That Bobba Bowden sure knows how to teach them boys.
Love the part where Parker has to mentor at risk youths as part of his penance.
Love the part where Parker has to mentor at risk youths as part of his penance.
College Football Florida State
Florida State punishes wide receiver Preston Parker after he pleads guilty to drug, weapon charges
The WR will miss 2 games and faces other sanctions as a result of drug, weapon charges.
Andrew Carter | Sentinel Staff Writer/ Orlando Sentinel
May 20, 2008
TALLAHASSEE - Florida State placed standout football player Preston Parker on athletic probation, suspended him for two games and will require him to adhere to six conditions after the junior wide receiver pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors Monday in Palm Beach County court.
Parker's future with the Seminoles had been in doubt since his arrest last month in Palm Beach Gardens. Police charged him with misdemeanor possession of marijuana and with carrying a concealed weapon, a felony. Florida State athletic department policy bars athletes with pending felony charges from competing.
The state attorney's office, though, allowed Parker to plead guilty to a lesser weapons charge, for which he was sentenced to time served. Parker received one year of probation and was ordered to perform 50 hours of community service for pleading guilty to the marijuana charge.
"This situation was a big eye-opener for me and made me realize how your life could easily be ruined over nonsense and lack of focus," Parker wrote in a letter to the court.
Parker, named by FSU coaches the Seminoles MVP last fall, will be suspended for the team's first two games -- Sept. 6 at Doak Campbell Stadium against Western Carolina and at home Sept. 13 against Chattanooga.
Though Parker is expected to be eligible for Florida State's Atlantic Coast Conference opener on Sept. 20 against Wake Forest, his return is contingent on six additional conditions the university has mandated.
Parker must move into a supervised dorm, attend weekly study hall sessions, perform an additional 50 hours of community service, attend weekly sessions with athletic compliance, undergo biweekly drug testing and mentor at-risk students through the Leon County public school system.
"Preston made a very serious mistake and there are consequences when one of our boys gets in trouble," FSU Coach Bobby Bowden said. "Preston will have the opportunity to continue as a student and as an athlete at Florida State but he will have to earn that right."
The arrest in South Florida represented Parker's second brush with the law.
Tallahassee police also arrested him in the fall of 2006 and charged him with petty theft after a Best Buy employee accused Parker of attempting to shoplift a $9.99 DVD.
Parker paid outstanding court costs, which resolved that charge.
Parker accounted for more than 1,000 yards of total offense last season.
