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'05 NJ LB Brian Cushing (USC Signee)

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Facebook group lands USC football player in hot water

An inside joke on the USC football team went awry when a Facebook group sparked outrage among students.

The racist Facebook group was created by a USC football player and showed a graphic of a black baby in handcuffs. An athletic department source said the group was a joke and had no serious purpose.

Junior linebacker Clay Matthews created the group, "White Nation," which featured a graphic with the caption, "arrest black babies before they become criminals."

Teammates David Buehler, Brian Cushing, Dan Deckas and Dallas Sartz joined the group.

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wadc45;776431; said:
Facebook group lands USC football player in hot water
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Sounds like there's a little bit more to the story. The article wadc45 linked says the "inside joke" was between players, but now a black coach may be involved and may be the one to give them the name:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/scorecard/03/09/truth.rumors.college/index.html

It started as an inside joke -- good-natured racial banter in the privacy of the locker room between a black assistant coach and a group of white players on the USC football team. They were members of an aggressive special teams unit. He called them the "White Nation." However, when it ended up on an Internet site, it struck outsiders as shockingly racist. On Thursday, USC officials and students scrambled to apologize, explain and contain a potential public relations embarrassment.
-- Los Angeles Times
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Their comment "arrest black babies before they become criminals." was over the line, though...
 
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Couple of points

1-College students are morons w/ facebook-they still don't get that God knows who will see everything they put on there, and an inside "joke" can stigmatize them-rightfully or wrongly-for life. The baby picture is just ridiculous-and putting it up there shows how dumb Matthews is.

2-Anyone who has not spent time in a football lockerroom/practice field-HS, college, pro-as either a player or coach-would not understand the humor or relationships that form there between players and staff, irregardless of race. I'm sure any PC type female would be horrified at what she heard in practice banter at St.X, Glenville, OSU, USC, Wittenberg, or the Cleveland Browns....there are jokes that should not go beyond the practice field-and lose their humor if they do-this is a prime example.
 
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stxbuck;782071; said:
2-Anyone who has not spent time in a football lockerroom/practice field-HS, college, pro-as either a player or coach-would not understand the humor or relationships that form there between players and staff, irregardless of race. I'm sure any PC type female would be horrified at what she heard in practice banter at St.X, Glenville, OSU, USC, Wittenberg, or the Cleveland Browns....there are jokes that should not go beyond the practice field-and lose their humor if they do-this is a prime example.
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As a college coach I would agree with this 100%...we have players of every race imagineable from every corner of the world and part of the camaraderie involves constant humor, much of which might seem offensive to people from outside the program looking in.
 
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Interesting aside: Last week I asked Cushing about how close he came to considering going to OSU. The New Jersey product said he was intrigued given the Buckeyes' great legacy of linebackers, but at the time he was scared off by concerns that Ohio State might be in trouble with the NCAA because at that time QB Troy Smith was in the news for his suspension for a bowl game. "I was afraid they might be going on probation," said Cushing, who ultimately chose USC over BC and Miami.
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ESPN - Bruce Feldman Blog
 
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