Kellenberger: Should Nkemdiche play in the Sugar Bowl?
POLL: Should Ole Miss keep Robert Nkemdiche out of the Sugar Bowl? (BELOW)
Robert Nkemdiche should have already played his last game for Ole Miss.
At some point before the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1, I would suspect that is going to be what will happen, and what Hugh Freeze said Monday about meeting with Nkemdiche before any decision is made is more about letting things play out than actually being up in the air about what to do. Because the alternative — playing Nkemdiche 20 days after he fell out of an Atlanta hotel room window — is terrible optics for a program and coach that spends a significant amount of time preaching about core values and representing the university in the right way. It also may not be what is ultimately best for Nkemdiche.
I get that Nkemdiche is a tremendous football player, and any game with him is better than one without — particularly when you’re No. 12 Ole Miss and you’re hoping to beat No. 16 Oklahoma State in a New Year’s Six bowl game. But what happened late Saturday night, with Nkemdiche busting through a hotel room window and falling at least 15 feet, is disturbing even if his physical injuries remarkably required only stitches.
There was marijuana in the room, but even that does not explain everything. Have you ever heard of this happening when someone just smoked weed?* What else was going on in that room? Who else was he with? And are there bigger issues at play with Robert and his older brother, Denzel, who have now both been hospitalized in separate incidents during the last month? (Denzel has not played since, and will not participate in the Sugar Bowl.)
“Obviously I haven’t helped them enough,” Freeze said about the Nkemdiches.
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On a personal level, I’ve always liked Robert. In an era when athlete banality is way too common, he’s always been thoughtful and open, including a willingness to discuss things outside of the realm of football. His eyes lit up when I asked him earlier this year about visiting the African village his family is from. He proceeded to tell me about staying up all night in order to witness a Nigerian sunrise, and how the experience had affected his worldview. You don't get that with everyone. In fact, it's rare.
I will not pretend to know all that is going on in his life right now, but I do hope Robert finds comfort and peace, just as we all deserve. His next step is the NFL, though this weekend’s events mean he’s surely not an option to be the first overall pick and will be subject to even more scrutiny (including drug tests) than before. But Nkemdiche’s talent is also so prodigious I would not be surprised to see him still selected in the first round.
His next team is likely to be far less forgiving than Freeze has been of the Nkemdiches’ mistakes. In Robert’s case that includes before now his alleged role in a fight that was the subject of a still-pending civil lawsuit, and the Internet-circulated photo of him smoking out of a bong last year. It all adds up to where you wonder if Nkemdiche understands exactly what is at stake and the millions of dollars he is leaving on the table with his actions. Does he just legitimately not care, or does something else have a hold of him?
Ultimately this decision is Freeze’s to make, and like he said Monday there’s no cut and dry answer. He’ll be criticized either way, I would suppose. But reading the police reports and listening to the 911 call, I just did not come away with the idea that the answer to this situation was more football. There’s always room for compassion, but that does not preclude wise judgment and punishment from also being appropriate.
Contact Hugh Kellenberger at (601) 961-7190 or hkellenber@jackson.gannett.com. Follow @HKellenbergerCL on Twitter.
* On Tuesday (a day after this story was published) Robert Nkemdiche categorically denied the use of synthetic drug use after a Fox Sports report linked it to his fall.