshirt junior, broke out in 2016 when he completed 58.8 percent of his passes for 3,350 yards, 20 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
However, his 2017 season was cut short in the fourth quarter of the Seminoles' season-opening loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide when he suffered a torn patellar tendon.
According to Henry, Francois has been "limited" in spring practice and taken snaps behind true sophomore James Blackman.
The Seminoles are scheduled to hold their annual spring game Saturday night.
Francois, 21, was previously investigated in January for allegations of domestic violence involving his pregnant girlfriend. No arrests were made and charges were not filed
happy Friday!
Comments
As part of his rehab, pain management. There will be nothing to see here.
I mean, meh. College kids smoke dope. I doubt he starts against the hokies anyway. My money is on Blackmon. Also to note, the domestic violence incident was his girlfriend attacking him... not the other way around.
yeah, I just copied the story wasn't insinuating anything.
but I think François is the better player over Blackmon if healthy.
That was the story with infamous "vase".
At UVA they pronounce it "vase"'and put flowers in it.
And at VT they pronounce it "kev'in" and put Commonwealth Cup W's in it
They're totally going to suspend him for the opening kickoff.
FTFY
Yeah Jimbo was actually pretty strict for FSU's standards
There's no doubt in my mind that if Taggert thinks Francois is his best QB, then nothing will happen.
Francois Smokes University
He will sit out the opening kickoff then come in for their first offensive snap
*drink*
He's going to be suspended for the first quarter...
...of their spring game.
minus credit for time served in practice.
Either way it's a loss. No consequences - no clear team expectations. Suspend him - great athlete not on the field.
Feeling really bad for the Seminoles.
via GIPHY
Why would you feel bad for them?
He's a week early for 4/20.
Oh man I thought we were talking about something serious.... like stealing crab legs.
Or shoes.
How many times do we have to say it?
Those crab legs were given to him. They were "on the house".
"Francios will be required to sit out one cough* Spring cough* game."
--Taggert probably
Taggart is probably hoping the charges go away. But this has to be pain for a new coach with a star or at least media focused player. What to do.
That should pretty much answer any/all questions.
In other words, no punishment than anyone external could discern.
He'll probably sit out a half or a quarter of the first game. It wouldn't surprise me if they swept it under the rug though.
Better to hit the blunt than let the blunt hit you
Compared to the normal rapes and stealing of crab legs this is relatviely minor amirite? I am sure the quality members of the TPD will take care of things. Smdh...
LINKY
disregard. Don't want to go there.
If this what was found, what did they possibly hide?
the 2lb bag he broke down and sold im guessing
Wait.. a kid in college smoked some weed? BOY GET OUT OF HERE I HAVE 40+ YEAR OLD COWORKERS IN A VERY WHITE COLLAR ENVIRONMENT THAT HIT THAT GAS EVERY NOW AND THEN AND SOME MORE OFTEN THAN THAT #WHOLELOTTAGANGSHIT
I think the part that got the police involved was the 2 lbs he had in a paper bag when a witness saw another "drug related crime" occur. It is hard to argue personal use when you have 2 lbs of it. I know they didn't catch him with that much and they only have the witness's testimony but that is why they got involved.
Except they only found 17 grams in his room.
They're not dropping charges, because they have to do something, but they're offering him the most lenient deal possible, with a pre-trial diversion class, and might be on legal probation for up to a year and pay $100 in court bills. Other than that, they're essentially saying they wasted their time with this, and the tipster was full of shit.
does every school have a student conduct committee? or whatever it was that got CJ reavis booted from VT?
Just stop
Yeah, I have no idea whether he is innocent or guilty or what and the tipster could easily be full of it. Or he sold the evidence before the cops arrived. There is no way of knowing. The only thing we know is the TPD did not find evidence to back up the allegations and only charged him with what they could prove. The thing that has to be driving Taggart crazy is he keeps putting himself in situations where things aren't a good look for him. It doesn't speak well to his decision making off of the field.
They're grasping at straws so much that they included his two iPads with cracked screens. What does that mean? That he's careless with his iPads? That he has AppleCare+?
They wrote everything taken in the search warrant.
Actually, two iPads and three iPhones is around $4000 bucks. No normal college student has that sort of coin. Reeks of impermissible benefits.
The police are not there for impermissible benefits. They are there to see if one of them is set up in a separate name/account specifically for setting up drug sales. If thats on your personal phone they got you, so keep a separate account for that and don't carry it around or admit its yours. Run texting on wi-fi through an app, not through a phone provider.
Easy there Avon Barksdale, I was commenting on something that could be ancillary to this, not something the police would focus on. There's multiple possible avenues for this to bite Francois in the ass. No need to get condescending, in a questionably specific way no less.
I did not mean to be condescending, just musing that the under the circumstances I think it likely he got the phones by shadier means than a recruitment gift. The search warrant was for drugs. They seized the phones. The only way they could do that was if they had reason to believe they were related to the drugs - either as payment for drugs or for use in dealing them. I was not trying to imply that I knew the reason he had them, only that that was the reason they could, and did seize them. The only other way they could seize them on that charge was if they had been previously reported stolen by someone else.
Although legalization of marijuana is probably not going to fly in the South, you would imagine that some state government is going to realize the recruiting advantage of legalizing weed and make it legal the next day to get that edge in the SEC. My money is on Louisiana, since they have only 1 major D1 school and already have relaxed open container laws in several jurisdictions.
That could work. Or,
LSU flies into Tuscaloosa on Friday, half the team gets busted by Bubba getting off the plane, only forty guys appear on the sideline on Saturday. The other forty guys released from jail on Sunday morning.
I mean its only a matter of time before UNLV is dominating football and basketball, right?
because of gambling? not sure I understand. also not sure why UNLV would be considered a major D1 school, at least in football.
also not sure how UNLV would relate to the TIC nature of the original post, which insinuated that South would never legalize marijuana, but, maybe they would if it helped them on Saturdays in the fall.
both Nevada and UNLV have been good with basketball at times. Nevada was probably better than anyone not named Arizona in the PAC-12, this year, but I have no idea if their state laws affects their recruiting
Weed is legal in Nevada now. The joke is that if schools in states with legal recreational marijuana use it as a recruiting pitch, and they can steal recruits from SEC schools, then SEC fans will pressure state legislators to legalize marijuana in the south. Otherwise, it seems unlikely that the south will legalize pot.
Part of the south's rejection of pot may also stem from hemp production that could be ancillary to cannabis production for recreational use. Hemp would create competition for cotton.
Mmm I'm pretty sure it's for other reasons...
I did try to be clear in stating that it was likely only partially an economic concern. I won't beat around the bush, the majority of it is still probably due to the racist underpinnings of marijuana prohibition in the first place.
And I'd ask that before anyone gets hyperdefensive about that statement, they do just a little googling. Plenty of reading material backing my claim.
I don't get how its a race thing. Definitely more an economic or morality/vice thing.
Let's keep this in the context of being a football related thing before this conversation takes a turn.
Historically, he's correct. In early days of agrarian economy in the South it was a battle between the hemp lobby and cotton lobby. Cotton won and Congress passed laws against hemp trade. This is originating point of why hemp and canabis in USA is illegal. Long before the illegality of using it in an illicit drug form.
Yea, but that analogy makes no sense on the west coast. Weed is legal in almost every state here. Who would choose UNLV over any PAC 12 school?
Less than 4 hours away of Vegas is a school known as USC, which has some football prestige. It also happens to be in a city where you can have your weed delivery guy on speed dial and he'll be there in 30 minutes.
There is no legal-weed recruiting edge at UNLV.
I can't believe you can get anywhere in LA in 30 minutes.
This is true... But there are a lot of weed guys everywhere, especially around campus
I don't know, both of the 'big' state schools in Colorado seem to be playing above their historical average lately since weed got legalized.
*I make this statement with no sources or data to back it up. It's simply a gut feeling that I seem to have from the last couple years.
First time ever for this headline "Weed charges could prove beneficial for Blackman"
Edit: I'm not going to remove the comment just because of misinterpretations of my meaning, but to clarify my point... I'm pointing out that our culture actually values athletics over properly punishing those who commit rape. There is nothing intentionally flippant about my choice of words. The man in question is now a multi-millionaire with the world at his fingertips.
Should have just stuck to the time-honored FSU QB traditions of stealing crabs and raping undergrads. Less chance of getting charged.
Flippant remarks about rape have no place on this, or any, forum.
Those who cover for criminals and rapists should always be mocked and ridiculed on this and every forum.
rape = bad
mkay
Just a little advice
He's looking at a first-quarter suspension.
But he gets the other 3 quarters at friend prices, so net-net...
Camping out for 2 months for less than 20 grams of weed is..... stupid.
I'm surprised TPD didn't try and cover this up though. They let Jameis steal from Publix and allegedly (probably) commit sexual crimes. Yet, they get a tip of some weed and it leads to full on rummage of trash and execution of a search warrant.
So, in sum. In Tallahassee, stealing and sexual crimes OK. Weed tip will lead to 2-month surveillance, search warrant, and arrest.
Obviously, TPD doesn't think that Francois is the long-term answer at quarterback for FSU.
They didn't camp out, they couldn't, his apartment layout and position prevented around the clock surveillance. So all they really did was four times check his trash and then execute a search warrant.
For a small amount of weed that is ridiculous.
The informant said they had an entire grocery bag and were selling it while also participating in other criminal activity. Picking up trash four times in sixty days and going through it is fairly easy for a street crimes unit.
When I worked in Florida, our city hall was next to the police station. Sometime's I'd come in to work and there would be PD out there sifting through trash. I always had a laugh and thought, "I'm gonna go sit down at my desk and audit this garbage pail of a GIS database."