Love Boat Charges filed...

[lawdog]

Four players were charged with misdemeanors today for their parts in the Lake Minnetonka orgy.

Daunte Culpepper, Bryant McKinnie, Fred Smoot and Moe Williams were charged.

Apparently not enough good evidence for stiffer (pardon the pun) charges.

[eyepatrol]

This is the second incident Culpepper has been associated around or with. First was the snowmobile incident a couple years back and now this. Is this the guy we as sports fans want leading our team? I'd be willing to bet that Peyton Manning and the other elite quarterbacks in the NFL aren't doing these sorts of things. My guess is they are either resting their bodies to get healthy, studying film, practicing, or attending some charitable event.

I know what I'd do if I owned the team. My guess though is they'll say something like "we're all about giving people second chances" or somthing like that. Let the "superstar" get off easy.

Oh well. Will be interesting to see fan reaction in the upcoming days, weeks, and when he returns to the field. Maybe fans won't feel as strongly about it as I do.

Just my $.02 worth.

[namtkd1]

I am embarrass to wear #11 jersey now...

Nam

[redlake]

I really thought Moe Williams was a better guy. He doesn't fit the profile of a drop your pants in public guy. Moe goes about his business on the field like a true professional. Very disappointed. Culpepper as a person doesn't fit these charges either. I guess he got his roll on for real, so to speak. Nice of him to do with a wife and kids at home. JACKA$$.

Mt. McKinney and Smoot seem like some real winners in my opinion. I would send Smoot down the road and I would have cut him yesterday. Woofs alot with a big paycheck and can't back it up on the field.

I would sit them all for the rest of the season without pay. That would make them think twice next time they drop their pants in public thinking they are untouchable.

[Mitty]

What a bunch of spoiled BUMS.I would get rid of Culpepper as soon as possible.

[JIvers]

Note that these are misdemeanor charges, not felonies. If the four charged players are in fact guilty of lewd and lascivious conduct, it is safe to say they are guilty of poor judgement and bad taste as well. I would not say this makes them the sort of people you immediately cut from the squad. Basically, the charge is that they got too frisky with some strippers, which really doesn't bother me at all, although they should have known better than to do it on a hired cruise boat. Harrassing the young girls who worked on the boat, as at least one player is said to have done, is a little more serious, but I am going to wait until more evidence comes out before I pass judgement on anyone.

I am not excusing what they allegedly did, but I am saying that it should be put in some perspective. Ken Stabler, the Raiders QB of the Seventies, and Lawrence Taylor reveled in this sort of behavior (and worse in LT's case). They still got the job done on the field, and no one questioned their leadership abilities.

As I see it, the four charged players will face more than enough punishment from public humiliation. Culpepper in particular will suffer from this, regardless of whether he is found guilty. Millions in endorsement deals just flew out the window, and if I remember correctly he is still married, in which case he has other fallout to deal with at home.

[harvey lee]

I would fire the lot of them. You dont need players like them to win a superbowl.Heck were 6-0 without pepper so he can go away.Johnson might not have the big name but he has the wins and doesnt have anything close to the turnovers that pepper has.Johnson does have one ring that pepper doesnt,and thats not for his play off the field.They will probablly buy thier way out of it,or the charges will be so small it will be a joke,send them packing.

[JIvers]

The specific charges are as follows, within the confines of TOS: Culpepper and Williams are charged with receiving lap dances and fondling strippers. If that is a crime then I am in serious trouble! If I had an employee charged with such an "offense" I would not take the act itself seriously, and would reprimand them for being careless enough to do it a semi-public place. Treating lap dances as a crime is ridiculous.

Smoot and McKinney's "offenses" are only slightly more serious, and to me smack of bad taste rather than criminal behavior, especially in McKinney's case--I hope he had some mouthwash handy. (TOS would probably not allow me to describe their alleged acts in detail). Blowing minor misconduct up into some crime in order to justify firing players does not make a whole lot of sense, IMO. What they need is a lesson on being discrete, which seems to have escaped them.

[sunnyj]

If you want to read the actual charges go to the smoking gun web page. The charges against Pep and Moe are bogus and a waste of taxpayer dollars. Smoot should have known better and Mckinney, well lets just say........nah won't say it.

[lawdog]

Where in the world are you people getting this idea that its OK to hire hookers and fondle them and much worse on a boat tour in front of innocent staff, many of whom were offended and feared for their safety? Defending these actions or minimizing them in any way is beyond absurd!

Let's not forget too, that these were lesser charges, only because they were lacking evidence. This conduct is inexcuseable.

The more we let pro athletes act like they are exempt from the norms of society, the laws we operate under and common decency, the more this garbage continues and expands.

[I'llTakeWhatiCanGet]

they were probably lesser charges because they are professional athletes! As far as fumblepepper goes, the season sure turned around once he wrenched his knee

[TNFL]

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I really thought Moe Williams was a better guy. He doesn't fit the profile of a drop your pants in public guy.

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You obviously haven't had your ears open. Moe has/had a fiance and child at his house in Balt. My wife personally knows someone who has a child fathered by Moe during that span, they met at the Ham Lake Lanes Fund raiser. Once on KDWB they had a thing were people would call in and list someone famous they "hooked up" with. Numerous call were for Moe. That guy is a pig.

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Culpepper as a person doesn't fit these charges either.

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Yeah, the snowmobile incident, riding with mike bennett when his hummer got shot up. Hmmm. What do you expect from someone BORN IN PRISON!!!

C-Pep is a terrible leader, instead of "manning" up and taking responsibility for his actions, he just denies and hides behind a lawyer. Shows lots of character.

[buzzsaw]

Sorry lawdog, I respect what you have to say but in my opinion this quote

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many of whom were offended and feared for their safety

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is kinda like somebody get rearended in a car at 1 mph and saying they need a lawyer, my neck hurts. I'm NOT excusing any of these athletes by ANY means, but lets be real here guys... how many of you have been to a bachelor party that either had lap dancers or went to this type of establishment??? These guys whether they want to be or don't want to be are public figures and SHOULD set a better example.... and some people wonder why our children grow up and do some of the things they do. I just hope they are embarrassed!

[lawdog]

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Sorry lawdog, I respect what you have to say but in my opinion this quote

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many of whom were offended and feared for their safety

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is kinda like somebody get rearended in a car at 1 mph and saying they need a lawyer, my neck hurts. I'm NOT excusing any of these athletes by ANY means, but lets be real here guys... how many of you have been to a bachelor party that either had lap dancers or went to this type of establishment???

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That's just the problem though Buzz, these employees were employees of a rental cruise line, not a strip club or bar. The "dancers/hookers/whatever" were not affiliated with the boat company. If this was just "Daunte grabbed a stripper's butt in Deja Vu" it would be a whole different deal than subjecting uninvolved undeserving public to this in an area that isn't supposed to be a strip club. Even in a strip club though, their conduct was FAR beyond the bounds of what's allowed. Read the complaints and see if you've ever seen anyone get away with that in a "Gentleman's club".

[buzzsaw]

I know, I know... I understand the difference, I just think that people will take advantage of situations to either make a profit or a name. I'f my daughter was on that boat when this happened I'd want to wring these players necks... except they're entirely too large. Anyways, I digress....

[nofishfisherman]

What the players did was wrong but the people that are calling for them to get fired or suspended are wrong as well.

Let the courts punish them properly. Just like the courts would punish any one of us that did the same thing.

If this happened to any other regular person you probably would be charged the same but your work would probably not find out because it would never make the news. You wouldn't even need to put the charges on a job application becuase they are not felony charges.

Everyone wants players to get treated like everyone else and not get away with a slap on the wrist. But the fact of the matter is that they will probably get a fine and no jail time. And that is becuase thats about the maximum penalty that these charges can carry, anyone else would get the same penalty. These are not the kind of charge that people usually go to jail for. They are pretty minor charges as the court system goes.

I think that people cry so hard for players to get stiff penalties and for them not to get away with stuff just becuase they are players that they actually want to players punished more then your average joe would if he got convicted of the same thing.

Just remember it is INNOCENT until proven guilty and thats the same right that we all have. You are all taking that away from these guys. What happens if one or all of these guys didn't actually do what they are charged with? Are you willing to blindly convict someone and ruin their carriers based solely on what they are charged with and by what the media says.

If that is the case then Ray Lewis is a murderer, thats what he was charged with never mind he was found not guilty.

[e_dog4]

I agree with nofish!!!! There are soo many people saying to suspend them immediately, what ever happened with everyone getting their day in court?? Also, who knows that the workers on the boat don't have motives for telling a story. On the P.P.O. HSOforum someone stated that the person that first blew the whistle is a MAJOR Packer fan so I just feel that we should let them have their day in court and see what becomes of it! It is UNBELIEVABLE how much the media blows a misdemeanor out of proportion! I think that if anyone is found guilty of ANY of the charges it will be a disorderly conduct ($300 fine) WHOOPPEEEE!!

[sunnyj]

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I agree with nofish!!!! There are soo many people saying to suspend them immediately, what ever happened with everyone getting their day in court?? Also, who knows that the workers on the boat don't have motives for telling a story. On the P.P.O.

HSOforum

someone stated that the person that first blew the whistle is a MAJOR Packer fan so I just feel that we should let them have their day in court and see what becomes of it! It is UNBELIEVABLE how much the media blows a misdemeanor out of proportion! I think that if anyone is found guilty of ANY of the charges it will be a disorderly conduct ($300 fine) WHOOPPEEEE!!

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e_dog4, whats you signon at PPO? I'm sunny overthere also.

SKOL