Storyline: One incident in a bar can be life changing. Just ask De’Andre Johnson. From Florida St. to ‘Last Chance U’s’ East Mississippi CC. Where to next?
I can’t stress it enough: we always have to remember that our actions can have serious consequences.
That principle applies especially well to athletes because they’re in the spotlight. Most athletes are taught from a young age to be careful, cautious, and aware of what they say, post, and do.
This story is about one of those athletes, a football player named De’Andre Johnson.
Courtesy: foxsports.com
Johnson committed to Florida State in 2012 as a sophomore at Jacksonville’s First Coast Academy and eventually became a Four-Star recruit in the 2015 class.
According to Frank Frangie (“Frank Frangie Show,” 1010XL Jax Sports Radio), he was “never was in trouble; he was always a good student.” This 19-year-old QB commit had a good head on his shoulders. And he was respected, too.
Johnson was in the limelight, playing for a national brand college football program. He completed eight passes for 155 yards and two touchdowns during his only appearance in a Seminoles’ jersey.
Then one mistake at the bar cost him his dream. The incident was caught on a surveillance camera. You can view it here.
It was July 2015. Johnson was at a local bar. Sporting a backward cap, he tried squeezing through two females to get to the bartender and place an order. There wasn’t much room to move, but Johnson still tried pushing through. He ended up bumping into a blonde female, later identified as 21-year-old FSU student, Abigail Husty.
Courtesy: buzzfeed.com
Husty turned around with an angry look in her eyes, bothered that Johnson unintentionally pushed into her. She raised her right fist, which Johnson grabbed to protect himself.
Husty pulled back, kneed Johnson in the groin, and launched her left fist at Johnson’s face. Johnson responded by raising his right fist, which connected with Husty’s eye. He then left the scene.
Criminal defense attorney Jose Baez, who represented Johnson, said that his client “tried to de-escalate the situation” after the female yelled “racial epithets” at him. “It wasn’t until she struck him twice before he reacted.”
State attorney Willie Meggs saw it differently: Whereas “a person’s entitled to use self-defense if they’re being battered by someone else, and she certainly was entitled to do what she did. She didn’t commit a crime is the reason she’s not charged with a crime.”
Here’s how I see it: Wasn’t Johnson defending himself, too? Husty was the aggressor. She committed assault and battery.
Courtesy: NYDailyNews.com
Don’t get me wrong. In any scenario it’s never okay to hit a woman. That’s why Johnson entered a plea deal and pleaded guilty to his misdemeanor battery case related to the incident.
He had to participate in a 10-day sheriff’s work program in the state of Florida and serve six months of probation. He also paid around $700 in court fees and provided $200 of compensation to Husty as part of the deal.
The worst consequence of all? He was suspended indefinitely from FSU. John Threasher, FSU President said he “expects all students at Florida State University, including student-athletes, to adhere to the highest level of conduct, and understand there is not tolerance for his kind of behavior.”
Here’s my take: both Johnson and Husty were violent. She hit him with her knee and fist. He swung back. If I had to pick one person as ‘most liable’ it would be Husty.
Why? Johnson didn’t act violently by grabbing her wrist. You can even make the argument he did that to keep the situation from becoming violent. It was her response that crossed into violence.
But the reality is that society puts constraints on men’s behavior. A man must be able to control himself. Johnson’s actions were deemed unacceptable.
But so were hers…. Husty became emotional outside of the courtroom after the hearing. She said she was “afraid people would think I’m a racist because they could notice me from bruising on my face.”
Court: Tallahassee.com
So the consequence for Husty’s violence is the fear of being noticed. That’s minor compared to the consequences for Johnson, who was dropped from the FSU football program and suspended from the university.
What does this story tell us about society? Shouldn’t Husty be held accountable for her actions? And are we saying that if you make one mistake that’s it — you’re done?
At the very least this story tells us that we have to be aware of what’s at stake. Johnson must now rebuild his life.
And millions of people will follow him in that quest.
Johnson will be one of five athletes featured in Season 2 of the popular Netflix docu-series, “Last Chance U.” The series “follows the stories of elite athletes in tough life circumstances who struggle to find their redemption on a champion community college football team (East Mississippi CC) and hopefully realize their dreams of competing at the next level.”
Brittany Wagner, an academic adviser at EMCC is featured in the documentary. She forges relationships with athletes, helping them get into D-1 programs.
About Johnson, Wagner told Frangie that he’s “going to be boring, I think. There’s not going to be a whole lot of drama surrounding him. He doesn’t need me (to help him with academics). He’ll make it academically with or without me.”
Season 2 of LCU (no air date set yet) will enable us to learn more about De’Andre Johnson and follow his rebuilding career. It will also help all of us remember that actions have consequences.
I can speak to the fact that De’Andre’s family is very pleased with the very well written objective article… It shed light on the truth of the incident. I happen to know that, De’Andre had 6 months conditional probation, which meant he had 6 months to serve his 10 days community service. Upon completion of the 10 days community service the probation was automatically terminated. So, in essence he only served 10 days probation. He completed the community service hours in 10 days over the past Christmas Holiday. Thus, terminating case totally.
He went to first coast high not first coast academy. We go to their games and even Jags players used to come and watch him play. I know a lot of kids at that school and even former teammates of Deandre. Never heard from anyone that he got in trouble at school. We’re all rooting for him. This past July my son was at the FBU top gun in South Carolina and Deandre was one of the speakers to the high school athletes on domestic violence.
Your facts are wrong. If you had watched the entire video, you would have seen Abigail waiting at the bar for over 5 minutes, DeAndre pushing up to the bar and grabbing her left wrist and trying to push her sideways. Then she told him he needed to wait his turn; he then grabbed her second wrist. She started yelling NO repeatedly. She put her knee up on his chest to push him off. He released her left wrist and she swung at him. She is right handed so if she wanted to punch him she could have before he grabbed that wrist. All of these things were substantiated by witnesses. Including the fact that he almost hit another young woman on his way out of the bar before his teammates took him away. And nowhere do you mention that he was drunk and underage at the bar. Nice reporting!
He plead guilty so he wouldn’t serve 1 year in jail. He never paid Abigail the $200 which she paid for out of pocket medical care. He has been in trouble before and has an arrest record which is why he didn’t qualify for a first offender dismissal. Thank you for once again victimizing my daughter with false facts. You so called reporters are ridiculous.
Yvette, I did see the whole video. You’re full of crap. Your daughter was not waiting at the bar for five minutes. As soon as she approached the bar, he was right behind her. Where is your proof he was drunk? He does not have a prior record. You’re pathetic.
Yea this is ridiculous. Especially the right hand crap. If you are right handed your first hand you swing is your left. And your right is your power hand. Do you even box? I never heard someone’s lead hand being their dominant hand. But don’t mind me. I just train people how to fight in for the army… if everything was the same. And the roles reversed he would be in jail. If he did to her what she did to him then she hit him you’d be screaming self defense.. and what does him being underage in a bar have to do with being assaulted ? If you jay walk. Doesn’t give me the right to put my hand on you. You’re implying your daughter took the law in her own hands and was abused by it. She had no idea his age. And even if she did I’d love to see how many of her friends have been in bars before they were 21. Did she assault them? Not the point. She didn’t know his age. If he was 22 this still would have happened. So you bringing this up is just trying to paint him in a negative light. Let’s stick to the video. Guy hit a woman. We don’t need to throw facts in that weren’t prevalent to the case… should he have hit her? Hell no. I’m just trying to figure out why they both didn’t get 10 days. If she was a guy. And he did the same stuff to a guy they both would have been arrested. They both would have been kicked out. But she’s a girl so she doesn’t have to answer for her share. … bottom line. Idc what the background is. You don’t hit someone. You hold him to that standard. But then say if she hit him and there’s a reason it’s ok. Ridiculous. Either there’s never a reason to hit someone. Or there are sometimes reasons. You can’t change that logic based off of gender. That’s not how equality works
Very very well written, accurate and fair piece. Thank you for being objective. I had honestly forgotten about this and had never even seen the video. My response initially was “typical. Over privileged athlete abusing women”. I never would of known the truth had this TV show – last chance U- not highlighted this young man. After actually seeing the video over and over, I am enraged that this woman wasn’t held accountable. THIS is what is actually typical. Excusing the actual agressor and instigator because it’s a female. Watching the video you clearly see her turn to him angrily, ball up her RIGHT fist and appear to threaten him with it. He responded as I would have. He grabbed the weapon she was brandishing. Her right fist. She eventually kneed him in his groin and punched him with her other fist BEFORE he defended himself with actual violence. Now let me say that hitting people in the face with your fist is not acceptable. We all teach our children this. Dandre could have and should have defended himself without punching her in the face. BUT.. shouldn’t we say the same about her? She was just as wrong if not MORE SO! I have a 24 year old daughter. I would not defend her actions if this were her. Bottom line is we need to hold people responsible for their actions. Male or female. It saddens me how this young man was villified for defending himself against an absolute monster. A final men and women: fellas: Don’t hit girls. It’s never OK…. Ladies: Do not hit, or kick anyone. Do not start fist fights with grown men and whine when they punch you back. Don’t be a victim or a victimizer…