For ASU athletics and our University as a whole, football's senior defensive tackle, Connor Banks, epitomizes the word "embarrassment."
Football players getting into trouble is nothing new for ASU or any other college team, but the recent irresponsible actions of Banks bring a blacker eye than the typical run-ins from the law that we are accustomed to.
On June 19, Banks was arrested for driving while intoxicated by nearly three times the legal limit. According to police reports, Banks hit a brick wall at an apartment complex before driving the wrong way down a street and running into a light pole. He then tried to flee the scene of the accident but was so corked and pissed that he pathetically tripped and fell into a bush.
Banks, and all other Division I football players, must be held to higher standards because they are public figures. If they break the law, it gets put in the paper, and that is just the way it is. But, Banks must have realized he'd be held to an even higher standard than his teammates.
While a football player who is arrested for DUI must be considered the bottom of the barrel as far as athletes go, Banks was supposed to be the one who carried on the legacy of one of the greatest student athletes our school will ever know.
After the death of Army Ranger Pat Tillman -- the former Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year for ASU and record-breaking tackler for the Arizona Cardinals who was killed in action in Afghanistan -- Banks, a situational player, surprisingly was the lone current Sun Devil to speak at a press conference held by ASU.
Athletic department officials figured because Banks had worn Tillman's No. 42, that he would supposedly honor the fallen soldier by keeping the number until it was retired in Tillman's name during the final regular season game of the year on Nov. 13. Sadly, Banks was obviously not up to the task.
Now ASU must be kicking itself for putting its faith in Banks. And the school's handling of Tillman's death -- including a public memorial service and leaving Tillman keepsakes given by fans in front of the stadium for weeks -- will always have one embarrassing glitch.
Appropriately head coach Dirk Koetter has stripped Banks of the No. 42, that is, if he ever plays again at ASU. Instead, Banks will wear 58. But maybe instead, Banks should wear No. 27, as in .27 -- his blood-alcohol level while trying to drive a car last month.
Reach the reporter at christopher.drexel@asu.edu.
