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'Death Penalty' A Relic Of the Past
Running back Cedrick Dorsey, above, and SMU are 1-4 and struggling to return to a bowl game for the first time since 1984.
(Amy Conn-Gutierrez - Associated Press)
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"The SMU case sort of stands out there -- I'm not sure what to call it -- but it's out there and everyone says, 'Oh, gosh, I don't want that to happen to us,' " Swank said. "I think there is at least some care by the schools, so maybe it has had a lasting impact in that regard."
SMU's Bennett echoed the sentiment, saying: "A lot of people used to come into programs and say, 'I'm going to do this, do that, then the next two years I'm going to win and get another job.' Probation was harmless. And they [the NCAA] might not even get them before it's done. I think it has deterred that."
Friedenthal, the former infractions committee member, said the death penalty likely won't be imposed again because it is "like the death penalty in criminal cases: You don't like to do it. There is a real reluctance to go that far." But he said it is important to keep the penalty on the table because there remains a chance "you are going to have someone who goes out on a very long limb and gets sawed off. You could get a situation where the entire situation is corrupted."
The imprint remains on SMU. Before a recent home game, students frolicked on Bishop Boulevard. One tailgating tent displayed a framed poster of the Pony Express. Gregg said the link between SMU and the punishment will "outlive a lot of people." Bennett said the program is a year behind after the team finished 6-6 last season and failed to make a bowl game. The Mustangs are 1-4 this season. The unprecedented punishment is part of the school's tragic past, although a shadow lingers two decades later.
"And I'm not out of it yet," Bennett said. "Let's not kid ourselves: We had better pick it up."
He laughed hard.
"And we will."
