UW players say Cephus ordeal won’t distract them
They vow to focus as they await receiver’s fate
MADISON – Seeing Quintez Cephus, their friend and teammate, suspended from the Wisconsin football team last season after he was charged with two counts of sexual assault took an emotional toll on many players.
“I went through a lot of emotions,” senior wide receiver A.J. Taylor said after practice Wednesday. “We all did. Even if some guys don’t even know him, you know he was a teammate.
“It does have an effect carrying that and knowing somebody is going through that situation. It is tough.”
Cephus was eventually expelled by UW officials after it was determined he committed a non-academic code violation.
But on Aug. 2 Cephus was found not guilty of the sexual assault charges and has filed a petition to be reinstated as a UW student. His attorneys claim UW officials are needlessly dragging out the process, a claim the school has denied.
If the matter isn’t resolved quickly, UW’s players and coaches could enter the 2019 season worrying about Cephus and his fate once more.
The potential for the case to turn into a significant distraction for the players is real. Yet quarterback Jack Coan and Taylor expressed confidence Wednesday the team is prepared to handle its
work on the field while supporting their former teammate.
“I wouldn’t be too worried about that,” Coan said. “We’re just focused on our team on who we have right now.”
Taylor added: “It is something that is going to have be dealt with. But for some of us, when we get to the games and once you get playing you can zone out everything else. That is where you’re trying to get to. You do a lot of mindfulness (exercises).
“You’ve got to be in the moment. Maybe it might be a little bit harder for us to lock in but we’re going to have to. And then we have to deal with that situation when we’re not playing football.”
Coan and Taylor were among seven players who sent a letter to UW chancellor Rebecca Blank asking that Cephus be allowed to return to school and the team.
“Quintez is my brother,” Coan said. “He is our brother. We’re all supporting him. It’s not about football. It’s just about him as a person.”
More than a half-dozen players on Monday attended a news conference held by Cephus’ attorneys to illustrate that support. That group included senior linebackers Chris Orr and Zack Baun, Coan, junior tailback Jonathan Taylor and junior center Tyler Biadasz.
Attorneys Stephen Meyer and Kathleen Stilling made another public plea to UW officials to allow their client to return to school and to the football team.
After winning Cephus’ freedom in a Dane County courtroom, Meyer and Stilling have taken their case for Cephus’ reinstatement to the court of public opinion.
One part of their strategy appears to be depicting UW officials as tone deaf and/or uncaring in the wake of Cephus being found not guilty.
They have also framed the issue racially, suggesting that not allowing Cephus to return to school and the football team will send a message to minorities that they may not receive equitable treatment.
“The continuing failure of the University of Wisconsin administration to promptly redress the wrongfulness of what has happened to Quintez in expelling him has consequences that will last for decades both to the university and to the people of Dane County,” Meyer said during the Monday news conference. “The university needs to think about how the nationwide public and how people of color will view this institution.
“Use and be guided by the values that this university has. Do the right thing. Give Quintez back his good name.”
So how far will the UW players go in their efforts to support Cephus? What will they do if UW officials deny his petition? What will they do if the matter hasn’t been addressed by the Aug. 30 opener at South Florida?
Might they opt to boycott any games? According to Taylor, the players haven’t discussed such a drastic measure and likely wouldn’t.
“I don’t think we would sit out games,” he said. “But we probably would try to do something.
"We all love the game. But if there was something we could do and still play, I’m sure we’d think about it.”