Bretsky
09-16-2006, 12:07 AM
Morency carries baggage
New Packers back has past run-ins with law
By BOB McGINN
bmcginn@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Sept. 15, 2006
Green Bay - Running back Vernand Morency can't compare to wide receiver Koren Robinson when it comes to character risk but the newest member of the Green Bay Packers does have red flags on his résumé.
New running back Verand Morency has had a few run-ins with the law.
Morency, obtained by the Packers on Wednesday from Houston in a trade for running back Samkon Gado, was implicated by a female student at Oklahoma State University for rape in February 2003. Nine weeks later a university police investigator filed an affidavit, the only documentation of the case.
In April of that year, then-coach Les Miles placed Morency on indefinite suspension.
Morency was reinstated by Miles in early August when the player filed a civil lawsuit against the university on July 31, 2003, and a judge quickly issued a temporary restraining order allowing him to remain in school.
Two weeks later, the district attorney's office elected not to file charges because of insufficient evidence, and records were permanently sealed. The sexual-assault charge wasn't brought to light until a story appeared Oct. 4, 2004, in the Oklahoma State student newspaper.
"I was never charged with anything," Morency said Friday. "It was accusations. I never had an arrest on my record."
Morency also was involved in another off-field incident during his first year at Oklahoma State that was brought to the attention of all 32 teams by the National Football League security department.
According to one NFL official, Morency was one of about 20 students who jumped on bicycles outside a campus building, rode away and left them at another campus location. Morency and 10 others were caught and felony charges were considered, according to an NFL official.
In the end, Morency reportedly was arrested for possession of a stolen bicycle, a charge that was stricken from his record at the end of a deferred sentence.
"It was nothing," Morency said. "I was never charged with anything. Everything went away."
After signing Robinson on Monday despite the receiver's alcohol-related criminal issues, Packers general manager Ted Thompson traded for Morency about 48 hours later. He said the club examined these and other issues regarding Morency before making the deal for Gado, who was considered a model citizen.
"We studied that back when he came out of college," Thompson said, referring to the accusation of rape. "We determined that he was accused of something but based on our information there was no substance to it."
Regarding the stolen bike, Thompson said, "It sounded like to me it was some sort of college stunt."
Thompson added: "I pulled out our reports and read them again. One said he came from a 'solid two-parent family.' All the people in Houston vouched for him very strongly, as did the people at Oklahoma State."
Morency, 26, was born and raised in Miami and his parents both worked. Drafted in the 14th round in 1998 by the Colorado Rockies, Morency played minor-league baseball as a centerfielder for four years before making a return to football by enrolling at Oklahoma State in 2002.
"I've been raised in a great family, a loving family," Morency said. "I'm a hard worker, dedicated to what I do. I do not drink or smoke."
Earlier in the week, two top executives in personnel for other NFL teams said they regarded Morency as a character risk both before the 2005 draft as well as today.
"He is a very bad person off the field," an executive for an NFC team said. "He'll never survive in Green Bay. He's got a lot of problems."
The personnel man for an AFC team said he remembered interviewing Morency in February 2005 at the NFL combine.
"I don't recall anything being major but it was just a thousand little things," the executive said. "He started going and going and going and going. The story just kept getting longer and longer. We asked why he didn't succeed in baseball. It was, 'Well, the manager didn't like me there, they wouldn't let me bat in the right position.' It was always somebody else's fault why things didn't work out or went wrong."
An executive for another NFC team reached a different conclusion on Morency.
"Got a little Miami to him but overall a pretty good home life," the executive said. "He's not a kid that ran the streets. We thought the kid knows right from wrong. Did he do some stupid stuff that we all do in college? Yes. But once he got caught there were no other incidents."
After declaring for the draft in January 2005 as a third-year junior, Morency scored 11 on the 50-question Wonderlic intelligence test.
According to Morency's initial lawsuit, he and the woman watched movies in his dorm room on the night in question. Morency stated that all sexual conduct was consensual. The woman didn't contact police until April 1, or 37 days after the incident. A week later, she turned over a pair of underwear she was wearing on the night and had not washed.
Lab findings revealed that the underwear did contain semen, according to the lawsuit.
After appearing at a disciplinary hearing, Morency received a letter on May 6 from Peg Vitek, then the university's student conduct officer. In the letter, Vitek wrote: "Based on the written statement and the testimony of all parties, I find it to be more likely than not that you did sexually assault (redacted) on Feb. 23, 2003."
Court documents showed that Morency also was found in violation of two university alcohol policies.
In his lawsuit, Morency said Oklahoma State officials "were bent from the outset upon intimidating and, eventually, suspending" him in disciplinary procedures that he said amounted to "sexual McCarthyism."
Morency remained on campus to work out during the summer of 2003. Backing up Tatum Bell that season, he rushed for 918 yards. He exploded for 1,474 yards in '04.
By vote of the three executives, the Packers were judged to have gotten the better end of the trade by a 2-1 margin.
"There is no question about this kid's talent," one of the NFC personnel men said. "He could be a starter. But you've got to keep him on track."
Added the AFC scout, who much preferred Gado: "Evidently, (Gado) didn't fit them at all so they're just taking a flier, I guess. The one thing, if a guy can't play for you, you might as well try something else. Morency has ability but, with the age and all the other stuff, it would scare me."
New Packers back has past run-ins with law
By BOB McGINN
bmcginn@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Sept. 15, 2006
Green Bay - Running back Vernand Morency can't compare to wide receiver Koren Robinson when it comes to character risk but the newest member of the Green Bay Packers does have red flags on his résumé.
New running back Verand Morency has had a few run-ins with the law.
Morency, obtained by the Packers on Wednesday from Houston in a trade for running back Samkon Gado, was implicated by a female student at Oklahoma State University for rape in February 2003. Nine weeks later a university police investigator filed an affidavit, the only documentation of the case.
In April of that year, then-coach Les Miles placed Morency on indefinite suspension.
Morency was reinstated by Miles in early August when the player filed a civil lawsuit against the university on July 31, 2003, and a judge quickly issued a temporary restraining order allowing him to remain in school.
Two weeks later, the district attorney's office elected not to file charges because of insufficient evidence, and records were permanently sealed. The sexual-assault charge wasn't brought to light until a story appeared Oct. 4, 2004, in the Oklahoma State student newspaper.
"I was never charged with anything," Morency said Friday. "It was accusations. I never had an arrest on my record."
Morency also was involved in another off-field incident during his first year at Oklahoma State that was brought to the attention of all 32 teams by the National Football League security department.
According to one NFL official, Morency was one of about 20 students who jumped on bicycles outside a campus building, rode away and left them at another campus location. Morency and 10 others were caught and felony charges were considered, according to an NFL official.
In the end, Morency reportedly was arrested for possession of a stolen bicycle, a charge that was stricken from his record at the end of a deferred sentence.
"It was nothing," Morency said. "I was never charged with anything. Everything went away."
After signing Robinson on Monday despite the receiver's alcohol-related criminal issues, Packers general manager Ted Thompson traded for Morency about 48 hours later. He said the club examined these and other issues regarding Morency before making the deal for Gado, who was considered a model citizen.
"We studied that back when he came out of college," Thompson said, referring to the accusation of rape. "We determined that he was accused of something but based on our information there was no substance to it."
Regarding the stolen bike, Thompson said, "It sounded like to me it was some sort of college stunt."
Thompson added: "I pulled out our reports and read them again. One said he came from a 'solid two-parent family.' All the people in Houston vouched for him very strongly, as did the people at Oklahoma State."
Morency, 26, was born and raised in Miami and his parents both worked. Drafted in the 14th round in 1998 by the Colorado Rockies, Morency played minor-league baseball as a centerfielder for four years before making a return to football by enrolling at Oklahoma State in 2002.
"I've been raised in a great family, a loving family," Morency said. "I'm a hard worker, dedicated to what I do. I do not drink or smoke."
Earlier in the week, two top executives in personnel for other NFL teams said they regarded Morency as a character risk both before the 2005 draft as well as today.
"He is a very bad person off the field," an executive for an NFC team said. "He'll never survive in Green Bay. He's got a lot of problems."
The personnel man for an AFC team said he remembered interviewing Morency in February 2005 at the NFL combine.
"I don't recall anything being major but it was just a thousand little things," the executive said. "He started going and going and going and going. The story just kept getting longer and longer. We asked why he didn't succeed in baseball. It was, 'Well, the manager didn't like me there, they wouldn't let me bat in the right position.' It was always somebody else's fault why things didn't work out or went wrong."
An executive for another NFC team reached a different conclusion on Morency.
"Got a little Miami to him but overall a pretty good home life," the executive said. "He's not a kid that ran the streets. We thought the kid knows right from wrong. Did he do some stupid stuff that we all do in college? Yes. But once he got caught there were no other incidents."
After declaring for the draft in January 2005 as a third-year junior, Morency scored 11 on the 50-question Wonderlic intelligence test.
According to Morency's initial lawsuit, he and the woman watched movies in his dorm room on the night in question. Morency stated that all sexual conduct was consensual. The woman didn't contact police until April 1, or 37 days after the incident. A week later, she turned over a pair of underwear she was wearing on the night and had not washed.
Lab findings revealed that the underwear did contain semen, according to the lawsuit.
After appearing at a disciplinary hearing, Morency received a letter on May 6 from Peg Vitek, then the university's student conduct officer. In the letter, Vitek wrote: "Based on the written statement and the testimony of all parties, I find it to be more likely than not that you did sexually assault (redacted) on Feb. 23, 2003."
Court documents showed that Morency also was found in violation of two university alcohol policies.
In his lawsuit, Morency said Oklahoma State officials "were bent from the outset upon intimidating and, eventually, suspending" him in disciplinary procedures that he said amounted to "sexual McCarthyism."
Morency remained on campus to work out during the summer of 2003. Backing up Tatum Bell that season, he rushed for 918 yards. He exploded for 1,474 yards in '04.
By vote of the three executives, the Packers were judged to have gotten the better end of the trade by a 2-1 margin.
"There is no question about this kid's talent," one of the NFC personnel men said. "He could be a starter. But you've got to keep him on track."
Added the AFC scout, who much preferred Gado: "Evidently, (Gado) didn't fit them at all so they're just taking a flier, I guess. The one thing, if a guy can't play for you, you might as well try something else. Morency has ability but, with the age and all the other stuff, it would scare me."