Lance Louis Under Investigation

by Dane Noble on Aug 7, 2009 1:43 PM CDT Comment 24 comments

Typically, it's hard to have many secrets when you are a collegiate football player trying to break into the NFL... the trainers, coaches, scouts, etc., go through your past with a fine tooth comb.

Sometimes, an old injury from high school might slip through the cracks, not to be revealed until after the draft. Sometimes, a jilted ex-girlfriend comes out of nowhere and demands money for a child that the player never knew existed until his new found financial freedom.

In this case however, you'd think it would be hard to hide the fact that an offensive lineman beat his own team's starting safety (and by beat, I don't mean "ran by him") so badly that the injuries sustained caused the safety to miss the remainder of the year.

In round seven of the 2009 draft, the Chicago Bears took a flier on guard Lance Louis with a compensatory pick.

Now, Louis is facing possible felony battery charges as authorities investigate a November 5, 2008 fight during a San Diego State team meeting. Starting safety Nick Sandford emerged from the exchange with a concussion, a broken eardrum, and a fractured cheekbone.

Sandford missed the rest of the season due to the injuries.

Ouch. And throw in the fact that the coach didn't report it for two reasons (he didn't want to have his starting QB in harm's way by losing his best OLineman, and he didn't want to jeopardize Louis' chances of getting drafted), and you've got a good, old fashioned, cover-up.

I wonder how this will all play out...

Helmet-tip to ifuwannacrownem.

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Thanx for the info

Anybody know HOW damaging this could be to the San Diego St. Coach?

by rdent4hof on Aug 7, 2009 1:52 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

he was fired after the season

so little or none

Camp ifuwanna, we hold you in our heart...

by ifuwannacrownem on Aug 7, 2009 1:57 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

At least we know he can beat the crap out of someone:)

Let him do it on the field. LOL. He and Kreutz should get along just fine.

"You win because of the quarterback. We have to get that position stabilized. We're fixated on that." -- Jerry Angelo (12.30.2008)

Jerry Angelo trades for Jay Cutler! (4.2.2009)
.

by SackMan on Aug 7, 2009 1:53 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I was going to say the same thing...

didn’t Kreutz have a similar incident in college, not to mention the altercation with Fred Miller a few years ago? I’m not trying to justify the behavior, but a fight at a team meeting isn’t the same thing as being in a bar after hours and beating the hell out of a drunken patron. Also, the injuries stated sound serious but that could have been one punch to the side of the head and it doesn’t mention who started it. I’d hate to see a kid’s shot at a career be ruined from this kind of incident almost a year after the fact.

by BearFan611 on Aug 7, 2009 4:31 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Sounds like a real nice guy

Was this a different altercation then was reported after the draft?

"A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject." -Sir Winston Churchill

by propheteer on Aug 7, 2009 4:53 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Update:

The Bears were aware of the altercation when they drafted Louis.

Scott Hagel, the Bears’ senior director of communications, said the team was aware of the fight but also aware that no follow-up was immediately made by either the police or the university. Louis was not suspended for the incident. He was drafted by the Bears in the seventh round of April’s NFL Draft.

Be nice. Flag comments that you think are offensive. Use the "reply" button. Drink plenty of water. Compliment others. Rec (wreck) comments and posts you like. Don't call people names. If you don't like someone's comment, attack the comment and not the commentor. Learn the difference in your/you're, then/than, to/too. Exercise. Relax. Stretch often. Find good in the world.

by Dane Noble on Aug 7, 2009 5:03 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Somewhere

Ricky Manning’s Crying, “Take me back!”

Camp ifuwanna, we hold you in our heart...

by ifuwannacrownem on Aug 7, 2009 5:15 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I don't know.

To break a dudes eardrum and cheekbone sounds like a couple REALLY good shots. Teammates tussle. But he got the kid good enough to take him out the rest of the year. But that’s all fine. Guys lose their temper. The problem was that he was not PROPERLY disciplined and they covered it up. What about the other guy? Was he such a scrub that his injuries didn’t matter? The coach deserved to be fired.

by Boilerbuzz on Aug 7, 2009 5:31 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

If this happened on the practice field

Rule #1 – Never take your helmet off.

"Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it." - Mark Twain

by phastphil on Aug 8, 2009 9:41 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

The coach was right to fear that if it got reported it might hurt Louis' draft status

And they were right to fire him…

by JimmyMack on Aug 7, 2009 6:07 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

By the way...

What the heck is a 300 pound offensive lineman doing beating the crap out of a safety? He should try taking on Orlando Pace.

by JimmyMack on Aug 7, 2009 6:09 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

That's why you don't fight a guy twice your size

unless you’re really the bad ass that you think you are. And most of the time, you’re not.

"The time has come to get deeply into Football. It is the only thing we have left that ain't fixed." - HST

by JerBear50 on Aug 8, 2009 12:28 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

i second that...

Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear.

by windycity72 on Aug 8, 2009 4:41 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I live in San Diego and you are missing some key

Information

The incident occured after Louis was inadvertantly hit with either balled up tape or bumpedg during a locker room game of stickball

The saftey was later watching tape in another room and was attacked from behind by Louis

The saftey’s Dad was told by Coach Long they would discipline him internally. After 2 or 3 weeks of no discipline the Dad went to the authorities. Long was fired the next day

My take is Louis is a punk and I would have no use for him. SDSU is a crappy program that produces a good pro every 5 years. Louis aint worth the trouble.

by Duck99 on Aug 7, 2009 7:00 PM CDT via mobile reply actions 0 recs

Who is it that is missing info?

Were you replying to a specific comment, or to the post in general?

by Dane Noble on Aug 7, 2009 11:39 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

"missing" was probably a bad choice of words

The part of the story that jumped out at me was he attacked the kid from behind without provocation. I didn’t see that mentioned in any of the comments. This was not a fight where two guys squared off. This was an attack from behind by a guy who weighed over 100 pounds more than the victim.

by Duck99 on Aug 8, 2009 11:17 AM CDT via mobile up reply actions 0 recs

No thank you

Last thing we need is someone like this. We have had enough trouble in the past with people who cannot control themselves, eventually leading them to getting into legal trouble.

by 815Sox on Aug 7, 2009 8:23 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

you dont know the circumstances

i worked with a guy who was the most placid man you could ever meet. two brothers also worked with us. these two put together couldnt work as good as this man. they made his life a misery. after eighteen months of torment this guy snapped and with one punch decked the eldest when the younger of the two brothers jumped on him he beat the crap out of him, took his overalls off and reported to the owner and told him about it.everybody including myself where shocked and amazed as this man wouldnt say boo to a goose but when you push a man so far prepare for the consequences. so maybe this safety pushed the switch to far, we dont know.

by stepeo on Aug 8, 2009 1:05 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Problem is, we have all the circumstances we need already

Its not okay to just physically assault someone under most circumstances. Being pissed off at someone’s laziness or getting hit with a ball of tape by mistake. Louis broke the guys eardrum, fractured his jaw and gave him a concussion which put him out for the season. This guy sounds like nutball.

Plus if he snaps off like this, don’t you think that hey will snap on the field?

by 815Sox on Aug 8, 2009 4:37 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

should read

“Being pissed off at someone’s laziness or getting hit with a ball of tape by mistake is not one of those reasons.”

by 815Sox on Aug 8, 2009 4:39 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Agree totally.

There is a time and a place for physical violence. It comes after you have exhausted all other venues and/or when the issue is forced and you NEED to defend yourself. On a football field with coaches and staff present neither of those two circumstances should EVER exist. And this goes beyond defending yourself. This IS assault, plain and simple (unless one blow caused ALL of this damage which I doubt). Control your emotions or they WILL control you. Shame to have emotions run your life when the powers that be gave you the ability to reason and judge. Lack of maturity and lack of self control=bad juju. We cut players for less. Don’t we Jerry?

If you can't laugh at yourself you must not be very funny.

by Just Dave on Aug 8, 2009 11:12 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Here is where the Bears sue the University for the cover-up

I do think this would be actionable in court since the stated purpose was to help him get drafted. This would now be under false pretense or with false information, since there is a contract involved and the Univ. were the ones with-holding the information they could be liable.

R_Bad

by Bleeding black n blue on Aug 8, 2009 1:06 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs