The case(s) involving former Mizzou RB Derrick Washington don't have much affect on the Mizzou football team anymore. He's off the team, and not enrolled in school, thus having zero official affiliation with Missouri anymore.
There are, however, still a few unanswered questions about this, though, and one in particular:
How did Gary Pinkel get it so wrong with Washington?
This isn't just another player that was on the team. This is a team captain. This is someone who was promoted to the public by the university when trying to sell tickets to Faurot Field and other MU athletic events, as well as selling MU as a place where you would want to send your kids.
How can we trust the judgment of Pinkel and Co. now?
I'm not writing this to knock him or the university. I'm just pointing out how capable Pinkel and the rest of the Mizzou football team is of getting something so wrong.
Washington's second arrest involving domestic assault includes reports that the woman has said Washington has hit her before. A friend to the victim said she knew her relationship with Washington was abusive.
How did Mizzou not know this?
Abusing others, particularly women, is generally not something that just comes up out of the blue. There are signs of it. As someone that is in charge o 85 vulnerable kids, I would expect the staff to notice something like that. And, even if they didn't notice, I wouldn't expect them to make that person a team captain.
I think many expect better judgment out of Pinkel and the rest of the organization when it comes to people doing the things that Washington has been reported to have done.
Because of this, you're always going to question Pinkel's ability to judge a team leader. Because Washington was tabbed a team leader by Pinkel and other folks associated with Mizzou and they got that one way wrong.
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