What is going on in Greeley?

[Orange_Crush21]

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2585781

GREELEY, Colo. -- The University of Northern Colorado's reserve punter was arrested Tuesday, accused of stabbing his rival in his kicking leg.

Mitch Cozad, a sophomore from Wheatland, Wyo., allegedly attacked starting punter Rafael Mendoza in a parking lot in Evans on Monday night, Evans police Lt. Gary Kessler said.

Mendoza, the Bears' first-string punter from Thornton, was treated and released from the North Colorado Medical Center Monday night. Coach Scott Downing said Mendoza will not punt for UNC in Saturday's game at Texas State University.

"I don't know how long he'll be out because I haven't talked to the doctor," Downing said.

Cozad, Mendoza and freshman Zak Bigelow had been in a three-way race for the starting punter's job in preseason training. Mendoza has averaged 37.6 yards per punt on nine punts in the two games so far this season.

Cozad is facing second-degree assault charges and was scheduled to appear in court Wednesday for a bond hearing. He was suspended from the team, evicted from his residence and expelled from school on Tuesday, The Greeley Tribune reported.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

[Cougarbait28]

I am sure most of us remember how well this worked out for Tonya Harding....

[topscribe]

Here is a more detailed article from the Fort Collins Coloradoan, that I got out of the Tucson (Ariz.) Citizen (huh? ):

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Football Roundup: Competition may be motive in stabbing of Northern Colorado punter
KELLY LYELL
Fort Collins (Colo.) Coloradoan

GREELEY, Colo. - A backup punter on the University of Northern Colorado football team has been arrested on suspicion of ambushing and stabbing the starting punter in his kicking leg.

Mitch Cozad, 19, a walk-on from Wheatland, Wyo., was arrested Tuesday night by police in Evans, a small town south of Greeley and only a few miles from the school's campus. He was released Wednesday from the Weld County Jail on a $30,000 bond, Evans police Lt. Gary Kessler said.

Rafael Mendoza, a junior from Thornton, Colo., was struck in the head from behind and eventually stabbed by an assailant about 9:30 p.m. Monday as he was parking his car outside his apartment complex in Evans, Kessler said.
Mendoza, 21, yelled for a car that was just pulling into the parking lot to follow the assailant's vehicle, a black Dodge Charger with two similarly dressed occupants, Kessler said. Less than 10 minutes later, Kessler said the night clerk at a liquor store "six to eight blocks away" in the direction the Charger was traveling when last seen, reported a suspicious vehicle matching that description in the parking lot outside her business.

"Two suspects had gotten out and were pulling black tape off the license plates," Kessler said. "The clerk wrote down the license number and since the vehicle matched the description of the one leaving the scene and was in the same direction of travel, we ran the plate number and it came back registered to this Mitch Cozad."

Kessler said interviews Tuesday with coaches, friends, acquaintances and teammates of the suspect and victim established probable cause sufficient to arrest Cozad on a charge of second-degree assault.
He was kicked off the team and suspended from school Tuesday morning, athletic director Jay Hinrichs said Wednesday afternoon at a hastily called news conference.

First-year coach Scott Downing said he met Mendoza at North Colorado Medical Center's emergency room, and that the punter was treated and released. Kessler said Mendoza suffered a contusion on the back of his head and a stab wound "in the upper right thigh or buttock area." Downing would not discuss the player's injury or treatment but said he would not be available to play in the NCAA Division I-AA team's game Saturday at Texas State.

The two punters were locked in three-way battle along with Zak Bigelow for the starting job during preseason practices. Mendoza, last year's starter, won the job and averaged 37.6 yards on nine punts in the Bears' first two games this season.
The only apparent motive was the competition for the starting spot, Kessler said.
Players were told not to discuss the situation with the media, Downing said, and school officials reiterated that to reporters.


S.C. QB suspended

COLUMBIA, S.C. - South Carolina starting quarterback Blake Mitchell was arrested after a bar fight Wednesday and has been suspended indefinitely from the team. Even before the arrest, Mitchell probably would not have played this weekend because of injuries he suffered in South Carolina's first two games, coach Steve Spurrier said.

The Associated Press

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[*Atwater*]

Heres some more news

punter Mitch Cozad, whom friends describe as quiet and gentle, has sabotaged his teammates before.

"Mitch one time hid the kicking tee," said Kent Smith, who covered high school football in 2004 for KZEW FM, a radio station in Wheatland, Wyo., where Cozad played as a place-kicker in high school.

Smith, who owns the station in the town of about 3,000 people, said Cozad was upset about being pulled from a game in his senior year and kept other members of his team from using the tee for the rest of the game.

Cozad faces charges of second-degree assault for stabbing UNC starting punter Rafael Mendoza on Monday night in the parking lot of an apartment complex in the 2700 block of Crescent Cove Drive. Cozad transferred to UNC after starting his college career at the University of Wyoming.

Friends, however, said the allegations were out of character for the sophomore.

Amy Heatherly, who went to Wheatland High School with Cozad and lived in Turner Hall, where Cozad also lived, said he didn't show signs of being frustrated with his status on the UNC team.

"He said, 'Yeah I'm really excited about the football season,' and he didn't make it seem like anything was bothering him."

Heatherly knew someone in Turner Hall was arrested Tuesday night, but she didn't know it was him.

"He was on our floor last night," she said.

Tiffany Fisher, who has known Cozad for two years, said the actions Evans police allege are out of character for her friend.

"Mitch is a sweetheart," she said. "He's real soft-spoken."

Fisher said the allegations surprised her because Cozad liked his prospects on head coach Scott Downing's team.

"He was really excited that coach had given him the opportunity to come here to UNC," she said.

Wheatland High School assistant coach Mick Cochran, who was a junior varsity coach when Cozad was at the school, said the kicker usually kept to himself.

"He was a pretty good kid," Cochran said. "He did his kicks and didn't say a lot."

Fisher said the situation was tragic.

"It's awful," she said. "It just rips your heart out. This is not the Mitch that we know

[Kapaibro]

I am sure most of us remember how well this worked out for Tonya Harding....

I think the phrase is "He got Kerriganed"

[Nightwing]

To quote Stephen Colbert..

"You need that ferocity on the field! Who is going to block that kid's punts? No one, because he will shank you in the end zone."

[AZOmae]

I think it's the smell there.

At least that's what I kept telling my folks everytime grades came out.......

[str8jacket]

if i cant kick, NOBODY can

good stuff

[*Atwater*]

I was reading the paper this morning and it said If convicted, Cozad could face up to 48 years in prison.