The dust had almost settled.
Phoenix sports radio stations erupted (again) on Wednesday with talk of junior linebacker Vontaze Burfict and his alleged fight with sophomore wide receiver Kevin Ozier. ASU athletics department vigorously denied the incident after it was originally reported by the website Sports by Brooks.
But that doesn’t stop the critics, who lump in the Ozier incident with other examples of Burfict’s misbehavior, like his numerous penalties on the field, his sideline altercation with Steve Broussard and the vague and unconfirmed reports of Burfict choking out a student at the Tempe Student Recreation Center.
The problem is, most of these reports are unconfirmed by the ASU athletics department and are provided by the always-suspicious anonymous sources. There’s no real proof. So why won’t these stories go away?
Let’s start with what we do know. Burfict came to ASU as one of the most highly touted recruits in the country and is arguably the best player on the Sun Devil roster. He did lead the team in penalties last season, but also led the squad in tackles and brought intensity to the defense that the team had been lacking. ASU coach Dennis Erickson has said that he is proud of the way Burfict has matured during the offseason and has said he is ready to lead the defense.
“You have to go watch him at practice and see how hard he works,” Erickson said at media day on Aug. 6. “Does he still have a lot of fire? Oh yeah. But I’m proud of the progress he’s made.”
The problem is that no one has heard anything from Burfict himself. He never talks to reporters after practices, and despite being one of the most exciting players of the team and the nation, was missing during media day.
If you search for an interview online, only two videos come up: one, a short piece of Burfict by Scout.com from 2008, and another by ESPN from last year. In both videos, Burfict just sounds like another football player, and even a little more soft-spoken than his teammates.
It may be that Burfict is just shy in front of reporters. He may have had a bad experience during an interview and sworn them off for good. It may also be the case that he’s still rough around the edges and not ready to go in front of the press.
But the fact remains that even though there’s no real proof that Burfict has caused all these problems, there’s also no proof that he hasn’t. Until the media gets to talk to Burfict and ask him about the incidents, the talk and controversy will continue to swirl around the big No. 7.
Not all publicity is good publicity.
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