Oregon Football Players Chant ‘No Means No’ At Quarterback Accused Of Rape

[1step]

Source: Think Progress

by Tara Culp-Ressler Posted on January 2, 2015 at 9:33 am

Several University of Oregon football players are facing potential disciplinary action after celebrating their recent Rose Bowl win over Florida State University by chanting “no means no” — apparently in mockery of Florida’s quarterback, Jameis Winston, who was accused of sexually assault in a case that has been fraught with controversy for the past two years.

On Thursday, Oregon beat Florida State by 59-20 in the College Football Playoff semifinal. As Oregon football players celebrated their win after the game, video taken on the field shows at least three of them chanting “no means no” to the tune of a chant that’s used by Florida State fans.

he chant was almost certainly intended to target Winston, who has been embroiled in a sexual assault scandal since 2012, when a female student accused him of raping her. He has not been officially charged or sanctioned for the incident, and won the Heisman Trophy amid the ongoing controversy.

Last month, the university decided to clear Winston of any student code of conduct violations related to the rape allegations. It remains unclear exactly what occurred between the star quarterback and his accuser. Regardless of the specific details, however, there’s widespread evidence that Florida State did not adequately investigate the allegations before declining to pursue the case. The New York Times concluded that “there was virtually no investigation at all.” The woman’s attorney accused university officials of conducting “an investigation into a rape victim, not a rape suspect.”

Read more: http://thinkprogress.org/sports/2015/01/02/3607469/oregon-no-means-no-winston/

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Disciplinary action???

[AtheistCrusader]

1. Go Ducks!

Disciplinary action my ass.

[Fred Sanders]

3. Free speech nationally broadcast is not for regular folk, you have to pay for it. Hence the

disciplinary action. What next, paying the college players wholes free labor produces untold billions of dollars for corporstions and the corporate college football? Are you a communist?

So, bring it on.....free speech, motherfuckers!

[House of Roberts]

2. It was reported that right after the game,

most of the FSU players left the field without congratulating the Oregon players. I wonder if one event affected the other. I didn't watch the post-game coverage, because I went to the pre-game for the Sugar Bowl.

[tularetom]

5. Most of the FSU players did leave the field immediately after the end of the game

To his credit, one who stayed and congratulated the Oregon players was Winston.

So if he wasn't bothered by the chanting, I wonder WTF had his teammates in such a snit?

IMO, Winston is a felon who got away with it and he was thoroughly humiliated on the field last night. The chanting was unnecessary and demeaning to those who did it. And it may indeed be the reason that most of the Seminoles hauled ass right away.

[daleanime]

14. "The chanting was unnecessary and demeaning..."?

What was unnecessary and demeaning is the situation that made this possible. A rape accusation should be thoroughly investigated and the suspect cleared or charged. Period. The fact that this was 'allowed' to stay in a twilight area is disguising.


And sorry folks, real life once again shows up in your football.

[tularetom]

20. Two wrongs still make a right, huh?

Winston may be a rapist and FSU covered it up, so it's ok to act like an asshole to taunt him.

The Oregon team made their point during the game. They embarrassed Winston and beat the crap out of FSU. What a few of them did had nothing to do with standing up for women, they were jeering their opponents like little kids do.

Nope, it was a low class move.

[daleanime]

21. Agreed, not a classy move...

but there's nothing about the situation that calls out to stay classy.



And that game is a separate matter, Oregon wanted to beat Florida anyway.

[Tommymac]

22. You are wrong. eom

[randys1]

26. Two wrongs? TWO WRONGS?

And so when they said "No means no"

that was jeering and acting like little kids?

And you are comparing that to RAPE?

that those are the two wrongs?

[ripcord]

27. It seems things have changed in the US

Now it seems you are innocent until proven guilty in the court of public opinion.

[qazplm]

31. as someone who has defended and prosecuted sexual assault cases

let me tell you it simply aint that easy to either clear or charge someone "period."

The nature of the alleged crimes in this area unfortunately lend themselves to ambiguity on whether someone is cleared or charged.
You can't clear everyone because that's not right for the alleged victims, and you can't charge everyone because that's not right for the accused, and there is no clear demarcation when you get into the gray area of a difficult case where there are few if any witnesses, and the alleged victim has credibility issues. If there were strong witnesses that makes it easy, if the credibility issues are minor or non-existent, that makes it easy, and conversely if there are strong credibility issues with the accused or alleged victim that makes it easy too.

But a large chunk of the time, there are some credibility issues with both parties, few witnesses, and no clear-cut answer as to whether someone should be charged or not. You can charge them, but in those cases a conviction is not likely to be forthcoming. Blame society perhaps or rape culture or what have you, but the reality is juries need proof beyond a reasonable doubt, and any credibility issues with the alleged victim render that quite a difficult prospect.

bottom line is that sexual assault is a hard crime to cleanly identify all the right courses of action (charge, clear, convict, acquit, etc).

[daleanime]

32. Yes, it's hard....

does that mean we shouldn't do it?

[Ash_F]

18. If the chanting brought attention to a rape coverup scandal then it was totally necessary.

Good on the players.

[1step]

36. Okay

Chanting "No means No" in the mocking cadence of FSU's "Tomahawk Chop" may not have been the classiest way Ducks' players could have done it, but I'm more than willing to forgive that, as they pushed a discomfiting truth into the faces of football fans across the country. Disciplanary action should not be applied.

[7962]

39. They left because they couldnt believe "their" championship was taken from them.

A classless coach usually has classless players.

[AndrewJacksonFaction]

41. it is SOP

That is pretty much standard procedure for the large bowl games, the losing team is hustled off the field to clear way for the trophy presentation, and interviews from the podium.

Same thing happened in the Sugar Bowl, the Fiesta Bowl, the Orange Bowl, and of course the Rose Bowl which FSU pays in. It is amusing that the media has failed to note this.

[Rocky888]

4. Quack!

Give these guys a medal! Maybe karma is catching up to Jameis Winston and fsu.

[Bluenorthwest]

6. 59-20

Go Ducks, get it said!

[FLPanhandle]

7. Well done Oregon.

Living in the panhandle of Florida it's sickening to see the number of FSU fans who forgive rape just so their team wins more games.

It's even more vomit inducing to see a school and police department collude to allow the star rapist to continue to play.

Good job Oregon!

[yeoman6987]

29. I love my alma mater Florida State

Sad game overall. I wanted FSU to win badly.

[FLPanhandle]

38. Bizarre era for FSU fans

On one hand, they want to win.

On the other hand, many still care about their schools reputation.

To the FSU fans credit, many are embarrassed by their schools actions and are glad to see the rapist gone.

[sarge43]

8. Thank you, gentlemen. n/t

[McCamy Taylor]

9. Who would dare "discipline" them for saying "No, means no"?

[Brother Buzz]

16. They are being disciplined for unsportsmanlike conduct

I suspect being disciplined internally translates to....having to endure a glorious feast on coach Mark Helfrich's nickle.

And it really doesn't matter if
I'm wrong I'm right

[McCamy Taylor]

10. Florida made its own (rape) bed, now it has to lie in it. This will probably happen again and again.

Next time it will be their opponents fans waving banners that say "No means no." Will they try to "discipline" them? This is why colleges need to be careful of their reps.

[fredamae]

11. I called to Lobby on behalf

of Ducks so they are Not disciplined. They care enough and have expressed before, their Support for Women.
U of O 541-346-1000 I asked for their Football Dept.
Remember the ridicule over their Pink "Breast Cancer Awareness" uniforms?

http://www.oregonlive.com/ducks/index.ssf/2013/10/oregon_ducks_to_wear_pink_helm.html

Now, facing disciplinary action for standing With Women on matters of Rape? It's not like they Don't have an established history of being with women regarding womens issues!
I support and applaud their statement at last nights game.

[daleanime]

15. +1

Have to balance out the jerks.

[Marrah_G]

12. Somehow I doubt they investigated their hiesmann trophy winner very much

I watched the game and was cheering or Oregon to kick their ass for that very reason. And they did indeed get a butt kicking.

[riversedge]

13. Good for them.

[niyad]

17. good for them. I thought I was the only one who remembered the winston/rape story

that so quickly got ignored.

[lobodons]

19. No More

http://nomore.org/nflplayerspsa/

[Tommymac]

23. Kudos to them.

Winston will now be the NFL's problem.

[DonCoquixote]

34. what is sad is

he will probably go to the team that has the number one draft pick, the Tampa Bay Bucs, where many are already calling him a victim and a saint.

[DinahMoeHum]

24. I doubt the Oregon players' intentions were that noble. . .

Last edited Fri Jan 2, 2015, 04:24 PM - Edit history (2)

. . .but it still had a nice side effect, taunting Jameis Winston and the FSU Criminoles, their fans, their boosters, their administration, and the Tallahassee PD; all of who, quite frankly, deserved it for their arrogant assholery.

Karma sucks. . .and justice will out.

[christx30]

25. I guess it's good that everyone in this case is showing their quality.

The Oregon players are showing that they care about the rights of the rape accuser by making the chant.
Florida state is showing that they care more about football than the crime of rape by not investigating (And why should the school be in charge of the investigation of a crime, and not the local police?). It's pretty much "As long as you can throw a touchdown, you can pretty much do anything you want. The female population are hors d'oeuvres to keep you happy. Just don't be stupid about it."
Oregon state shows their quality by not only failing to investigate the rape claime, but considering disciplinary actions against people that want the investigation to happen, because the football is more important than getting justice for a rape victim.

[Jim Lane]

42. Something I don't understand...

You write, "Oregon state shows their quality by not only failing to investigate the rape claime...."

Are you saying that Oregon State should have investigated an allegation that a Florida State player committed rape? What would be the point -- if OSU concludes that the player was guilty, refuse to take the field in protest, thereby giving the rapist a free ride to the national championship game?

Or was there an OSU player who was also accused of rape? I don't pay much attention to college football so I'd appreciate any clarification you can give.

[christx30]

44. I misspoke (typed) about Oregon.

But if FSU did not investigate the rape accusation, and if the case was not turned over to the local authorities, they are complicit.
And if Oregon disciplines the players for standing up for the accuser, they are no better. They show where their priorities are.

[Dont call me Shirley]

28. No Means No

Way to go Ducks!

[Aristus]

30. Suck it, Florida!

This is how we roll in the Northwest!...

[DonCoquixote]

33. Good for them!

It is about time that college kids are able to shame people who rape. Ifr this is a change in asttitude, it means that maybe there is some hope after all.

[SoapBox]

35. That's it?

I ran that clip...that's it?

So on another note...Seminole? As in an American Indian tribe?

Isn't that chop-chop thing a bit, well, racist, bigoted, whatever?

[sybylla]

43. The Seminole Nation has sanctioned the use of their name

And historical images by the university. The chop is obnoxious and stupid. But this is Florida State.

[jakefrep]

37. Since it had absolutely nothing to do with taking a stand against sexual violence....

...there SHOULD be disciplinary action. It was tacky and disgusting.

[NobodyHere]

40. It's amazing that many "liberals" on this thread

don't believe in "innocent until proven guilty"

[U4ikLefty]

45. Wow, we have never heard that one before.

[csziggy]

46. The lack of investigation means the truth will never be known

Even if as stated above, most rape cases tend to be ambiguous, the cases should be properly investigated.

The anger at Florida State is as much about the incompetent police procedure as at a possible rapist. It's not that we don't believe in "innocent until proven guilty" - it's that we believe there should be an investigation before the case is dropped. It is exactly the same reason we are angry at police departments and prosecutors that don't investigate police killings of unarmed people.

As a graduate of Florida State and a resident of Tallahassee, Florida, I am ashamed of how the university handled this case. And I am GLAD that the Oregon players showed their support for women's right to say "NO."

[stevenleser]

47. Glass houses. No less than three Oregon athletes were expelled for sexual assault a few months ago

From their basketball team: http://www.oregonlive.com/ducks/index.ssf/2014/09/report_oregon_officials_waited.html

And the administration dragged their feet to expel them and waited until the expulsion couldn't affect the school's standing with the NCAA and ensure bonuses would be paid to coaches.

So I'm not sure any Oregon State players are in a position to taunt players from another school.