Ex-Notre Dame RB Allen Pinkett: Irish need 'criminals' to succeed [UPDATE]
UPDATE (2:14 EDT): Bryan Fischer of CBS Sports tweets that Allen Pinkett will not participate in the Notre Dame-Navy broadcast, but has not been sent home.
https://twitter.com/BryanDFischer/status/241234317509009408
We wouldn't have believed it if we didn't hear the actual audio (available here), but in a radio interview with 670 The Score in Chicago on Wednesday, former Notre Dame running back -- and current Irish radio analyst -- Allen Pinkett said that his alma mater needs to have some "criminals" on its roster in order to succeed.
Here are some choice tidbits:
“I’ve always felt like, to have a successful team, you gotta have a few bad citizens on the team. I mean, that’s how Ohio State used to win all the time. They would have two or three guys that were criminals. That just adds to the chemistry of the team. I think Notre Dame is growing because maybe they have some guys that are doing something worthy of a suspension, which creates edge on the football team. You can’t have a football team full of choir boys. You get your butt kicked if you have a team full of choir boys. You gotta have a little bit of edge, but the coach has to be the dictator and ultimate ruler."
And:
“I don’t want any mass murders or rapists. I want guys that maybe get caught drinking that are underage, or guys that maybe got arrested because they got in a fight at a bar, or guys that are willing to cuss in public and don’t mind the repercussions of it. That’s the type of criminal I’m talking about.”
And:
“Chemistry is so important on a football team. You have to have a couple of bad guys that sort of teeter on that edge to add to the flavor of the guys that are going to always do right. ... You look at the teams that have one in the past. They always have a couple of criminals."
Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick issued a terse response to Pinkett's comments: “Allen Pinkett’s suggestion that Notre Dame needs more 'bad guys' on its football team is nonsense. Of course, Allen does not speak for the University, but we could not disagree more with this observation."
UPDATE: Sounds as if Pinkett might be suspended from his radio job. Here's a statement from Notre Dame IMG College Sports Network, courtesy Eric Hansen of the South Bend Tribune:
https://twitter.com/hansenNDInsider/status/240963550330359808
https://twitter.com/hansenNDInsider/status/240963682820034561
And an apology from Pinkett:
https://twitter.com/hansenNDInsider/status/240963997862600704
https://twitter.com/hansenNDInsider/status/240964129978994688
https://twitter.com/hansenNDInsider/status/240964413723648000
