 "Photo: Breanna Huff")
Nebraska wrestlers Paul Donahoe and Kenny Jordan deserved the dismissals the Athletic Department handed them after the two appeared naked and separately in photographs and performed sexual acts on themselves in videos on a pornography Web site.
However, they warranted the boot from the NU wrestling program not solely because of the online incident, which the NCAA has not yet deemed as a violation of its rules, but rather because of that incident coupled with a prior infringement of NCAA rules.
The Nebraska Athletic Department upheld policy and followed NCAA rules - as they should have - but we disapprove of the manner in which information was released to the public, particularly for concerned wrestling fans.
As details surfaced - very slowly - after the Aug. 12 dismissals, the public learned from NU's Athletic Director Tom Osborne that Donahoe and Jordan first became ineligible to participate on the wrestling squad in March after the duo violated an extra-benefits rule, which states athletes cannot accept benefits or gifts from university employees or boosters.
In that incident, the UNL Athletic Department appealed to the NCAA to have the wrestlers reinstated, Osborne told The Associated Press. The wrestlers were suspended one match.
By not providing the public with all relevant information at the onset of the dismissals, the Athletic Department has made it easy for the Husker community to question the department's integrity. The public has been left to view the wrestlers' dismissals as a possible infringement of First Amendment rights of the athletes' freedom of speech and expression.
NCAA officials remain mum on this topic, but we now know the NU Athletic Department made its decision based on Donahoe's and Jordan's repeated disregard for the rules and not based on this individual incident.
In an exclusive interview with the Daily Nebraskan, Kenny Jordan even saw eye to eye with the Athletic Department. One day after his dismissal from the NU wrestling program, Jordan said, "I made a bad decision, and I got in trouble. My punishment is definitely fair."
Last week, however, Jordan recanted his initial comments. He sent an electronic message to a Daily Nebraskan reporter on Tuesday saying, "...what we did was legal. So when I settle down, I want to take some (legal) action."
Jordan's comments shed light on the ineffectiveness of the NCAA rules regarding this situation. The rule in question says athletes cannot accept compensation for their images used for commercial use, but the rule fails to define the difference between NCAA wrestlers and amateur pornography models.
Donahoe and Jordan appeared on the site under the pseudonyms "Nash" and "Cal," distancing themselves from their Nebraska ties, the athletic department and the NCAA. Yes, their faces - because of the success the two have had in the wrestling program - keep them associated with the athletic team; however, we feel athletes should be able to have identities outside of the athletic program. By not clearly defining what an athlete can and cannot do, the NCAA leaves much open to interpretation, both for the public and for the athletes.
John Zelezny, a California communications lawyer and author of textbooks covering First Amendment law, told the Daily Nebraskan it's not enough to have a rule in print. Athletes have to be able to interpret the rule and understand its application. Now, Jordan plans to take legal action against the university. Zelezny said both wrestlers may have legitimate legal cases on their hands.
The next time there is another wrestlers gone wild escapade at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln or any university, we're hopeful the public will see more directness and openness from athletic officials when news surfaces about dismissals. Fans, fellow athletes, students and the community deserve the facts because without them, many people are left questioning and doubting.
We applaud NU officials, specifically Osborne, for playing by the rules and not tolerating repeat offenses from our athletes.
But we'll continue to shake our fingers at the NCAA. Until rules become consistent and specific, athletes will continue to unknowingly break them.
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