The Univeristy of Minnesota has made headlines recently by suspending 10 football players who a drunk woman has alleged raped her. The only problem with her accusation is that it appears to be false, according to an investigator who has viewed the footage.

According to police records, a woman told officers she was drunk when she was sexually assaulted in Djam’s apartment by several men on Sept. 2, including some of the suspended players. She said her sexual contact with two men may have been consensual, but her contact with four of them was not. Several players told police it was consensual, and an investigator who watched a video Djam took of the incident wrote that “she does not appear to be upset by the sexual activity and does not indicate that she wants it to stop … and the sexual contact appears entirely consensual.”

I wasn’t in the room, so I can’t say whether she’s telling the truth or not. But I can say that the suspension of these football players is ridiculous. And not only were they suspended, the university publicly named all the young men they refused to give due process to. There has been no criminal complaint filed against any of them, but yet they’ve still been suspended from the team and will miss the Holiday Bowl game they worked hard all year to gain entry to. Initially, the team said it would boycott the game in protest, but they have since been cajoled into taking part (the game will also net the University of Minnesota a fat check, which of course the players will get zero dollars from).

The University of Minnesota football team has agreed to practice again and to play in the Holiday Bowl on December 27, players told reporters Saturday, ending a boycott over the suspensions of 10 of their teammates.

The 10 players remain suspended following reports of sexual assault allegations. But the team decided it will play in the bowl game after university officials assured them the teammates will be treated fairly, senior wide receiver Drew Wolitarsky told reporters.

“Treated fairly” in this instance means being named and shamed by university administrators. Sounds so very fair!

And it’s not often that I through kudos towards CNN, but they should be commended for this paragraph…

The university named the players, but CNN is not naming them because they were not charged with any crimes and it’s not clear why they were suspended. Four were suspended for several games earlier this season.

Just last week on the #Killstream, we talked about how it was unfair that men accused of rape are publicly named but the accuser almost never is. If they are convicted, sure, name ’em. But oftentimes the rape accusation turns out to be false. Once you are accused of rape and your name is out there, it’s very hard to get that stain off your character. Some people are always going to think you a rapist, no matter what the record says. In this case, the young men weren’t even charged (which makes their suspension all the more egregious), but the point still stands.

The University of Minnesota clearly doesn’t care about the rights of the accused. I was hoping the team would continue to hold out and skip the Holiday Bowl, thus potentially costing these scumbags some money. I understand why they didn’t, however. Keep an eye on this case. I expect the names of the players who were unjustly suspended will be completely cleared before all is said and done.