Jerardi's slippery slope

I want to start this by saying that I know Dick Jerardi of the Philadelphia Daily News from covering several Atlantic 10 games with him over the years. I think he's a good writer, a well-respected reporter and a class act personally and professionally.

That said, I don't know if he's brave or stupid to walk out on the branch he's on regarding the La Salle coaches and that school's rape allegations. His column is here. I think he's right when he says we shouldn't jump to conclusions about anyone's guilt or innocence.

But creating a scenario of "what could have happened" is dangerous ground. He wrote:

Apparently, the player did consult with the coaches a year ago about something involving a men's player. What was said is unclear. Whether the word "rape" was used is unknown.

If the word "rape" was used, the discussion should have been over. The next stop should have been the police.

If the word was something far less than "rape,'' what do you do?

Imagine you are a coach. A player comes to you with a problem and tells you about it in confidence. Is the coach supposed to share that problem with higher-ups? If so, what happens to the coach-player relationship?

If you read between the lines here, some La Salle officials

apparently believe the coaches should have reported what the player told them. Well, we don't know what the player told them. And it is possible the player told them something that, in the opinion of the coaches and with the consent of the player, did not need to be shared.

My question is: Is this Jerardi speculating or are we reading a version of the story provided to him by Billy Hahn or John Miller. Neither can comment publicly on the events, but this would be one way to put their side of the story out there. Of course now I'm speculating on the truth, which I just said was a bad idea for Jerardi to do.

When O.J. Simpson was first accused of killing Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman, the late Will McDonough, who worked with O.J. on NBC's NFL Live wrote a column essentially suggesting that the O.J. he knew was incapable of such a heinous crime. McDonough ended up with egg on his face as more details came out.

Jerardi obviously didn't go that far, but details of this story are still forthcoming. I hope he doesn't regret this column later.