GoGamecocks.com
USC trustee Floyd sees change in attitudes
Floyd believes his comments about cops targeting athletes were heard
Kay and Eddie Floyd
Rich Glickstein/rglickstein@thestate.com
E-Mail
Print
FLORENCE — Next to the pictures of his grandsons on the windowsill of his office, Eddie Floyd keeps game balls given to him by South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier and former coach Lou Holtz.
Floyd’s other passions are displayed on the walls. He has framed photographs taken of him with the last three Republican presidents, as well as his med-school diploma and a composite picture of the New Orleans hospital where Floyd did his residency.
Floyd believes his interest in USC athletics has received too much attention over the years, creating the impression all he cares about is football.
But because of his long tenure on USC’s board of trustees, his financial contributions to his alma mater, and his name on the front of the Gamecocks’ football offices, when Floyd speaks about Gamecock athletics, fans and university leaders listen.
Last summer Floyd felt he needed to be heard.
It has been a year since Floyd caused a stir by accusing USC police of targeting Gamecock athletes. Floyd also blasted USC’s administration, saying it failed to investigate his claims of an overzealous police force until after he went public with his allegations.
And while he has seen no official data from the university, Floyd believes his comments made an impact.
“Everybody can make their own decision. I think there’s probably been a change,” Floyd said during a recent interview at Carolinas Hospital. “One thing I’ve always emphasized about our campus police, their duty is to protect our students as well as to police them.”
According to statistics provided by USC, campus police arrested or cited 10 athletes during the 2007-08 academic year, half of whom were football players.
University officials are in the process of gathering the data for 2008-09, although there were no known arrests by USC police of members of the football and men’s basketball teams, the school’s highest-profile sports.
“I said my peace,” Floyd said. “And what I said I genuinely thought was the case after looking at it. I got a lot of flak (from critics) assuming I had not looked into it, not investigated it. It was thoroughly investigated before I made any comments.”
“I think they did unduly target the athletes,” Floyd added. “And I’ll always think that.”
Floyd approached USC officials last year after Columbia attorney Neal Lourie, who has represented several Gamecock athletes, and a SLED agent who formerly worked for the campus police alerted Floyd and other trustees to the alleged conspiracy.
Besides targeting athletes, Lourie cited instances when USC police went into off-campus apartments to arrest students for underage drinking.
At least one other prominent, long-serving trustee disagreed with Floyd. Mike Mungo called Floyd’s assertions “a bunch of crap.”
But Floyd, a 75-year-old surgeon, said he is glad he spoke out on the subject.
“I always speak my mind, and I caught a lot of flak for it. But I’ve always dealt with it straight-up and told you what I thought about the issues,” he said. “I thought athletes were being targeted, and everything I said at that time, to the best of my ability, was true.”
A university official said the health and safety of students is USC’s top priority.
“We agree with Dr. Floyd that the USC Law Enforcement and Safety team has a responsibility to protect all students,” spokesperson Margaret Lamb said in a statement. “Their members are trained to be responsive to the needs and safety of everyone on our campus, and they do an excellent job in ensuring that our campus environment is safe.”
Lamb said USC officers receive more than 150 hours of in-service training and more than 70 hours of advanced training per year.
Floyd said he was told that rival schools were using the supposed overzealousness by USC police as ammunition against the Gamecocks on the recruiting trail. Floyd said he thought it was best he address it — “and take heat for it” — rather than the school’s coaches.
USC football coach Steve Spurrier last year pointed out the high number of players cited or arrested whose charges were later dropped. Spurrier demurred recently when asked whether Floyd’s comments have made a difference.
“I thought we were not in bad shape,” Spurrier said. “I don’t have any problem with it either way.”
USC senior defensive end Eric Norwood feels campus police give athletes a fair shake, saying players — and students — who draw the police’s attention often were acting up in public.
“Since I’ve been here, really they just catch the dumb (ones), truthfully,” Norwood said.
USC police have responded to several incidents involving football players over the past year, but none resulted in known charges. Campus police assisted in the arrest of former player Dustin McElroy, who was kicked off the team after biting a man in the face during a fight in Five Points.
Floyd knows there will be “bad apples” in any group, and does not expect the athletes to receive preferential treatment.
“I want the players to be treated fairly. I don’t want players to get away with anything,” he said. “I want them to be treated like everybody else.”
Reach Person at (803) 771-8496.
Most Viewed Stories
- A.J. Green to miss 4 games
- Transcript: USC Q&A (Georgia game)
- King, Culliver still in limbo
- Double duty suits Lanning, Gamecocks
- Maddox welcomes expanded role
- Clowney will be in Columbia Saturday
- Top infield prospect commits to USC
- Byers will see USC Saturday
- Roland is rolling in offers
- Two legs better than one for Georgia
@Nyx.CommentBody@