Some players at top football programs have criminal records

By Katie Boer KVAL News with KVAL.com staff Published: Mar 3, 2011 at 5:25 PM PDT Last Updated: Mar 4, 2011 at 12:56 PM PDT

EUGENE, Ore. - Sports Illustrated and CBS conducted background checks on every player on a team that made SI's 2010 college football preseason top 25.

Here's what they found:

  • 7 percent of nearly 3,000 players had been charged with crimes  
  • Nearly 40 percent of those had been charged with serious crimes, like assault

"None of us want to have young people with criminal backgrounds anymore than the next person, so I find the data something we should all be concerned with," said Mark Emmert, NCAA president.

The study found that 7 out of about 120 players on the University of Oregon roster had been previously arrested or cited by police. 

Four players out of 110 on the Oregon State team had been arrested or cited.

The study didn't say for what crimes or compare the rates to the college-aged population in general.

KVAL News ask the UO and OSU athletics departments if coaches are aware of a potential recruit's previous experiences with the law?

"There's no doubt in my mind that they are aware," said UO spokesman Dave Williford. "Specifically, football: they usually know every little thing about that student athlete."

"I think that the coaching staff does a real thorough job or talking to each high school coach or junior college coach, whatever the case may be, councilors at the school if possible, parents and gaurdians," said Steve Fenk, assistant athletic director at OSU.

"Just because someone had an incident in their previous life," Williford said, "probably doesn't automatically disqualify them in some terms."