100Feed: LSU’s Mathieu kicked off team for violating rules

Dec. 3, 2011: LSU cornerback Tyrann Mathieu (7) returns a punt for a touchdown against Georgia during the first half of the Southeastern Conference championship NCAA college football game in Atlanta. (AP)

By Jessica Yancey

LSU’s national championship hopes were hurt Friday when Heisman Trophy finalist Tyrann Mathieu was kicked off the team for breaking an athletic department rule.

The junior defensive back nicknamed Honey Badger was a surprising Heisman candidate last season as the Tigers won the Southeastern Conference championship and reached the BCS title game. They are among the favorites to win the championship this year.

At a news conference Friday, coach Les Miles would not specify the reason Mathieu was dismissed from the team.

“We’ll miss the guy,” Miles said. “The football team’s got to go on. We’ll have to fill the void.”

Athletic Director Joe Alleva said Mathieu, who was suspended for a game in 2011 for failing a drug test, violated an athletic department rule and had his scholarship revoked.

Mathieu could stay at the school and pay tuition, but Alleva said that was unrealistic.

“He’s not going to stay in school,” Alleva said.

The Tigers are No. 1 in the coaches’ preseason poll and expected to be right near the top of the AP college football poll when it is released Aug. 18.

The 20-year-old Mathieu won the Bednarik Award as national defensive player of the year last season and was big-play machine at cornerback and on special teams. The All-American scored four touchdowns — two on punt returns and two on fumble returns — intercepted two passes and caused six fumbles and recovered four.

He was suspended for the Auburn game and LSU still won 45-10 without him.

“He gave us a lot of examples that we can learn from and I think that he’s a quality, quality guy who had a behavior issue and that’s it,” Miles said. “Certainly the overview of his time with us is positive.”

Mathieu, a New Orleans native, has two years of eligibility left and could transfer, but he would have to sit out this season if he went to another school in major college football. If he moved down a level, to FCS, he could play right away.

“I can’t imagine he would be here and not want to transfer and go play football,” Miles said. “We will help him in every way we can.”

LSU isn’t quite as deep at cornerback as it was last season, when it had All-American Morris Claiborne and often used Mathieu as a nickleback. Tharold Simon is the other starter opposite Mathieu. Second on the depth chart are redshirt freshman Jalen Collins and freshman Jalen Mills.

As for returning punts, Miles mentioned wide receiver Odell Beckham as a possible replacement for Mathieu.

Even without Mathieu, LSU is loaded with talent and will still be considered one of the country’s elite teams.

“The good news is we have good players” to fill the void left by Mathieu, Miles said.

Last season, LSU beat Alabama 9-6 in a regular-season matchup dubbed the Game of the Century. The two SEC rivals met again in the championship but this time the Crimson Tide dominated, winning 21-0.

100Feed: First Female NFL Referee To Make Debut Thursday

The 2012 season hasn’t even started, but the NFL is already on track to create history. Shannon Eastin in now set to become the first woman to officiate an NFL game, the league confirmed on Monday, according to USA Today.

When the Green Bay Packers and San Diego Chargers take the field in Southern California Thursday night for the pre-season match-up, Eastin will be on the field. The game starts at 8 p.m. ET on Aug. 9 and will be broadcast on ESPN.

Eastin is a veteran of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, and she’s finally getting a chance to ref at the professional level as a result of the labor dispute, according the the Washington Post. Replacement referees already oversaw the Hall of Fame game, which opened the NFL pre-season, on Sunday, but Eastin was not among them. Prior to today it was unclear whether or not Eastin would see any time at the NFL level. According to NFL.com, a number of currently locked-out referees refused to train Eastin among others. It remains uncertain whether the refusal had to do with the labor dispute or Eastin’s gender, but many are speculating.

From NFL.com:

Eastin was one of the replacement officials in Dallas on Friday to take part in the first training clinic. We learned from Farmer’s report that officiating trainers — a group of nine of the game’s most respected former officials — were asked to turn in their company-issued laptops after refusing to train Eastin and others.
“They wanted us to train the replacements, which we would absolutely not do,” said Jerry Markbreit, one of the officiating trainers. “We were all officials for 20-plus years. … How could we face our people? … It’s very discouraging for (the league) to have put us in this kind of situation.”

Regardless of any contention or hard feelings, it seems Eastin will take the field on Thursday. Whether she sees time at the professional level during the regular season depends on a number of factors, least of which is the labor dispute that gave her this barrier-breaking opportunity.

According to the LA Times:

What’s more, nine of the most respected former officials who later became officiating trainers have been instructed by the league to turn in their computers and no longer have access to the NFL’s computer system. Their transgression was refusing to train the replacements, who Friday were in Dallas for their first clinic.

“We feel that we’re fired,” said Jerry Markbreit, an official-turned-trainer who was the referee in four Super Bowls. “They haven’t formally notified us, but it sure feels like we’re fired.”

The other eight former officials asked to return their computers were Red Cashion, Ron Botchan, Bill Schmitz, Ben Montgomery, Jim Quirk, Sid Semon, Tom Fincken and Dean Look. Those men, who are not currently members of the union, have 265 years of combined service with the league and have worked 22 Super Bowls.

“They wanted us to train the replacements which we would absolutely not do,” Markbreit said. “We were all officials for 20-plus years. . . . How could we face our people? There wasn’t a question about us doing this. We knew this was coming.

“It’s very discouraging for [the league] to have put us in this kind of situation.”

The officials feel that the NFL had the idea all along of locking them out as a negotiating strategy. Those officials, who are considered part-time employees, are looking for what they call a modest pay increase and continuation of their defined-benefits pension program.

After Markbreit’s comments appeared on The Times’ website, the NFL responded with a statement saying the trainers were not fired but are seasonal employees “who have decided not to work at this time. We asked for their NFL-issued laptops back so that those who are working right now can use them.”

The league did not give an explanation for why the trainers could no longer access the computer system.

“We’re in limbo,” Botchan said. “We’re so upset with them. . . . We’ve done a lot for that league.”

Meanwhile, the league formally began training stand-ins, who likely will see action for the first time since 2001, when replacements were used for the final exhibition games and first week of the regular season.

Tony Corrente, a locked-out referee, said the speed of the pro game and the nuances of the NFL rules — which in some areas are significantly different than those of college and high school football — could lead to problems for the replacements.

If the replacements are used, history could be made. One of them is Shannon Eastin, who has been a referee in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and other leagues. The NFL has never had a woman work as an on-field game official.