Does collaborating on theft and censorship count as a team-building exercise? The head football coach at Texas A&M University-Commerce certainly thinks so. Unfortunately for him and his team, it may also be considered illegal.
Head Football Coach Guy Morriss has admitted to area police that his team is responsible for the removal of last Wednesday's copies of the A&M Commerce student newspaper, according to The East Texan. The front page of the Feb. 25 edition of the newspaper featured a story about two football players' arrest in a drug bust, and police reports reveal that there is video footage of some of the team members stealing copies of that edition around campus.
"I am proud of my players for doing that," Morriss reportedly said. "This was the best team building exercise we have ever done."
An editor of The Dallas Morning News, Michael Landauer, suggests that Morriss' lofty defense -- that he doesn't consider his team's actions "stealing" since the newspaper is free -- is enough to warrant him a "long job search" ahead. But if Morriss gets to keep his job, surely someone with a stricter definition of theft will have to decide on the consequences for the players' actions. An investigation of the team member's individual involvement is currently underway.