This post on allegations of sexual abuse and sexual harassment has nothing to do with sports. In fact, it could be the insurance industry, accounting or manufacturing. It has nothing to do with Bobby Okereke really, but anyone who may have crossed the #MeToo line of “no” meaning “NO!” Further, this blog is not about guilt or innocence. I haven’t enough information.
This post is about bad choices and how they never leave us.
The Stanford Incident
In 2019, Stanford linebacker Bobby Okereke was selected in the third round of the NFL draft by the Indianapolis Colts. It has now come to light that the team’s GM, Chris Ballard, knew that when they drafted the player that he carried baggage. Ballard acknowledged that Bobby Okereke had an allegation of sexual assault against him in 2015. We are talking five years ago.
In 2016, there was a Title IX investigation and the committee sided with Okereke. He did not face any consequences at that time and Ballard felt the matter was over and done with. According to Ballard:
“When we looked at it and talked about it and talking to the young man, an incident from four years ago, no discipline by the university and he was never charged with a crime. And then you look at his track record from that point to now. Team captain. Lott Trophy quarterfinalist. He graduated with a degree in management and engineering. He’s working on his master’s. From 2015 to 2019, from everything we gathered and high recommendations that we got, it felt appropriate to take him.”
Ballard felt that whatever happened, and if the school cleared him that everything was fine. However, upon deeper exploration, the situation gets murkier.
The New York Times – Bad Choices And How They Never Leave Us
In 2016, The New York Times reported on a Stanford football player [Bobby Okereke] who wasn’t disciplined by Stanford or the team after the Title IX board cleared him. Nevertheless, of the committee of five, three panelists did agree that a sexual assault took place. The way the rules are set up is that four of five must agree. While I am not about to debate the Title IX process, to have 60 percent of a committee believe that something happened – and to not discipline, seems a rather liberal standard.
Apparently, Bobby Okereke’s accuser was so enraged at the decision she left the university. Imagine an accountant being interviewed for a position in a high-powered firm going before a panel of five partners. It comes out that the candidate was alleged to commit fraud with another firm five years before. Three of five partners feel the candidate may have committed fraud. Do you think he would have been hired? I think not.
Continued the Colts GM:
“(These things are) very difficult. Not only from our perspective from trying to get the information, but from the university perspective. You have a he-said, she-said incident…but as I’ve kind of said, it happened four years ago and because there were no charges or disciplinary actions by the university and then his track record from everything we know to this point has been good.”
There is nothing pretty about sexual assault. The choices made at the moment can last for years. Three of the Title IX panelists had reason to believe the woman. That is really the only thing that matters for this discussion.
Bobby Okereke put himself in a position to make a bad choice. The consequences of that choice are temporarily halted but not evaporated. I don’t know if he “got away” with something or not. The majority of the panelists felt he was in the wrong.
It might be argued that as an NFL football player he has fame and wealth and the incident (if it occurred) is well behind him. It isn’t. It was a choice with consequences. It was a choice borne out of unethical behavior and a lack of ethical training.
One Day Soon
As an NFL linebacker, if Bobby Okereke is lucky, he might have a three-to-five-year playing life. He potentially might get endorsement deals, but I would not guarantee it. No sponsor wants to take on the baggage. The media and cyberspace most probably won’t forget. With degrees in management and engineering, my presumption is that he will one day try to join the workforce. His future company will be well aware of his past. Will it matter? It’s hard to say, but it won’t help him.
His choice will follow him well into the future.
