While we are shocked and disappointed at the conviction of Maurice Simmons the greater tragedy goes way beyond football. Its obvious that anytime a young adult's life is is ruined like this that there is shock and disappointment.
This isn't some kid that was gang banger. This wasn't a kid from the projects that was in and out of trouble and if I read it correctly this kid wasn't from a broken home. Simmons came from a loving family who obviously stressed education and personal responsibility.
For a young man from a Compton family whose children had all managed to get to college, not to mention their degrees, with an o lder brother Melvin (Champ) Simmons a starter on USC's 2003 national champs, the only thought was of the Simmons family and the tragedy this has become for them.
While partisan factions of our rival's fan base will try to make a big deal out of this, It doesn't matter if Simmons was a USC recruit or not. I can't answer with any certainty as to why he was at that place at that time anymore than I can answer why ucla kicker Justin Medlock got into a car while intoxicated injuring a fellow student or why Rey Maualuga punched a fellow student at a party. Kids do dumb things sometimes with dire consequences.
The tragedy here has nothing to do with football, it is that Simmons has not only ruined his life but he has ruined the expectations that his family set forth in becoming a productive member of society, instead he becomes a statistic and another story of what could have been...