Three Nevada football players were arrested for driving under the influence in a 24-hour period. Then two more were arrested for the same offense in the following months.
According to the Nevada director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving: “They’re not getting it.” “The crime of DUI is pervasive in our society, and that is evidenced by the approximately 300 or more people who are sentenced each month in the Truckee Meadows. For there to be five out of however many there are on a football team is a huge percentage.”
Senior receiver Rocco Bene, 22 at the time, was arrested in the early morning hours on May 23. Senior receiver Mike McCoy, 22, and sophomore defensive back Kenny Viser, 21, were arrested about 24 hours later after both left the same party. Redshirt freshman receiver Shane Anderson, 19, was arrested Nov. 24, and senior center and team captain Dominic Green, 22, was arrested recently on Dec. 12th.
After Bene and Viser were arrested, they pleaded guilty and were accordingly sentenced, and soon after dismissed from the team due to their arrests. Coach Chris Ault said both players had prior violations of team policy.
The other three players were placed on team probation for one year and lost their scholarships. Green also lost his captaincy for the Roady’s Humanitarian Bowl, Dec. 30 in Boise, Idaho, against Maryland. The cases on all three are pending.
The other eight Western Athletic Conference football teams have been able to avoid DUI arrests this year. Two teams, Hawaii and Louisiana Tech, had a player arrested for felonies this year, and two others, Boise State and New Mexico State, had a player arrested for misdemeanors.
Stadler, a volunteer for MADD since 1990, is concerned about what’s being done to curb such behavior rather than what’s being done afterward. “It would seem the university is not doing a very good job recruiting people and choosing athletes with a responsible history or they’re not sending them a very strong message or they’re not providing any training for them,” she said. “With the numbers they’re having, it seems they should do some education efforts rather than after the fact.”
