The offseason is the crazy season for college football, and that has rung more true for ASU's football program than it has most.
There's the good -- national expectations, preseason watch lists, new hires, four players drafted into the NFL, and fun, viral videos such as this:
Watch out for @JayleeMerrill this year Sun Devil Nation... My girl makes plays!! pic.twitter.com/czq6QFqukI
— Michael Bercovici (@MikeBerco) July 22, 2015
Then, there's been the bad.
The start of spring football was marred by the news of the March 7 domestic violence-related arrest of five-star linebacker recruit Davon Durant. Durant has since pleaded guilty to one count of misdemeanor disorderly conduct, and head coach Todd Graham told SI.com's Thayer Evans that he is "done" at ASU.
The Sun Devils were in the headlines again when freshman defensive lineman George Lea was arrested for an incident in which police say he used a "BB gun" to intimidate a teammate. His legal process is still ongoing, and he has been suspended indefinitely from the program.
After ASU's summer workouts wrapped up Friday, team captains D.J. Foster and Jordan Simone became the first players to speak out on the wild, up-and-down offseason.
For the redshirt senior defensive back Simone, the biggest thing this summer has been blocking out the distractions.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Simone joked. "See? That's how we do it. It just goes over our head. You can control what you can control, and that's what we do every day on this field."
Foster said it's on the leaders of the program to keep them looking forward, not back.
"Leadership," he said. "I truly believe it. Mike (Bercovici), Jordan (Simone), all of our seniors. Gary (Chambers), Vi (Teofilo), Nick (Kelly), Christian (Westerman), all these guys, how we can just keep our team focus. I know there's going to be lots of distractions and we know that as seniors.
"It's a long season and there's a lot of things that can happen, but if we can install in these young guys that if we can just focus and continue to focus, no matter what happens just continue to stay as a team and it'll work out. That's what we did this summer."
Reach the reporter at fardaya@asu.edu or follow @fardaya15 on Twitter.
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