re: The case for Kristian Fulton and why he should be reinstated

If you read the article then you read the part where the test administrator saw Fulton doing what he was doing. He was caught red handed....Fulton freaked out, dumped the false urine into the urinal and proceeded to submit his own real sample. Look, I'm not fan of this....I think the penalty is too harsh and it could literally destroy the futures of potential multi million dollar prospects and in this case the sample that Fulton did actually submit, that was his own, came back clean. I'm gonna skip right past the part where he was clean as it was, how dumb this truly was in that regard, and get straight to why he isn't going to be reinstated. At least why I don't believe he will be...maybe the NCAA does let him back in, but I find it highly doubtful.

First and foremost the kid was caught in the act of tampering with a test. Regardless of whether or not that particular sample was used is irrelevant. The way the penalty enforcement reads for a player tampering in any way with a drug test administered by the NCAA is that said player will be suspended for 730 days or two full seasons. And there is no way to spin that at all. The best lawyers money can buy can't go into procceedings and convince the court that the way the bylaw reads is not exactly as it is. And that's what the NCAA will take a stance on. It's written right there in black and white....a player that tampers with a drug test in any way is out for two seasons. And there is not any way around that. The clean sample he did submit and the fact he didn't turn in the false sample means nothing here. Perhaps a lawyer could argue that the person who presided over the testing could've been mistaken and used hearsay to back his argument....but here's the problem with that....

Fulton went out and not only admitted guilt....he literally penned a letter describing how he did it and how much remorse he had for thinking this would help him. He should've just kept his mouth shut and never said a word about being guilty. Should've played dumb from the very first moment that tester went up to him. Just taken his real test and walked out with only that man's word being the basis of the claim. Then the possibility of him coming back would be exponentially higher. The fact he admitted guilt is the smoking gun that cannot be worked around.

The other part of this is Fulton says how he wasn't properly educated as to the complete rulebook on cheating like this and thought the penalty would be less severe or whatever. And here's the problem with that....if he thought it would be less severe or says that the school or NCAA is at fault for not educating him properly...then why did he even bother trying to tamper with the test. He at the very least in my opinion knows that a failed sample would've earned him a year long ban. So if he felt that at the most his penalty for a false sample or tampering was the same, then he should've just submitted a test without tampering. Also trying to claim that you didn't know or think the penalty would be so severe for something like trying to falsify a drug test given out by the NCAA is basically just trying to plead ignorance as your defense and there's no way that type of excuse will fly. No, he knew that he would be suspended for a false test, and how could you not know that if you're caught tampering or pull off submitting a test that's been tampered with wouldnt earn you at least the same if not a worse penalty. That is just ridiculous. He also throws the school under the bus here by saying he wasn't fully educated about the NCAA testing policies. It's a direct shot at LSU's system for doing just that very thing....making sure players are aware of the big time no no's that they should never do at all....so that's case number 2 out the window.

Lastly the "strongest" case is that there was some sort of problem with the handling of this physical evidence and they don't really elaborate here....I mean if he submitted a clean sample then it's nothing to do with that...I can only assume that the false urine was collected here and that they will argue that the sample was contaminated somehow by something else that wouldnt constitute Fulton being at fault. But here's the issue, there still is a false and tampered with asample collected. Whether or not that falsified sample is dirty bhas nothing to do with it. It's a clear false sample he admitted to try using bto cheat the test. So I don't never get what this "strong" case is that they even have. If anything it just proves there is another false sample and doubles up on evidence against Fulton. It literally proves his own admission of guilt. If that is going to be the basis of what his lawyer is building this case upon then there's zero chance of it having any impact and not anything near enough to overturn the already ruled upon decision here. All in all this is basically a cut and dry case of a player being caught red handed, admitting his guilt in writing, and then trying to plead ignorance to make a car for coming back before the very clearly stated penalty that he has had here. I get that we all want him back and believe me....I really really do.

Sadly, there is no real case here for Fulton. He has no legal ground to stand on and every part of this effort is barely even enough to make any winnable argument off of. It's sad and it sucks. And it's the way it goes man. It's time that all of you holding onto this just let this go. Look, if for some reason a miracle happens and the NCAA allows Fulton back in then I'll be the first in line saying he deserves to play because I believe the penalty is too harsh as it is. In total agreement with the majority of fans in that matter. But my fanhood does not blind me to the very clear cut facts of the matter that show that Fulton has a 0.00000000001 percent chance of being reinstated here....because the letter of the law and the evidence against him is just plain overwhelming. Kid made a serious mistake and he's gonna end up really paying for it. He seems to be motivated to stay at LSU and prove to all the people out there who doubt him that he's a player and can not only compete at a school dubbed DBU, but can be a full on starter at what I believe is the most competitive and talented position group in the entirety of college football. He wants to prove he can also be an early round draft pick, and I believe in the end that he will be....but none of that will change how freaking dumb his transgression was....and doesn't take away the fact he signed, sealed, and delivered his own fate. That one piece of evidence, the signed letter admitting his guilt in the case, is literally all the NCAA needs to enforce the rule. And in the end of it all they will.

This is just the truth of it and no matter how badly we as fans want to change it, how much it sucks for the player involved, or how the penalty is absolutely to harsh to begin with, means that it's going to just be changed for this one particular case. If it ever does change then it will be done in meetings held by the NCAA that are specifically about this and possibly other certain penalties that would need to be updated or changed. And that's not just going to happen before the season just so Fulton can play or so LSU can get it's way here. The fact is that an example is going to be made on this big of a stage because it's snowballed to the point where the NCAA cannot back down publicly and have any possibility of being able to uphold other cases in the future. Not going to happen people.

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An “attempt” is handled differently than the act. Attempted murder versus murder. 

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Poor comparison between cheating on a test and murder IMO. The two couldn't be further apart.

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Attempting to cheat versus actually cheating. Always handled differently in punishment both in law and life.

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Imagine you're in bed naked with another woman about to put your dick in her and you're wife walks in just in time to stop you. Good luck getting her or anyone else to buy "attempted adultery" because you technically didn't have sex.

If a person attempts to buy drugs from an undercover cop, that person can't then argue that "well, I never technically had my hands on the drugs."

Same goes for soliciting sex from an undercover cop. Just because the act didn't happen, punishment is going to be the same.

A person running from the police throws down a bag of crack, then gets caught and handcuffed. Again, they don't get to argue that they weren't in possession of the drugs when apprehended.

The guy got busted cheating. That's the bottom line. If people want to discuss that the punishment is too severe, great. But, this "well he didn't actually cheat" argument to say be should receive a lighter suspension is silly IMO.

As others have said, if this was another school's fanbase trying to twist things like this, the board would be laughing at them.

That’s the first TL;GIR (glad I read).

all these kids need to stop being dumbasses and realize the world isn't their high school coach or their parents.

this is going to sound bad, but Kristian comes from a good family. He was also sheltered.

When sheltered kids run into a situation like he did, they make dumb decisions. He smoked weed 2 days prior and either got some horrible advice from a fellow player or made his own decision to cheat a non-recreational drug test that he would have passed. He freaked out and made a poor decision. He's an exception; not the rule. The NCAA should overturn this, but I don't think they will.

It’s safe to say football PR matters are not a strength of this administration.

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In the end, the evidence Fulton supposedly tampered with was actually his own untampered sample

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No. The evidence was that he was caught in the act of pouring a false sample into the collection jar. That's tampering.

Try getting out of a speeding ticket by arguing that you slowed down once you noticed the cop car behind you with their red and blues on.

You may have an argument between tampering vs. attempted tampering if he had merely been caught walking into the test with bag of fake piss. Once he started filling the sample jar with something other than his own fresh urine, he was tampering.

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Further, if Fulton was caught,

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Fulton was caught. That’s why he poured the other piss down the drain and started to fill the beaker with his own piss....

I don’t understand how some of y’all can be so dense. He was caught red handed and tried to cover it up. Plain and simple.

There’s no “maybe” about it. He wrote a damn letter admitting to it for Christ’s sake.

Y’all keep acting like he poured out the other piss and used his own piss without any outside influence. Y’all keep ignoring the fact that he originally poured the other piss in the beaker and didn’t pour it out until the test admin saw what he was doing.

Again, if you want to argue the penalty is too harsh, I’m right there with you. 2 years is extremely excessive. But don’t act like the kid didn’t do anything wrong.

If you're plotting to rob a bank but the police catch you on the way to the bank with ski masks and shotguns and arrest you; you're just as guilty as if you had actually robbed the bank.