Alabama football fans should not laugh at the mess Auburn is in. A domestic violence charge is never funny nor trivial. In mid-July, Auburn wide receiver Malcom Simmons was arrested on a charge of domestic abuse. According to al.com, "Opelika police identified the woman as Simmons’ girlfriend and said they saw bruises on her neck when they responded to a domestic violence call," and that Simmons "was charged with a felony count of domestic assault with strangulation or suffocation." Simmons denied the charge.
A few days ago, Yahoo Sports reported that Auburn was gathering information and categorized the effort as "dragging their feet." Recently, Fly War Eagle blasted the effort, " Auburn Tigers football coach Hugh Freeze and AU AD John Cohen are in serious hot water for their handling, or lack thereof, of Malcolm Simmons' domestic violence charges against his girlfriend. Freeze and Cohen have yet to remove Simmons from the roster despite calls from all over the college football world, including on the Plains."
Simmons had an impressive freshman season for the Tigers, catching 40 passes for 451 yards. His skill and value to the Auburn offense should have no bearing on the legal system or Auburn's conclusions about a course of action.
Fly War Eagle added, "this charge could be what sinks this era of Auburn athletics ... the school could have its hand forced and move on from Freeze and Cohen ... this feels like the beginning of the end for Freeze."
Alabama football fans have no sympathy for Hugh Freeze
If Malcom Simmons is proven guilty, the only sympathy passed on by Alabama fans will be for his girlfriend. There will be none for Freeze, though many Alabama fans would love to have Freeze shackled to Auburn for a long time. The Alabama fans who have followed Hugh's career closely, going back to Ole Miss, have a question. Does anyone associated with Auburn understand the startling irony of this situation? That being said, how could it not have been expected that a head coach who once admitted serious character flaws would subsequently lead a program tarnished by an alleged serious character flaw in a player? The only answer is Auburn did not care when Freeze was hired and may not care now.