Notre Dame radio analysts says ‘criminals’ are the key to football success

College football has been wrought with players — especially recently — getting suspended or dismissed because of a "violation of team rules" that's usually due to some sort of criminal activity.

And former Notre Dame running back Allen Pinkett, who is also a radio analyst for the team, is totally OK with that. In fact, he endorses it.

Pinkett told "The McNeil and Spiegel Show" on Chicago's 670 The Score that having "criminals" on a team makes for a better product.

"I've always felt like, to have a successful team, you gotta have a few bad citizens on the team," Pinkett told the show. "I mean, that's how Ohio State used to win all the time. They would have two or three guys that were criminals. That just adds to the chemistry of the team. I think Notre Dame is growing because maybe they have some guys that are doing something worthy of a suspension, which creates edge on the football team. You can't have a football team full of choir boys. You get your butt kicked if you have a team full of choir boys. You gotta have a little bit of edge, but the coach has to be the dictator and ultimate ruler."

That sound you hear is crickets. Lots and lots of crickets as we all try to wrap our brains around the pure idiocy of Pinkett's comments.

Lucky for us, Pinkett went on to clarify his version of a "criminal."

"I don't want any mass murders or rapists," Pinkett said. "I want guys that maybe get caught drinking that are underage, or guys that maybe got arrested because they got in a fight at a bar, or guys that are willing to cuss in public and don't mind the repercussions of it. That's the type of criminal I'm talking about."

Oh, so you mean you want typical college kids on your football team? Hmmmm, novel idea.

Please, if being drunk and fighting made you a better football player, Tommy Rees wouldn't be Tommy Rees (ZING!) and Jimmy Clausen and Michael Floyd would have led the Irish to multiple national titles (DOUBLE ZING!). But it's also good to know that all of those guys had run-ins with the law to better the team. That it wasn't them being stupid and selfish at all.

<insert eye roll here>

There's no "I" in "TEAM" and I don't believe there's slurring either. Yes, on a team with more than 100 players there are bound to be a few that get into trouble. That's a law of averages. But, I think college coaches have proven — especially in the past couple months — that bad apples do, in fact, spoil the bunch and having them around costs more than they're worth.

But maybe there's a method to Pinkett's madness. Maybe if Notre Dame would just recruit more kids with rap sheets the Irish would win more than eight games.

H/T to Eye on College Football

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