Senior offensive lineman Doug Kaufusi, a candidate for All America status and the Lombardi Award, has been suspended from the Utah football team’s Dec. 1 regular season finale at Air Force?his last-ever season game?after coach Ron McBride learned that he has three warrants for his arrest stemming from a Jan. 26 altercation.
Kaufusi’s first warrant involves a Class A misdemeanor?one step below a felony and punishable by up to a year in jail and a $5,000 fine?for assault with substantial bodily injury, issued on March 7. The second warrant is a Class C misdemeanor for disturbing the peace. The third was issued on April 17, and is a Class B misdemeanor for failure to appear in court.
In accordance with the athletics department’s Student-Athlete Code of Conduct, “Any severe act of misconduct [which includes misdemeanor assault] will result in immediate suspension from an athletic team.” His status for any possible postseason bowl game the 7-3 Utes may play in is still uncertain.
McBride issued a statement Nov. 21 saying, “Doug has been great in the community and a great leader on our football team. I just found out about this situation and need more time to look into it. Until then, we are bound by the Student Code of Conduct, which requires us to suspend Doug for a game.”
While Kaufusi admitted knowledge of the January incident which took place in front of his house?in which he allegedly beat a 25-year-old man severely enough to necessitate a visit to St. Mark’s Hospital for treatment?he said he had no knowledge of the warrants prior to last Tuesday night.
“I didn’t know about that, [and] I wasn’t worrying about that?I’ve just been trying to concentrate on football,” Kaufusi said. “All this stuff is just coming up. I can’t talk about stuff I don’t know.”
The alleged victim did not decide to file charges until the next day, so Kaufusi was not arrested.
McBride said the first rumblings of the issue had only emerged in the last week.
“Before the [Nov. 21 BYU] game, some guy called me up and asked me about this, and I said I didn’t know anything about it. So I asked Doug if he had anything going on out there, and he said there was nothing,” said U head coach Ron McBride.
Once the coach confirmed the warrants, though, he had no choice but to suspend Kaufusi, given the university’s Student Athlete code of conduct, which was enacted earlier this year to deal with incidents of misbehavior committed by U student-athletes off campus that were not covered by the university’s general Student Code of Conduct.
The student-athlete code was developed and implemented in response to then-U football player Sean Patrick O’Keefe assaulting an individual with a baseball bat in September 2000, which led to his being charged with attempted murder.
And while McBride said it was disturbing enough that the star member of his offensive line that has allowed just 5 sacks thus far this season?second-fewest in the nation behind top-ranked Miami (Fla.)?was involved in an altercation, it is even more disconcerting to him that he only found out about it in November.
“Anytime my players have a problem, I’m supposed to know,” McBride said. “If something major happens, usually I know the same day. Why didn’t this come up last March?”
In the meantime, the coach said the four-year starter and 2000 All Conference honoree must now take the initiative to get his legal situation resolved.
“That’s up to Doug and his family to get things done with the police,” McBride said. “I really can’t say much more than that.”