ESPN's Outside the Lines Discovers More New Violent Allegations against Baylor Football Players

I was at lunch when the OTL Report dropped, hence the Fanshot hastily thrown into the cover of the main page.  Here's the report, which you should read in its entirety if you have the ability to do so:

Police records detail several more violence allegations against Baylor football players https://t.co/p4pdQ4sRZK

— Mark Schlabach (@Mark_Schlabach) May 18, 2016

If you don't have the ability to read it, I'll try to summarize: According to police documents received by Outside the Lines regarding sexual and other assaults covering a six-year period (I'm guessing 2009 to 2015, but the report doesn't state specifically which years), several other Baylor players not previously named were accused or charged of violent behavior.  The report names specifically CB Tyler Stephenson, RB Devin Chafin, and S Ahmad Dixon as those accused of violence against women, and includes others as having been involved in off-campus fights or other incidents.  The Dixon mention is particularly interesting since the report also says that both he and the alleged victim deny it happened. The report also discusses the involvement of Waco Police in arguably hiding one or more of these incidents, although the Department says that it is not all related to the people involved being Baylor Football players.

The bottom line from the report is that if you thought things were going to get better, they're not.  At least one of the victims mentioned in this report alleges that Briles and/or other coaches knew about her allegations and did nothing.  Another says that she was never contacted by Pepper Hamilton, the firm that just issued its report to Baylor and was supposed to be doing the deepest possible dive.  She also said this, which I suspect will become the resounding sentiment from this and other reports:

"I'd seen other girls go through it, and nothing ever happened to the football players," she said. "It's mind-boggling to see it continue to happen. I can't understand why. I think as long as they're catching footballs and scoring touchdowns, the school won't do anything."

I don't think I have to tell you that if this statement, or at least the sentiment that Baylor is knowingly overlooking dangerous or violent acts committed by football players because they are football players, is true, there will and should be hell to pay.  That's not who we are as a university, generally, or who we profess to be, as a faith-based institution.

It's time for Baylor to come square about what it knows or believes about these events.  It's time to release the report.  It's time for Briles to go beyond wanting to talk about football and issue a real statement addressing a serious problem that may or may not be his to solve but certainly is his to care deeply about.  And as much as I hate online petitions or meaningless boycotts that do nothing to help anything except the feelings of the actors, it's time for us, as Baylor fans, to demand that these things happen.

Like I've had to do far more times than I ever could have expected, I'd ask that people think carefully before commenting on this post. This issue simultaneously involves and transcends a stupid game played on a football field on Saturdays in the fall. So, too, should our discussion of it.