07-14-2015, 10:55 AM
De'Andre Johnson expresses remorse, asks for second chance
![[Image: ABC_DeAndre_Johnson_ml_150714_16x9_992.jpg]](http://a.abcnews.com/images/Sports/ABC_DeAndre_Johnson_ml_150714_16x9_992.jpg)
^ De'Andre Johson, sitting with his mother Pamela Jones, said in an interview that aired Tuesday on ABC's "Good Morning America," that he wished he walked away from the situation.
Johnson said it "kills" him inside to know that he hurt his mother, who he said didn't raise him like that. Jones said she cried for three days in light of the news.
Asked what her initial reaction was when the incident happened, Jones said: "I wanted to jump through the phone and wring his neck."
A freshman from Jacksonville, Florida, the 19-year-old Johnson was dismissed from the football team by Seminoles coach Jimbo Fisher on July 6, hours after the state's attorney's office released surveillance video of Johnson striking a 21-year-old woman June 24 in a bar in Tallahassee, Florida. Johnson is charged with misdemeanor battery.
Johnson said Tuesday on "Good Morning America" that he does not second-guess the program's decision to dismiss him, but he does feel he deserves a second chance. He declined to say whether he had been drinking the night of the incident.
Johnson's attorney, Jose Baez, told NBC's "Today" on July 7 that his client punched the woman after she called him racial epithets and provoked him. Baez said Johnson was not the initial aggressor but is "owning this" and trying to learn from the experience.
Florida State president John E. Thrasher met with the school's football team and coaches Monday, telling them that playing football for FSU is a "privilege, not a right."
"In light of recent off-field incidents, I reiterated to our players that they simply cannot put themselves in situations that reflect poor behavior or cause harm to others," Thrasher said in the statement. "The actions of a few have the capacity to do serious damage to the reputation of our entire university. I told them their coaches, the Athletics administration and I will do all we can to support them and help them learn the values we expect them to uphold. But they will be held accountable for their actions."
Source: http://espn.go.com/college-football/stor...apologizes
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Does Johnson deserve a second chance, or is FSU right to boot him on strike 1?
^ De'Andre Johson, sitting with his mother Pamela Jones, said in an interview that aired Tuesday on ABC's "Good Morning America," that he wished he walked away from the situation.
Johnson said it "kills" him inside to know that he hurt his mother, who he said didn't raise him like that. Jones said she cried for three days in light of the news.
Asked what her initial reaction was when the incident happened, Jones said: "I wanted to jump through the phone and wring his neck."
A freshman from Jacksonville, Florida, the 19-year-old Johnson was dismissed from the football team by Seminoles coach Jimbo Fisher on July 6, hours after the state's attorney's office released surveillance video of Johnson striking a 21-year-old woman June 24 in a bar in Tallahassee, Florida. Johnson is charged with misdemeanor battery.
Johnson said Tuesday on "Good Morning America" that he does not second-guess the program's decision to dismiss him, but he does feel he deserves a second chance. He declined to say whether he had been drinking the night of the incident.
Johnson's attorney, Jose Baez, told NBC's "Today" on July 7 that his client punched the woman after she called him racial epithets and provoked him. Baez said Johnson was not the initial aggressor but is "owning this" and trying to learn from the experience.
Florida State president John E. Thrasher met with the school's football team and coaches Monday, telling them that playing football for FSU is a "privilege, not a right."
"In light of recent off-field incidents, I reiterated to our players that they simply cannot put themselves in situations that reflect poor behavior or cause harm to others," Thrasher said in the statement. "The actions of a few have the capacity to do serious damage to the reputation of our entire university. I told them their coaches, the Athletics administration and I will do all we can to support them and help them learn the values we expect them to uphold. But they will be held accountable for their actions."
Source: http://espn.go.com/college-football/stor...apologizes
----------------------------
Does Johnson deserve a second chance, or is FSU right to boot him on strike 1?