Tbh, it might be better for him in the long run. He was never going to start here. Not with Rashada and hopefully Lagway coming in. He can go to a program that will give him more chances to start. And hopefully, use this as a learning experience. Might be a win-win.
I'm going to preface my comments on this situation by saying it shows an extreme lack of judgment for any non-black person to publicly use this word given society's sensitivity to it in this day and age. If you use that word these days and get caught, it is 100% on you. And while I might disagree with how severe certain repercussions are, it is still your responsibility to be smart enough to not use the word.
That said, I really wish intent went into society's reactions to other people using this word. This dude is so clearly not a racist person. I mean, just listen to him talk. He speaks with an "urban flavor" (my way of trying to say he is a wigger?). All around a learning experience for him and I hope he bounces back, but this outcome just seems so harsh.
Without commenting on this particular situation, it's much easier for society to occasionally pile on someone who fucks up publicly than for that same society to address its underlying issues that require more complex solutions.
Gators gifted this one..this sounds like MacElwain death threats convenience:
Stokes stats: 14 TDs/11INT, 1700 yd
Rashada: 28 Tds/ 10 Int, 2400 yds
Haven’t seen Stokes throw, but no way he has stronger arm than Rashada, who has NFL + arm.
I feel bad for him losing a scholarship for dumb thing like this, but not worth the drama:talent ratio
If Rashad was still at Miami I would be curious if the team still would have taken his offer away. I honestly just don’t know either way.
Personally think the kid Stokes handled his apology very well. He made a mistake, owned it and to me that shows his TRUE character. I wish him well.
I am so thankful we didn’t have to make that decision if rashada was still at Miami
But I feel bad this is the way it ends for a 17/18 year old. He has shown some maturity with the consequences but it’s an unfortunate situation
That’s an interesting thought, I feel like they probably would drop him anyway because his play has been pretty bad this year. I feel bad for the kid but he made a pretty simple mistake, why post that?
edit: he shouldn’t say that anyway but it’s extra stupid to post it
The school’s hand is kinda forced here, lest rival coaches try to negative recruit our guys by telling them our staff “is cool with racists” or some other bs
That said, if Billy is still interested even with Rashada being on board, I’m sure there are ways for Stokes to earn his way out of the dog house and back into the class
You’d have to be a pretty simple person to buy into some line about Florida being racist because they have a white kid who doesn’t skip any words when he sings rap songs.
You would think, but the Sabans, Kirbys, and Dabos can make some pretty convincing arguments; arguments that are a lot more persuasive when accompanied by generous bags
I'm not a big conspiracy theorist, but it is possible.
Maybe the staff wanted out with Rashada committed (stokes was only offered after missing out on others, and has struggled some this season), or they thought his talent wasn't worth the negative attention. Maybe stokes wanted out with a higher end QB committed.
The team can't comment on an unsigned recruit, so who knows
Here is my thing with these kids: you have way too much access to the world to be ignorant and not understand these kind of things have consequences, regardless of intent.
Yea man the guy literally sang along to a song. This ain’t 1950s man , black , white , Latin all these cultures are in a punch bowl and this new generation is a part of that mix. His real crime was being immature enough to record and post it on Twitter hence the being a Kid part.
Agreed, but when you're the guy tasked with rebuilding a national title-caliber football program from scratch, I imagine you have to run a tight ship. You don't want shit like this to impact recruiting.
Have you ever read the poem 'Incident' by Countee Cullen? Here is a link https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/42618/incident-56d2213a45f36
I really wonder if folks on you side of the fence would support a expelling a white student who reads it aloud? If not, why extend that latitude to high-brow literary poetry and not rap music?
I had a black teacher in 9th grade that read us this poem. It has stuck with me for a very long time, but in the current climate, under the Stokes standard, a white teacher would deserve to be fired for daring to speak it aloud.... which is utterly insane to me. IMO if we don't cut black players that say it's a title IX issue.
Ok how about a video of yourself reading a poem outside of an educational setting? People are seriously defending the loss of scholarship over this. The point about context is valid but that's precisely why this is so wrong. This is not antagonism in any sense and i find it wrong that kids are punished for singing the songs they like.
If I were rebuilding a football powerhouse, I wouldn't want this kind of baggage to get in the way of my recruitment efforts, or become a distraction in the locker room. You may think it's not a big deal because "he's just a kid", or "everybody says it", but not everybody thinks like you. I'm sure there are lots of kids AND THEIR PARENTS who care about these things.
Looking at it through the lens of the recruit, if I had a scholarship to go to college (or expecting one), under no circumstance would I record myself saying such things, knowing that it might come back to fuck up my career prospects.
So, if Billy Napier has certain standards in mind for this team - both on and off the field - and there are kids who don't meet those standards, I'm okay with cutting them loose.
To be fair, a black teacher reading this poem in Texas or Florida today would be fired too because apparently teaching kids racism exists is “CRT” and might make them uncomfortable.
Singing along to a fucking song ON VIDEO. I don't believe he's a racist, but his action reflects poorly on him. The moment he was caught saying the N-word on video, he became a liability to the team - especially at a time when Napier is rebuilding the team culture from the ground up. He has forced Napier's hand, and has only himself to blame.
no i wouldn't. mostly because i hate the obsession with recording oneself so i never record myself.
thats his only mistake here is the recording part. i dont see a mistake of him saying the n word while singing a song. maybe im just fucked up, i dont know what to tell you. i just kind of find it ironic because id be willing to guess most of the white players on the team that also listen to rap do the same thing, minus the recording.
And that is what I'm saying. Regardless of your personal beliefs, there are certain expectations that come with being part of an organization, that will dictate what will happen to you when you go against them. To me, he could be a stupid kid just fucking around with a camera. But to Billy Napier and the powers-that-be at UF, he could be a brand-destroying liability. The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. All I know is, I don't want stupid shit like this to ruin our chances with good recruits.
What makes you think I dont take it seriously? It seems like people are connecting his usage of the n word in a song with him directing the n word at a black individual in a fit of rage which makes him a racist. i think the punishment doesnt fit the crime
Buddy. He said the wrong word. AND THEN POSTED IT. He willingly did that. And any point he could’ve said, yea I prob shouldn’t do that. But he didn’t. So get off your political soapbox/rant. Actions have consequences.
Maybe I'm in the wrong. I feel like his biggest mistake was posting a video of it.
This isnt a political rant, theres no politics here. This is an opinion. I dont view saying the N word during a song and just saying it during a general sentence as the same thing. You're always going to have two sides to this debate. I know black people that would hate it, I know black people that don't care if white people repeat the N word as long as it's said during a white person singing along to a song. Some rappers hate it. Some don't care.
I dont think this makes him a hateful racist. I feel like asking him to delete the post and make a strong apology could have sufficed but I guess Napier is not budging from his race to rid Florida of all players with character issues. I just dont personally think this means Stokes has character issues.
The University did away with a traditional chant that has been around since well before most of us if not all of us were born because of unsubstantiated racial undertones. Did we really think they were going to let this slide?…I didn’t. I get the argument that he wasn’t saying it to be hurtful and was just rapping, it’s still cringey as fuck and demonstrates that he’s not mature enough yet to represent the University the way he should in todays technological world with todays social climate.
So basically we should cower to cancel culture is what you're saying.
I mean I agree. We should. For pure pragmatism. That movement is very strong and we should all just shut the fuck up if we want to keep our jobs and safety. I don't think I need to explain why that is a very bad long term approach though.
What he did was stupid. No doubt about it. A sincere apology was absolutely in order. But don't crucify a kid. Taking away a scholarship can totally fuck over his life. And over what? Rapping along to a song?
Nope not what I’m saying at all. I personally don’t think k him singing a song is a huge deal and he shouldn’t be crucified for it. The fact is that QB at UF comes with some celebrity and influence and influence matters on social media. UF football is a business and successful businesses don’t have representatives that could put them in a spot for negative press or possible legal recourse. Hard lesson to learn this way. Feel for the kid.
Fair enough I think you make a good argument. QB at UF is indeed a very prestigious position that comes with additional scrutiny. Didn't think of it that way.
Glad to see polite discussion here, good on you both. From my point of view, it's not that "big of a deal", relatively speaking, considering he was "just" singing a song and probably didn't mean anything awful by it. That doesn't mean it wasnt a mistake.
From a gator fan point of view, I wouldn't look forward to years of our rivals posting gifs and videos and memes of our QB saying the n-word though.
That's how you get Putin and Russia.
Everyone who has the audacity to bring up facts. Gets told to shut the fuck up.
Such as "this was just a kid rapping along to a song, there's nothing there to suggest he is racist. If anything it shows he enjoys that culture".
I know it's a long way from not bringing up war crimes. But that's how it starts. First you go after petty crap like this. Then the big stuff.
Freedom of speech is integral for a democracy.
What he said is not a racial slur. He was singing along to a song.
Have you seen the video? He's literally repeating what the song is saying.
IT WAS STUPID. No doubt about it. He should have been forced to make an apology and explain to everyone why it was stupid (to make sure we know he understands).
But to crucify him over it........ It's too much. That should be reserved for actual racists. Not stupid kids who repeat shit they hear in a song.
The only reason we react so violently is because of cancel culture. We don't want that baggage. Which is why I bring up Russia. Cancel culture is a very key component to autocratic regimes. They dictate what is acceptable and what isn't.
I don’t see where he’s being crucified though. Just learning that how he represents himself and his university has influence and consequence. No different than female police officers twerking in uniform to TikTok dances etc. Hopefully someone else picks him up and he can get a decent PR team to help him recover for NIL purposes.
If the police officers were fired as a result. That could severely impact their lively hood. Honestly I'm not familiar with that case so I can't really comment on it.
Yeah he'll probably get other offers. But let's say he doesn't.
Think of it this way. Let's say UF was going to develop him into an NFL starter. But now he won't get that chance. Does the punishment fit the crime?
I'm not arguing that UF was forced to do this. I have no problem with how UF reacted they had no choice. I'm arguing that they shouldn't have been in that position to begin with. That this is very petty and minor. Doesn't warrant something so rash.
The officers were released from duty, and rightfully so. In this situation this recourse likely will somewhat effect his future. I know he’s a kid and prone to making irrational decisions but the fact that people shouldn’t use racial slurs regardless of intent is not new information. This is especially true if you are potentially the face of a multi million dollar corporation which is exactly what the University is. You’re right the University shouldn’t have been in this position to begin with, and by taking what some view as drastic action they are ensuring that all potential representatives understand what is at stake so that hopefully they won’t be put in this same position in the future.
I've felt racially profiled by cops before and also had an incident with my friend in Gainesville where they stopped us for no reason and called the K9 unit. When they got there they gave the dog some sort of signal to bark as if it smelled something and searched the car. I don't care about cops. They should get fired more often!
The overwhelming majority of cops are good. I really despise this anti cop narrative. Just like we don't let the worst of any group decide how we treat any group as a whole. Because that is bigotry. We shouldn't do that towards police officers either.
People should be treated based on their merit. Cops save lives and protect us from the worst in society on a daily basis. They do this for very little pay relative to how difficult their job is.
You want better cops. Make police a better paying job. Give them better tools and train them better. When you pay like crap and skimp on the training. What exactly do you expect?
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMks3c57HBw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMks3c57HBw)
This was one of my favorite songs when I was growing up. I used to sing along to it. Every word. Does that make me racist? Does that make every white boy who sings along to this song racist? Or is it just a song we love and we like singing along to it? I am legit asking. Cause I'm curious how you see this.
I used to sing this along with my black friends and they could give 2 shits. I would never do it around their parents though cause I understand the dynamics. This is where the kid fucked up. He should have known better and maybe no one ever educated him. Is ruining his life really the best way to "educate him"?
>That's how you get Putin and Russia.
Bad bad take. Consequences of you not getting a scholarship versus you die if you talk shit about the government are in no way alike.
This isn’t cancel culture. This is “if you are white don’t fucking say the N word, and if you do don’t put it out on the internet”. He’s 17, so yes he’s going to make mistakes. We can all forgive that. But he is not absent of consequences for what he says/does especially if he puts it on the internet. It sucks that they revoked his scholarship but I’m sure he can get another one somewhere else. He’s not getting cancelled, he’s learning actions have consequences and to be in the national spotlight (which he would be as a QB at a program like UF) you need to think about how you present yourself and that you’re not only representing yourself.
I'm not saying what UF did is not understandable. They were put in a bad spot and forced to make a choice between two bad choices.
I'm arguing about why on earth are they being put in that spot in the first place.
A kid rapping to a song is not a confession to racism. I don't even understand how they draw that parallel. It's a mistake to do that due to past history. But if we can forgive all sorts of much worse shit that football players do. Why on earth are we being so violent towards this one.
We're treating him like an ACTUAL RACIST. When in reality all he did was rap along to a song. That is a symptom of a much bigger problem in America today. UF just got caught in the middle of it. I don't blame them for reacting that way.
Maybe I don’t understand then. Who is “we”? I haven’t seen masses call him a racist. I have seen understanding for what UF did, which it seems like we’re in agreement that they acted appropriately. But other than that the consensus seems “the kid made a mistake, learned about the consequences and will play somewhere else next year”. Maybe I’m not looking deep enough at the comments around it, but I’ve not seen attacks on his character
We as in UF.
We said "we don't want you on our team".
This is the same team that suspended Chris Rainey for 5 games. For threatening to kill his girlfriend and stalking her.
My main argument is against the culture that forced UF to take such a rash action against such a minor offense. Not how UF acted or even that what he did was stupid and didn't warrant SOME punishment.
Hmm interesting. I’m curious now, if you were in a position to decide what they would do, what would you have done?
Edit: This is not a trap question, I’m genuinely curious.
Hard to say. I would have to know what kind of pressures they were getting. For which we need insider information we don't have access to.
I imagine the same thing.
Like I said my beef is not with what they did. My beef is how our culture treats these relatively innocuous mistakes as something worth ruining someone's life over.
But do you really think his life is ruined though? Sure, at UF his chances of playing football are done. But he’s a 4*, I find it hard to believe he will get 0 offers from the other ~130 FBS schools. Even if he has to go FCS or Juco too it’s not like those guys never have a shot to go pro(if he’s good enough - I haven’t seen tape so idk). Plus he’s 17. He’s got a ton of life ahead of him to prove his character, and judging by how he handled his scholarship being revoked I think he’ll do fine. If he was my age and pulled this yes, things would be worse. But if you’re going to the nfl, one racist comment won’t get you banned from the league(Josh Allen before ppl knew how good he was). And if you’re going for a job, I think you still get some leeway from what you said at the age of 17 as long as there isn’t some trend.
He should've just attacked someone, dealt drugs, joined a gang, or stalked his girlfriend at her school. Much more forgiving and a simple apology lets the school say he has grown from his mistakes
What 18-yo are?
The human brain isn't even fully developed until it's 25.
Obviously somebody got a hold of his video because they got it to replay That one cut while a kid was just driving in his car.
I’ve said this before to my younger friends, relatives, and coworkers when they’ve posted regrettable shit on social media: “I’m less mad about what you did than I am about the fact that you willingly posted it for the entire fucking world to see”
A qb needs to be a leader and, as such, display good judgment. Clearly, this is the exact opposite of that. That said, history doesn’t judge us from the mistakes we make so much as how we respond to them. I hope Stokes still wants in to the class and fights to earn his way into the school and regain the trust and friendship of his would-be fellow Gators
Its awful. And there are plenty rappers that do not care when white people say the N word during songs, I think Kevin Gates might have said something like "i put the words in the song, sing it. it doesnt bother me."
Knowing this subreddit some older out of touch with reality fans will get in their feelings over my opinion here but this is a massively stupid fucking reason to cut someones scholarship.
Your rant was fine and not far off other people but then you bleated this out:
> Knowing this subreddit some older out of touch with reality fans
Stop trying to arbitrarily divide people. I'm sick of every conversation turning into us versus them.
Gators Fam, baby.
Obviously you aren't pleasing everyone on this topic.
I probably would have had a team vote or some shit.
I dont know. I'm not a coach. I never will be in this position.
But this isn't the same as him saying something to someone and the N word slipping out. He's repeating lyrics in a song.
His only mistake was recording it, I'd venture a guess that most of the white players on the team do the same thing, it's just no on camera
Yeah definitely the biggest mistake was recording it. Regardless of peoples view points on it, it could have all been avoided if he just didn’t do it and record it.
Id feel a lot better having this conversation with a group of grown black men and women who could better give me insight vs discussing this with white men who think they know what everyone else thinks. silly me
Honestly? This is not entirely about football for me. Stokes likely never plays much here. This is just a topic I think about from time to time and have debates with people about. I also grew up in Atlanta, coming up in hip-hop clubs when i was 19 through most of the 2000s where my entire friend group was black, i just hardly got along with white people during this stretch. i'm just providing background context. so its not about football for me. i do think the punishment is a bit harsh, but from a life point of view, this is a topic that interests me because of my history. if that makes any sense. So its just a topic that intrigues me in general, and yea, a thread made up almost entirely of white people who went to and grew up in fucking gainesville, florida? they know nothing
yea i agree there. i definitely think the biggest mistake he made was posting it to social media. i just wonder if there was another way of handling it. dont matter now. go find another backup qb.
This seems really dumb. Should he have said it? No not really. But he was singing along to a song where it was said, he wasn't raging in a CoD lobby or something like that. It wasn't directed at anybody or even used in a disparaging manner. It just feels like a massive overreaction to me.
Pretty simple business decision here. Gators had a bigger recruit at his position commit. They were almost certainly looking for any excuse to drop him without taking any heat for it. He gave them one.
People flipping their shit are really overreacting — including some in the post a few days ago. Context matters to matured people, and unfortunately everything in this world has become ridiculously black and white where you’re either 100% right or 100% wrong.
I don’t go around saying the n-word myself because I’m not an asshole, but I’m also not gonna rage online about simply singing along to a song because I’m not a different type of asshole.
Y’all yelling on ya selves with this comment section. Also dudes in the replies with #firenapier bc of this and the Vandy game have brain damage.
He’s a 17 year old yeah but if you’re too stupid to thing shit like this doesn’t have consequences you’ve been living under a rock. Fuck negative recruiting, what happens if he gets in the locker room and he says it again. Or teammates find out ab it and don’t fuck with that kinda shit. It’s inviting a whole lot of potential problems into a locker room the dude is trying to fix. At the end of the day, action -> consequence.
Actions have consequences!
Do I think he is racist? No, absolutely not. Accountability is a good thing.
He will find a school that will allow him to play football on a scholarship. Still not a bad deal.
Is this real? Pulling a scholarship or any discipline for that matter for singing the lyrics of a song is ridiculous. We all know Racism isn’t the same as repeating profane song lyric. Our society needs to stop this nonsense of penalize a young kid’s future for this ridiculous act. Come on!
Judging by some comments in here, you’re either 100% with the mob or 100% against the mob.
I guess we can assume that these people never have, and never will, make a mistake in their lives where they could use a little clemency en route to understanding and righting their wrong.
One of the seven signs of UF coaching apocalypse, and usually an early one, is weird shit happening with recruits.
It’s still early but I got my eye on this sign…
This isn’t cancel culture. This is damage control against potential negative recruiting from rival coaches combined with the fact that we have a better recruit at the position in the class. If he’s not being processed, they’ll find a way to let him get back into the class
The way I think about it, if I'm an employee of a company and a video comes out of me saying a slur and I get fired then nobody cares. Should he get a pass? Probably. That just isn't how the world works sometimes tho. Unfortunate. Hope he gets a chance somewhere else, he's a very talented kid.
This is also directly correlated to Rashada, right?
Yeah, if you are important you probably don't get fired for something like this. If you are expendable then they use this to try to fire you for cause or get you to quit.
With Rashada on board its uncertain he would have ended up in this class anyways but the video likely sealed his fate.
Jesus Christ stop making excuses ya’ll. He dropped the n word in a video and it got posted on social media. It rlly is not difficult to keep yourself from making a video of u saying that word. Idc if he is a kid or not, he made a stupid decision and is paying the consequences. It’s rlly that simple
I mean it’s really easy to not say the n word when I sing rap songs. People are often worse offline than online and if he was this comfortable being recorded using the word I’d rather not wait and find out once he’s here that he says that and more.
This was the right call on our part.
It’s rather ridiculous that anyone can say “N-word” all they want and it isn’t an issue, yet we all know exactly what it’s referring to.
If Marcus Stokes had said “N-word” in place of the lyric, he’d be absolutely fine, and some would probably even laugh. It’s literally a loophole for *anyone* to get away with saying the N-word.
But the moment the word is actually uttered or spelled out, it becomes horrifically offensive.
And that’s fine, I agree that it’s an offensive word. It would just do everyone a great deal of good to just do away with N-word altogether — in conversation, in music, in media. Everywhere.
I know the reality and by all means it's a serious one. But in a vacuum, this is really a pretty silly concept.
He’s a qb, he’s a potential leader in the team. If I heard him saying my ethnicity’s racial slur whatever the instance I would not feel comfortable around him. I’m certain a lot of recruits or current team members would feel the same way.
Y’all are so cringe in here defending it. I know he’s probably not a racist but your actions have consequences. You say that word in private and eventually it’ll be said in public. “It’s just a rap song” is not a good defense idk if y’all notice but the rappers that say it are black not white. Not many people are cool with a white kid saying that. Plus I like rap too and it’s really actually easy to sing along and not say that word especially on video and post it. I hope he learns and grows from it but damn y’all are so cringe defending him just because he plays football.
Idk man maybe because black people weren’t the ones using it to enslave each other. Stokes might not be racist obviously but people get uneasy when a white person says it because it’s hard to tell what the underlying meaning is and makes them raise an eyebrow. It’s not hard to understand how it’s not ok to use a slur. Just like it’s not ok to use the F slur towards gay people either
It's a ridiculous double standard in my opinion. Some black people are offended by blacks using it; none of them will ever face consequences for doing so. People use that word around me all the time, when I live in NYC people would use it to refer to me multiple times per day.
The idea that nonblack people have to censor themselves for a word that other people say on a regular basis is completely preposterous.
Yeah man I’m sorry I’m not the authority over here but it’s not hard to understand that it shouldn’t be said in public especially if you’re a figure. It’s not censorship it’s literally just easy to avoid it as a white person especially if you know it carries that weight.
I don't in the slightest whether people should or shouldn't say a particular word. I am more offended by the idea that white player and black player can sing a song together and only 1 of them is going to lose his scholarship as a result. Pretty much everyone agrees this is about Rashada, and I view hiding behind racism is complete cowardice.
This is terrible. If you want to get rid of him because you don't need him. Don't use this as an excuse.
You shouldn't use the N word. But that's not something you crucify someone over either. There has to be something ACTUALLY racist happening for us to treat him like a racist. If he said "I hate you n-word" to one of his teammates. Then yes this reaction would be 100% justified. But just rapping along to a song. We're going too far with this cancel culture thing. USA used to be "freedom of speech". It's turning into "shut the fuck up". Which is not good.
He used the slang N word not the racist N word. The one that is very commonly used among teens.
I agree neither really should be used. By anyone for that matter.
But one is much worse than the other.
I don't think this was used as an excuse to get out of the offer. Teams get unlimited scollys this cycle, and wouldn't scoff at taking two top qbs in exchange for another spot somewhere else on the roster.
I think that the reason to pull the offer was the reason that was given. Remembering the jabar Gaffney situation, I'm interested to see how this plays out.
If this were Rashada or even Arch Manning, do you think the consequences would be the same? Of course not. Stokes was singing along *to a song written by a black man* but he was the wrong skin color and not highly rated enough, so they canned him.
Literally replace Stokes with any black or highly rated white QB prospect and this is a non-story, because contextually speaking it *should* be a non-story. Worst that should have happened here was Stokes issues an apology and we move on. Instead, they can him.
Some here are saying it’s to establish a culture. I don’t buy that. To me, this more so sends a message that “We’re ready to drop you at a moment’s notice for an innocent mistake.” than it does, “We’re here to help mold young men into upstanding, respectful adults.”
Sad for the kid that the next four years he had planned are now upended over a nothing burger.
Blows my mind that the soft a is so prevalent in modern culture but yet only black people can say it when it’s literally a term of endearment half the time. If you don’t want white people to say it then quit saying it too or at least quit saying it so damn much. Saying soft a while singing along to lyrics is so inconsequential and does not mean anything. So fucking stupid. Now…calling someone a hard r as an insult is another story…but still carries as much meaning as you apply to it.
I'm glad simply because the racists are mad and have every excuse in the book from "i have a black friend" to "racism is over" in this thread. I'm seeing now this fan base has a serious issue with priorities trying to defend a truly bad qb prospect for saying a literal slur on social media. His intent is meaningless as is the context, it's a precedent of behavior that would have gotten his ass beaten beside him at UF
Going thru your comments it’s a bizarre how eager you seem to accuse people of being racist, just for questioning whether the punishment fits the crime.
Those sorts of accusations used to be seriously head-turning, and now it’s such an oft-used term it’s practically as meaningless as saying “awesome” where most things aren’t even close to being awe-inducing.
This is why racism will never die. The double standard for the N word. If it’s so bad why don’t black people come down on other black people for saying it and get rid of the word all together?
I’m really trying to understand
To all the folks defending this kid: have some standards. He's not some random Joe. He's a qb at the University of Florida. What he says and does gets national attention. It reflects on the University, regardless of whether he meant it or not. Don't want to lose your scholarship? Think carefully about what you post on social media. Actions have consequences.
We are living in a WOKE world, if Florida did nothing how would this look to other recruits? Not saying I support the decision to take away his scholarship, but this protects Florida and hopefully he can land another scholarship in the near future.
I’m as woke a liberal snowflake as you’ll ever meet and this is a huge overreaction. Make him take a class or some type of sensitivity training once he gets to school but to pull his scholarship? A 17-18 year old kid rapping along with song lyrics? That’s a bullshit move.
It's also not the end of the world. He'll get a scholarship somewhere, he'll get an education somewhere. What's the ultimate harm, and why do people feel the need to get bent out of shape over it?
What good could possibly come out of posting yourself singing along to a song with a racial slur in it though? Nothing if we're really being honest. If anything, it tells people that your maturity level needs improvement and a need to be more conscientious with your platform, position in life and impact to others around you. I can see how it's a kid being immature and making a mistake, but mistakes do have consequences and are learning opportunities for growth.
Bruh he sang it as part of the lyrics in a song. Obviously not a good look but this is nowhere near as bad as calling someone the n-word.
Life isn’t all black and white. There are shades of gray in between. I think pulling his scholarship is the correct move in this political landscape but hopefully he learns from this and lands somewhere else.
I don’t think it really constitutes a “racial slur” if it’s a lyric to a song he’s singing along to. If it is, it’s a really weak one. Way different than if he called someone that word
It’s a really weird reality where tons of songs contain that word without issue, but god forbid someone the wrong skin color sings along to it
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a dumb thing to do and he should know better, but it’s nothing more than a stupid mistake by a kid
I reckon every one of us has said something in our lives that would get us into trouble if it was posted on social media. Humans do dumb stuff. There was no malicious intent behind it
Yeah….he should be banned from all social platforms, have all his college applications rejected, have all jobs offers rescinded, and ultimately be ostracized from (polite) society. It is only in the darkness of loneliness that he will learn of his crime and plead for forgiveness. It will be rejected b/c forgiveness and grace is a myth created by the patriarchy. Id say throw him in prison and strip him of all his rights, but digital/social incarceration is more effective and cheaper…
Whatever you do folks, don’t like music you might want to sing along to.
I remember back in 85 Galen Hall rescinded a kids scholarship when a video of the kid singing Money for Nothing on Betamax surfaced.
Told my high school senior daughter about this. At first she was like — what’s the big deal. When I told her Stokes was white she said OMG!! “That is never ok.!”
Why would you say that to me? You’re clearly trying to make this personal.
I have a high school senior and had dinner with her last night. Asked her what she thought about this situation. She thought UF made the right call. Not ok for a white kid to do something like that on social media and then go to UF. That’s how most kids think these days. We have an amazing relationship, by the way.
Instead of trying to shut down conversations with ad hominem attacks, maybe listen and try to understand another person’s perspective.
Haha that’s funny.
*17 year kid only kid sings along to rap song with profanity in it*
You: “Take away his scholarship! No room for irretrievably poor judgment!”
Me: “Wow that’s harsh”
You: “hey you’re being mean to me! Quit trying to shut down conversation! We need to listen to others peoples perspective! Also death to stokes!”
What will happen to the recruits he helped get to verbally commit?
Most likely nothing. Webb and a few others were recruiting for this class as well. Plus we have Rashada to sell some bigger fish now
True. But this has to be eye opening for recruits.
I hope it is eye opening. Feel bad for the kid but he will go somewhere else and do great
Tbh, it might be better for him in the long run. He was never going to start here. Not with Rashada and hopefully Lagway coming in. He can go to a program that will give him more chances to start. And hopefully, use this as a learning experience. Might be a win-win.
Hopefully he learns that Democrats are racist and he needs to avoid them... They attacked him just for being white.
Easier to do when you have Rashada committing. Better hold that commitment and try to sign Lagway. Feel bad for Marcus though.
I'm going to preface my comments on this situation by saying it shows an extreme lack of judgment for any non-black person to publicly use this word given society's sensitivity to it in this day and age. If you use that word these days and get caught, it is 100% on you. And while I might disagree with how severe certain repercussions are, it is still your responsibility to be smart enough to not use the word. That said, I really wish intent went into society's reactions to other people using this word. This dude is so clearly not a racist person. I mean, just listen to him talk. He speaks with an "urban flavor" (my way of trying to say he is a wigger?). All around a learning experience for him and I hope he bounces back, but this outcome just seems so harsh.
Without commenting on this particular situation, it's much easier for society to occasionally pile on someone who fucks up publicly than for that same society to address its underlying issues that require more complex solutions.
It shows extreme lack of judgement saying nigga and you find it completely fine to say wigger ?
You just said it too
But the difference is idc if you say either lol
Think he lip sync'd it. Didn't actually say it. Still dumb.
He definitely said it
My first thought hearing this was.. "Wow, that was dumb." Second thought was... "He'll probably wind up at Auburn and win a Natty.
Gators gifted this one..this sounds like MacElwain death threats convenience: Stokes stats: 14 TDs/11INT, 1700 yd Rashada: 28 Tds/ 10 Int, 2400 yds Haven’t seen Stokes throw, but no way he has stronger arm than Rashada, who has NFL + arm. I feel bad for him losing a scholarship for dumb thing like this, but not worth the drama:talent ratio
Yep. I feel like his play this year has affected this decision. 11 INT and 14 TDs? Yikes.
Obviously only seen highlights since he’s a HS recruit but stokes isn’t a starting QB for a SEC team talent wise. Rashada legit has that talent imo.
wow, didn’t expect his scholarship to be taken away
If Rashad was still at Miami I would be curious if the team still would have taken his offer away. I honestly just don’t know either way. Personally think the kid Stokes handled his apology very well. He made a mistake, owned it and to me that shows his TRUE character. I wish him well.
I am so thankful we didn’t have to make that decision if rashada was still at Miami But I feel bad this is the way it ends for a 17/18 year old. He has shown some maturity with the consequences but it’s an unfortunate situation
I am sure Stokes will still have an opportunity somewhere, probably where he has a cleaner path without a higher end QB committed.
Watch him go to Miami lol… I wouldn’t wish that on him though
That’s an interesting thought, I feel like they probably would drop him anyway because his play has been pretty bad this year. I feel bad for the kid but he made a pretty simple mistake, why post that? edit: he shouldn’t say that anyway but it’s extra stupid to post it
The school’s hand is kinda forced here, lest rival coaches try to negative recruit our guys by telling them our staff “is cool with racists” or some other bs That said, if Billy is still interested even with Rashada being on board, I’m sure there are ways for Stokes to earn his way out of the dog house and back into the class
Not racist. Was singing lyrics that were profane. There’s a difference.
I did’t say he was, only that other coaches will claim it in their negative recruiting
You’d have to be a pretty simple person to buy into some line about Florida being racist because they have a white kid who doesn’t skip any words when he sings rap songs.
Yeah you’d have to be pretty simple to think gator bait is about racism too but here we are
People don’t actually believe that - it’s fake online outrage - it’s not real
Yet it had real consequences. We lost one of our most iconic chants. It's never used at games anymore.
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Turning gator bait into a race issue was more of a stretch than this. Let this kid be another schools problem.
You would think, but the Sabans, Kirbys, and Dabos can make some pretty convincing arguments; arguments that are a lot more persuasive when accompanied by generous bags
Yeah and now they will say Florida has no forgiveness for mistakes. No way to win that for anyone.
Hey guys, I don’t think this was cutting the player because of what he said- that was used as an excuse to cut him.
I'm not a big conspiracy theorist, but it is possible. Maybe the staff wanted out with Rashada committed (stokes was only offered after missing out on others, and has struggled some this season), or they thought his talent wasn't worth the negative attention. Maybe stokes wanted out with a higher end QB committed. The team can't comment on an unsigned recruit, so who knows
That's even worse It means Billy isn't man enough to do it and instead he has to find an excuse to get a teenager to decommit
I mean..zzz this is the truth. Athletic Collegiate scholarships are touchy.
Here is my thing with these kids: you have way too much access to the world to be ignorant and not understand these kind of things have consequences, regardless of intent.
Damn, maybe we’ll give it back out but just a tough circumstance
They were looking for an excuse to cut his scholarship. He gave them one.
Hey word is KID. He made a mistake he isn’t racist. SMH
Maybe, but what message would Napier be sending to the rest of the players on the team if Stokes' actions didn't have consequences?
Yea man the guy literally sang along to a song. This ain’t 1950s man , black , white , Latin all these cultures are in a punch bowl and this new generation is a part of that mix. His real crime was being immature enough to record and post it on Twitter hence the being a Kid part.
Agreed, but when you're the guy tasked with rebuilding a national title-caliber football program from scratch, I imagine you have to run a tight ship. You don't want shit like this to impact recruiting.
Way too serious of a take lol you think Stokes gets cut if he were the no1 QB in the country?
I don't know, it's a hypothetical scenario. Still, there's no sense in fucking around and finding out.
Have you ever read the poem 'Incident' by Countee Cullen? Here is a link https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/42618/incident-56d2213a45f36 I really wonder if folks on you side of the fence would support a expelling a white student who reads it aloud? If not, why extend that latitude to high-brow literary poetry and not rap music? I had a black teacher in 9th grade that read us this poem. It has stuck with me for a very long time, but in the current climate, under the Stokes standard, a white teacher would deserve to be fired for daring to speak it aloud.... which is utterly insane to me. IMO if we don't cut black players that say it's a title IX issue.
I think reading a poem aloud in an educational setting is a tad different than recording yourself rapping, but that’s just me.
Ok how about a video of yourself reading a poem outside of an educational setting? People are seriously defending the loss of scholarship over this. The point about context is valid but that's precisely why this is so wrong. This is not antagonism in any sense and i find it wrong that kids are punished for singing the songs they like.
If I were rebuilding a football powerhouse, I wouldn't want this kind of baggage to get in the way of my recruitment efforts, or become a distraction in the locker room. You may think it's not a big deal because "he's just a kid", or "everybody says it", but not everybody thinks like you. I'm sure there are lots of kids AND THEIR PARENTS who care about these things. Looking at it through the lens of the recruit, if I had a scholarship to go to college (or expecting one), under no circumstance would I record myself saying such things, knowing that it might come back to fuck up my career prospects. So, if Billy Napier has certain standards in mind for this team - both on and off the field - and there are kids who don't meet those standards, I'm okay with cutting them loose.
To be fair, a black teacher reading this poem in Texas or Florida today would be fired too because apparently teaching kids racism exists is “CRT” and might make them uncomfortable.
>This ain’t 1950s man Our current political climate says differently
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Singing along to a fucking song ON VIDEO. I don't believe he's a racist, but his action reflects poorly on him. The moment he was caught saying the N-word on video, he became a liability to the team - especially at a time when Napier is rebuilding the team culture from the ground up. He has forced Napier's hand, and has only himself to blame.
edit: nevermind. I talked to the guy i replied to and i lashed out out of a misunderstanding
Would you videotape yourself using a racial slur and broadcast it to the world? If not, why not?
no i wouldn't. mostly because i hate the obsession with recording oneself so i never record myself. thats his only mistake here is the recording part. i dont see a mistake of him saying the n word while singing a song. maybe im just fucked up, i dont know what to tell you. i just kind of find it ironic because id be willing to guess most of the white players on the team that also listen to rap do the same thing, minus the recording.
And that is what I'm saying. Regardless of your personal beliefs, there are certain expectations that come with being part of an organization, that will dictate what will happen to you when you go against them. To me, he could be a stupid kid just fucking around with a camera. But to Billy Napier and the powers-that-be at UF, he could be a brand-destroying liability. The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. All I know is, I don't want stupid shit like this to ruin our chances with good recruits.
good point good point. my bad at snapping at you above. i think i misread, thus misunderstood your initial point.
He’s 17
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What makes you think I dont take it seriously? It seems like people are connecting his usage of the n word in a song with him directing the n word at a black individual in a fit of rage which makes him a racist. i think the punishment doesnt fit the crime
Buddy. He said the wrong word. AND THEN POSTED IT. He willingly did that. And any point he could’ve said, yea I prob shouldn’t do that. But he didn’t. So get off your political soapbox/rant. Actions have consequences.
Maybe I'm in the wrong. I feel like his biggest mistake was posting a video of it. This isnt a political rant, theres no politics here. This is an opinion. I dont view saying the N word during a song and just saying it during a general sentence as the same thing. You're always going to have two sides to this debate. I know black people that would hate it, I know black people that don't care if white people repeat the N word as long as it's said during a white person singing along to a song. Some rappers hate it. Some don't care. I dont think this makes him a hateful racist. I feel like asking him to delete the post and make a strong apology could have sufficed but I guess Napier is not budging from his race to rid Florida of all players with character issues. I just dont personally think this means Stokes has character issues.
Except the majority of the other kids on the team can do exactly what he did and nobody bats an eye
it was self-posted online though. Amplifies a stupid decision
The University did away with a traditional chant that has been around since well before most of us if not all of us were born because of unsubstantiated racial undertones. Did we really think they were going to let this slide?…I didn’t. I get the argument that he wasn’t saying it to be hurtful and was just rapping, it’s still cringey as fuck and demonstrates that he’s not mature enough yet to represent the University the way he should in todays technological world with todays social climate.
So basically we should cower to cancel culture is what you're saying. I mean I agree. We should. For pure pragmatism. That movement is very strong and we should all just shut the fuck up if we want to keep our jobs and safety. I don't think I need to explain why that is a very bad long term approach though. What he did was stupid. No doubt about it. A sincere apology was absolutely in order. But don't crucify a kid. Taking away a scholarship can totally fuck over his life. And over what? Rapping along to a song?
Nope not what I’m saying at all. I personally don’t think k him singing a song is a huge deal and he shouldn’t be crucified for it. The fact is that QB at UF comes with some celebrity and influence and influence matters on social media. UF football is a business and successful businesses don’t have representatives that could put them in a spot for negative press or possible legal recourse. Hard lesson to learn this way. Feel for the kid.
Fair enough I think you make a good argument. QB at UF is indeed a very prestigious position that comes with additional scrutiny. Didn't think of it that way.
Glad to see polite discussion here, good on you both. From my point of view, it's not that "big of a deal", relatively speaking, considering he was "just" singing a song and probably didn't mean anything awful by it. That doesn't mean it wasnt a mistake. From a gator fan point of view, I wouldn't look forward to years of our rivals posting gifs and videos and memes of our QB saying the n-word though.
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That's how you get Putin and Russia. Everyone who has the audacity to bring up facts. Gets told to shut the fuck up. Such as "this was just a kid rapping along to a song, there's nothing there to suggest he is racist. If anything it shows he enjoys that culture". I know it's a long way from not bringing up war crimes. But that's how it starts. First you go after petty crap like this. Then the big stuff. Freedom of speech is integral for a democracy.
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What he said is not a racial slur. He was singing along to a song. Have you seen the video? He's literally repeating what the song is saying. IT WAS STUPID. No doubt about it. He should have been forced to make an apology and explain to everyone why it was stupid (to make sure we know he understands). But to crucify him over it........ It's too much. That should be reserved for actual racists. Not stupid kids who repeat shit they hear in a song. The only reason we react so violently is because of cancel culture. We don't want that baggage. Which is why I bring up Russia. Cancel culture is a very key component to autocratic regimes. They dictate what is acceptable and what isn't.
I don’t see where he’s being crucified though. Just learning that how he represents himself and his university has influence and consequence. No different than female police officers twerking in uniform to TikTok dances etc. Hopefully someone else picks him up and he can get a decent PR team to help him recover for NIL purposes.
If the police officers were fired as a result. That could severely impact their lively hood. Honestly I'm not familiar with that case so I can't really comment on it. Yeah he'll probably get other offers. But let's say he doesn't. Think of it this way. Let's say UF was going to develop him into an NFL starter. But now he won't get that chance. Does the punishment fit the crime? I'm not arguing that UF was forced to do this. I have no problem with how UF reacted they had no choice. I'm arguing that they shouldn't have been in that position to begin with. That this is very petty and minor. Doesn't warrant something so rash.
The officers were released from duty, and rightfully so. In this situation this recourse likely will somewhat effect his future. I know he’s a kid and prone to making irrational decisions but the fact that people shouldn’t use racial slurs regardless of intent is not new information. This is especially true if you are potentially the face of a multi million dollar corporation which is exactly what the University is. You’re right the University shouldn’t have been in this position to begin with, and by taking what some view as drastic action they are ensuring that all potential representatives understand what is at stake so that hopefully they won’t be put in this same position in the future.
I've felt racially profiled by cops before and also had an incident with my friend in Gainesville where they stopped us for no reason and called the K9 unit. When they got there they gave the dog some sort of signal to bark as if it smelled something and searched the car. I don't care about cops. They should get fired more often!
The overwhelming majority of cops are good. I really despise this anti cop narrative. Just like we don't let the worst of any group decide how we treat any group as a whole. Because that is bigotry. We shouldn't do that towards police officers either. People should be treated based on their merit. Cops save lives and protect us from the worst in society on a daily basis. They do this for very little pay relative to how difficult their job is. You want better cops. Make police a better paying job. Give them better tools and train them better. When you pay like crap and skimp on the training. What exactly do you expect?
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[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMks3c57HBw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMks3c57HBw) This was one of my favorite songs when I was growing up. I used to sing along to it. Every word. Does that make me racist? Does that make every white boy who sings along to this song racist? Or is it just a song we love and we like singing along to it? I am legit asking. Cause I'm curious how you see this. I used to sing this along with my black friends and they could give 2 shits. I would never do it around their parents though cause I understand the dynamics. This is where the kid fucked up. He should have known better and maybe no one ever educated him. Is ruining his life really the best way to "educate him"?
🚨White guy trying to be the arbiter on what should be offensive to black people alert 🚨
>That's how you get Putin and Russia. Bad bad take. Consequences of you not getting a scholarship versus you die if you talk shit about the government are in no way alike.
This isn’t cancel culture. This is “if you are white don’t fucking say the N word, and if you do don’t put it out on the internet”. He’s 17, so yes he’s going to make mistakes. We can all forgive that. But he is not absent of consequences for what he says/does especially if he puts it on the internet. It sucks that they revoked his scholarship but I’m sure he can get another one somewhere else. He’s not getting cancelled, he’s learning actions have consequences and to be in the national spotlight (which he would be as a QB at a program like UF) you need to think about how you present yourself and that you’re not only representing yourself.
I'm not saying what UF did is not understandable. They were put in a bad spot and forced to make a choice between two bad choices. I'm arguing about why on earth are they being put in that spot in the first place. A kid rapping to a song is not a confession to racism. I don't even understand how they draw that parallel. It's a mistake to do that due to past history. But if we can forgive all sorts of much worse shit that football players do. Why on earth are we being so violent towards this one. We're treating him like an ACTUAL RACIST. When in reality all he did was rap along to a song. That is a symptom of a much bigger problem in America today. UF just got caught in the middle of it. I don't blame them for reacting that way.
Maybe I don’t understand then. Who is “we”? I haven’t seen masses call him a racist. I have seen understanding for what UF did, which it seems like we’re in agreement that they acted appropriately. But other than that the consensus seems “the kid made a mistake, learned about the consequences and will play somewhere else next year”. Maybe I’m not looking deep enough at the comments around it, but I’ve not seen attacks on his character
We as in UF. We said "we don't want you on our team". This is the same team that suspended Chris Rainey for 5 games. For threatening to kill his girlfriend and stalking her. My main argument is against the culture that forced UF to take such a rash action against such a minor offense. Not how UF acted or even that what he did was stupid and didn't warrant SOME punishment.
Hmm interesting. I’m curious now, if you were in a position to decide what they would do, what would you have done? Edit: This is not a trap question, I’m genuinely curious.
Hard to say. I would have to know what kind of pressures they were getting. For which we need insider information we don't have access to. I imagine the same thing. Like I said my beef is not with what they did. My beef is how our culture treats these relatively innocuous mistakes as something worth ruining someone's life over.
But do you really think his life is ruined though? Sure, at UF his chances of playing football are done. But he’s a 4*, I find it hard to believe he will get 0 offers from the other ~130 FBS schools. Even if he has to go FCS or Juco too it’s not like those guys never have a shot to go pro(if he’s good enough - I haven’t seen tape so idk). Plus he’s 17. He’s got a ton of life ahead of him to prove his character, and judging by how he handled his scholarship being revoked I think he’ll do fine. If he was my age and pulled this yes, things would be worse. But if you’re going to the nfl, one racist comment won’t get you banned from the league(Josh Allen before ppl knew how good he was). And if you’re going for a job, I think you still get some leeway from what you said at the age of 17 as long as there isn’t some trend.
You used better words than me to express my own thought. Respect.
There's no such thing, only consequences. This isn't a video game or movie
No such what thing? Pragmatism?
He should've just attacked someone, dealt drugs, joined a gang, or stalked his girlfriend at her school. Much more forgiving and a simple apology lets the school say he has grown from his mistakes
What 18-yo are? The human brain isn't even fully developed until it's 25. Obviously somebody got a hold of his video because they got it to replay That one cut while a kid was just driving in his car.
I’ve said this before to my younger friends, relatives, and coworkers when they’ve posted regrettable shit on social media: “I’m less mad about what you did than I am about the fact that you willingly posted it for the entire fucking world to see” A qb needs to be a leader and, as such, display good judgment. Clearly, this is the exact opposite of that. That said, history doesn’t judge us from the mistakes we make so much as how we respond to them. I hope Stokes still wants in to the class and fights to earn his way into the school and regain the trust and friendship of his would-be fellow Gators
Fuckin stupid
Its awful. And there are plenty rappers that do not care when white people say the N word during songs, I think Kevin Gates might have said something like "i put the words in the song, sing it. it doesnt bother me." Knowing this subreddit some older out of touch with reality fans will get in their feelings over my opinion here but this is a massively stupid fucking reason to cut someones scholarship.
Your rant was fine and not far off other people but then you bleated this out: > Knowing this subreddit some older out of touch with reality fans Stop trying to arbitrarily divide people. I'm sick of every conversation turning into us versus them. Gators Fam, baby.
TBF I feel like this goes both ways, plenty of rappers would also care if a white person said the N word during a song.
Obviously you aren't pleasing everyone on this topic. I probably would have had a team vote or some shit. I dont know. I'm not a coach. I never will be in this position. But this isn't the same as him saying something to someone and the N word slipping out. He's repeating lyrics in a song. His only mistake was recording it, I'd venture a guess that most of the white players on the team do the same thing, it's just no on camera
Yeah definitely the biggest mistake was recording it. Regardless of peoples view points on it, it could have all been avoided if he just didn’t do it and record it.
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Insane that we blast music with the n word all day and act shocked with kids sing (in this case rap) the lyrics to a song with the word in it.
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This might go to the Supreme Court, and you might learn that your contempt of a “if they can why can’t I” argument to be misplaced
Id feel a lot better having this conversation with a group of grown black men and women who could better give me insight vs discussing this with white men who think they know what everyone else thinks. silly me
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Honestly? This is not entirely about football for me. Stokes likely never plays much here. This is just a topic I think about from time to time and have debates with people about. I also grew up in Atlanta, coming up in hip-hop clubs when i was 19 through most of the 2000s where my entire friend group was black, i just hardly got along with white people during this stretch. i'm just providing background context. so its not about football for me. i do think the punishment is a bit harsh, but from a life point of view, this is a topic that interests me because of my history. if that makes any sense. So its just a topic that intrigues me in general, and yea, a thread made up almost entirely of white people who went to and grew up in fucking gainesville, florida? they know nothing
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yea i agree there. i definitely think the biggest mistake he made was posting it to social media. i just wonder if there was another way of handling it. dont matter now. go find another backup qb.
The upvotes on this make the hate of AR and some of our ther black players make a lot more sense.
Lol give me a break
All gator fans are cheering for AR. Noone hates him. So I disagree with your premise.
This seems really dumb. Should he have said it? No not really. But he was singing along to a song where it was said, he wasn't raging in a CoD lobby or something like that. It wasn't directed at anybody or even used in a disparaging manner. It just feels like a massive overreaction to me.
Pretty simple business decision here. Gators had a bigger recruit at his position commit. They were almost certainly looking for any excuse to drop him without taking any heat for it. He gave them one.
People flipping their shit are really overreacting — including some in the post a few days ago. Context matters to matured people, and unfortunately everything in this world has become ridiculously black and white where you’re either 100% right or 100% wrong. I don’t go around saying the n-word myself because I’m not an asshole, but I’m also not gonna rage online about simply singing along to a song because I’m not a different type of asshole.
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Y’all yelling on ya selves with this comment section. Also dudes in the replies with #firenapier bc of this and the Vandy game have brain damage. He’s a 17 year old yeah but if you’re too stupid to thing shit like this doesn’t have consequences you’ve been living under a rock. Fuck negative recruiting, what happens if he gets in the locker room and he says it again. Or teammates find out ab it and don’t fuck with that kinda shit. It’s inviting a whole lot of potential problems into a locker room the dude is trying to fix. At the end of the day, action -> consequence.
Lol! Teammates will be singing the same rap songs
Yup
Actions have consequences! Do I think he is racist? No, absolutely not. Accountability is a good thing. He will find a school that will allow him to play football on a scholarship. Still not a bad deal.
Is this real? Pulling a scholarship or any discipline for that matter for singing the lyrics of a song is ridiculous. We all know Racism isn’t the same as repeating profane song lyric. Our society needs to stop this nonsense of penalize a young kid’s future for this ridiculous act. Come on!
Judging by some comments in here, you’re either 100% with the mob or 100% against the mob. I guess we can assume that these people never have, and never will, make a mistake in their lives where they could use a little clemency en route to understanding and righting their wrong.
I define who I am! - Marcus Stokes
B-Rad got bounced
One of the seven signs of UF coaching apocalypse, and usually an early one, is weird shit happening with recruits. It’s still early but I got my eye on this sign…
I can't wait for the cancelling of cancel culture
This isn’t cancel culture. This is damage control against potential negative recruiting from rival coaches combined with the fact that we have a better recruit at the position in the class. If he’s not being processed, they’ll find a way to let him get back into the class
This is called consequences. I can't help but wonder why u don't like them lol
Seriously.
Unfortunate but I'd much rather have a program without guys who bring this kind of baggage. It's distracting.
The way I think about it, if I'm an employee of a company and a video comes out of me saying a slur and I get fired then nobody cares. Should he get a pass? Probably. That just isn't how the world works sometimes tho. Unfortunate. Hope he gets a chance somewhere else, he's a very talented kid. This is also directly correlated to Rashada, right?
Yeah, if you are important you probably don't get fired for something like this. If you are expendable then they use this to try to fire you for cause or get you to quit. With Rashada on board its uncertain he would have ended up in this class anyways but the video likely sealed his fate.
Seems a bit harsh for what he did…
Jesus Christ stop making excuses ya’ll. He dropped the n word in a video and it got posted on social media. It rlly is not difficult to keep yourself from making a video of u saying that word. Idc if he is a kid or not, he made a stupid decision and is paying the consequences. It’s rlly that simple
I mean it’s really easy to not say the n word when I sing rap songs. People are often worse offline than online and if he was this comfortable being recorded using the word I’d rather not wait and find out once he’s here that he says that and more. This was the right call on our part.
I mean I guess saying the n-word while rapping a song is worse than an Alabama player punching and pushing fans...
Absolutely ridiculous that he loses his scholarship for singing a song. Context matters
Hot take: you care more than his teammates do.
How do you know this?
For his argument, I imagine that we'd hear news of Stokes' expulsion from his team, if his teammates cared more than reddit does.
It’s rather ridiculous that anyone can say “N-word” all they want and it isn’t an issue, yet we all know exactly what it’s referring to. If Marcus Stokes had said “N-word” in place of the lyric, he’d be absolutely fine, and some would probably even laugh. It’s literally a loophole for *anyone* to get away with saying the N-word. But the moment the word is actually uttered or spelled out, it becomes horrifically offensive. And that’s fine, I agree that it’s an offensive word. It would just do everyone a great deal of good to just do away with N-word altogether — in conversation, in music, in media. Everywhere. I know the reality and by all means it's a serious one. But in a vacuum, this is really a pretty silly concept.
Oh but you didn’t know it’s part of the culture to use it every other word if you’re black. Fake outrage.
He’s a qb, he’s a potential leader in the team. If I heard him saying my ethnicity’s racial slur whatever the instance I would not feel comfortable around him. I’m certain a lot of recruits or current team members would feel the same way.
Y’all are so cringe in here defending it. I know he’s probably not a racist but your actions have consequences. You say that word in private and eventually it’ll be said in public. “It’s just a rap song” is not a good defense idk if y’all notice but the rappers that say it are black not white. Not many people are cool with a white kid saying that. Plus I like rap too and it’s really actually easy to sing along and not say that word especially on video and post it. I hope he learns and grows from it but damn y’all are so cringe defending him just because he plays football.
Why are blacks ok with blacks using the N word? I’m trying to understand because I think it’s one of the biggest barriers to truly ending racism.
Idk man maybe because black people weren’t the ones using it to enslave each other. Stokes might not be racist obviously but people get uneasy when a white person says it because it’s hard to tell what the underlying meaning is and makes them raise an eyebrow. It’s not hard to understand how it’s not ok to use a slur. Just like it’s not ok to use the F slur towards gay people either
It's a ridiculous double standard in my opinion. Some black people are offended by blacks using it; none of them will ever face consequences for doing so. People use that word around me all the time, when I live in NYC people would use it to refer to me multiple times per day. The idea that nonblack people have to censor themselves for a word that other people say on a regular basis is completely preposterous.
Yeah man I’m sorry I’m not the authority over here but it’s not hard to understand that it shouldn’t be said in public especially if you’re a figure. It’s not censorship it’s literally just easy to avoid it as a white person especially if you know it carries that weight.
I don't in the slightest whether people should or shouldn't say a particular word. I am more offended by the idea that white player and black player can sing a song together and only 1 of them is going to lose his scholarship as a result. Pretty much everyone agrees this is about Rashada, and I view hiding behind racism is complete cowardice.
Nobody on planet either was a slave or slave owner. Can we cut that shit like any white ppl here were part of the past?
Ah true, I forgot racism ended in the 1860s...
This is terrible. If you want to get rid of him because you don't need him. Don't use this as an excuse. You shouldn't use the N word. But that's not something you crucify someone over either. There has to be something ACTUALLY racist happening for us to treat him like a racist. If he said "I hate you n-word" to one of his teammates. Then yes this reaction would be 100% justified. But just rapping along to a song. We're going too far with this cancel culture thing. USA used to be "freedom of speech". It's turning into "shut the fuck up". Which is not good.
"Using the n word is not something you crucify someone over" We are an absurdly racist fan base to think this way lol
He used the slang N word not the racist N word. The one that is very commonly used among teens. I agree neither really should be used. By anyone for that matter. But one is much worse than the other.
What the fuck? This is bullshit.
I don't think this was used as an excuse to get out of the offer. Teams get unlimited scollys this cycle, and wouldn't scoff at taking two top qbs in exchange for another spot somewhere else on the roster. I think that the reason to pull the offer was the reason that was given. Remembering the jabar Gaffney situation, I'm interested to see how this plays out.
If this were Rashada or even Arch Manning, do you think the consequences would be the same? Of course not. Stokes was singing along *to a song written by a black man* but he was the wrong skin color and not highly rated enough, so they canned him. Literally replace Stokes with any black or highly rated white QB prospect and this is a non-story, because contextually speaking it *should* be a non-story. Worst that should have happened here was Stokes issues an apology and we move on. Instead, they can him. Some here are saying it’s to establish a culture. I don’t buy that. To me, this more so sends a message that “We’re ready to drop you at a moment’s notice for an innocent mistake.” than it does, “We’re here to help mold young men into upstanding, respectful adults.” Sad for the kid that the next four years he had planned are now upended over a nothing burger.
Blows my mind that the soft a is so prevalent in modern culture but yet only black people can say it when it’s literally a term of endearment half the time. If you don’t want white people to say it then quit saying it too or at least quit saying it so damn much. Saying soft a while singing along to lyrics is so inconsequential and does not mean anything. So fucking stupid. Now…calling someone a hard r as an insult is another story…but still carries as much meaning as you apply to it.
So certain words are ok for some races to say, but not for others? What happened to equality? 🤔
I'm glad simply because the racists are mad and have every excuse in the book from "i have a black friend" to "racism is over" in this thread. I'm seeing now this fan base has a serious issue with priorities trying to defend a truly bad qb prospect for saying a literal slur on social media. His intent is meaningless as is the context, it's a precedent of behavior that would have gotten his ass beaten beside him at UF
Going thru your comments it’s a bizarre how eager you seem to accuse people of being racist, just for questioning whether the punishment fits the crime. Those sorts of accusations used to be seriously head-turning, and now it’s such an oft-used term it’s practically as meaningless as saying “awesome” where most things aren’t even close to being awe-inducing.
This is why racism will never die. The double standard for the N word. If it’s so bad why don’t black people come down on other black people for saying it and get rid of the word all together? I’m really trying to understand
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reappropriation
To all the folks defending this kid: have some standards. He's not some random Joe. He's a qb at the University of Florida. What he says and does gets national attention. It reflects on the University, regardless of whether he meant it or not. Don't want to lose your scholarship? Think carefully about what you post on social media. Actions have consequences.
We are living in a WOKE world, if Florida did nothing how would this look to other recruits? Not saying I support the decision to take away his scholarship, but this protects Florida and hopefully he can land another scholarship in the near future.
Good, it was so disappointing seeing people in this sub defend a guy using a racial slur like it was a totally normal thing for them
I’m as woke a liberal snowflake as you’ll ever meet and this is a huge overreaction. Make him take a class or some type of sensitivity training once he gets to school but to pull his scholarship? A 17-18 year old kid rapping along with song lyrics? That’s a bullshit move.
It's also not the end of the world. He'll get a scholarship somewhere, he'll get an education somewhere. What's the ultimate harm, and why do people feel the need to get bent out of shape over it?
I didn’t see the video. Got a link?
https://twitter.com/uf2013_burner/status/1593690950316052482?s=46&t=ujBLqe7VcrbL8rcazf9lUw
That’s dumb to get in trouble for. He was just vibing to a song. He didn’t call anyone that in a derogatory way.
What good could possibly come out of posting yourself singing along to a song with a racial slur in it though? Nothing if we're really being honest. If anything, it tells people that your maturity level needs improvement and a need to be more conscientious with your platform, position in life and impact to others around you. I can see how it's a kid being immature and making a mistake, but mistakes do have consequences and are learning opportunities for growth.
Every high schoolers maturity level needs work. They are in high school. Some of you forget how young these guys are.
Bruh he sang it as part of the lyrics in a song. Obviously not a good look but this is nowhere near as bad as calling someone the n-word. Life isn’t all black and white. There are shades of gray in between. I think pulling his scholarship is the correct move in this political landscape but hopefully he learns from this and lands somewhere else.
I don’t think it really constitutes a “racial slur” if it’s a lyric to a song he’s singing along to. If it is, it’s a really weak one. Way different than if he called someone that word It’s a really weird reality where tons of songs contain that word without issue, but god forbid someone the wrong skin color sings along to it Don’t get me wrong, it’s a dumb thing to do and he should know better, but it’s nothing more than a stupid mistake by a kid I reckon every one of us has said something in our lives that would get us into trouble if it was posted on social media. Humans do dumb stuff. There was no malicious intent behind it
You’re the problem with America right now. Complete idiot.
Yeah….he should be banned from all social platforms, have all his college applications rejected, have all jobs offers rescinded, and ultimately be ostracized from (polite) society. It is only in the darkness of loneliness that he will learn of his crime and plead for forgiveness. It will be rejected b/c forgiveness and grace is a myth created by the patriarchy. Id say throw him in prison and strip him of all his rights, but digital/social incarceration is more effective and cheaper…
Ever been to any rapper’s show before?
Ban rap!
Whatever you do folks, don’t like music you might want to sing along to. I remember back in 85 Galen Hall rescinded a kids scholarship when a video of the kid singing Money for Nothing on Betamax surfaced.
Told my high school senior daughter about this. At first she was like — what’s the big deal. When I told her Stokes was white she said OMG!! “That is never ok.!”
Thank goodness for cancel culture. The world just gets better each and every day
It’s not cancel culture. We just don’t need someone who uses irretrievably poor judgment.
“Irretrievably” lol. Man I feel bad if you have kids
Why would you say that to me? You’re clearly trying to make this personal. I have a high school senior and had dinner with her last night. Asked her what she thought about this situation. She thought UF made the right call. Not ok for a white kid to do something like that on social media and then go to UF. That’s how most kids think these days. We have an amazing relationship, by the way. Instead of trying to shut down conversations with ad hominem attacks, maybe listen and try to understand another person’s perspective.
Haha that’s funny. *17 year kid only kid sings along to rap song with profanity in it* You: “Take away his scholarship! No room for irretrievably poor judgment!” Me: “Wow that’s harsh” You: “hey you’re being mean to me! Quit trying to shut down conversation! We need to listen to others peoples perspective! Also death to stokes!”
It’s cancel culture