Friday, April 25, 2008

Jack Ikegwuonu, Free at Last?

The Journal-Sentinel has relayed a report that former Badger starting cornerback Jack Ikegwuonu has finally, at long last, reached a plea deal with the DeKalb County State's Attorney's office to dispose of his residential burglary charges. If you're a Badger football fan, you remember the situation-- he and his wacky twin, Bill, apparently got busted for breaking into someone's apartment in DeKalb, Illinois, allegedly in effort to snatch an Xbox. (Little did they know that system would be obsolete in less than a year!) Here's the pertinent quote:

"According to profootballtalk.com, which cited a source close to the situation, Ikegwuonu will be on probation for 24 months and must perform 50 hours of community service after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge of criminal trespass. A felony charge of residential burglary was dismissed."

This makes you wonder-- is the plea part of the reason Jack left UW early? What would have happened if he had pled guilty to a misdemeanor while still being a scholarship athlete at UW? Would he have been kicked off the team? Suspended? Maybe the plea deal wasn't reached until after the college season was over because Jack knew he'd get suspended from the team had he pled guilty during the season? Weird stuff.

The rest of the article covers how Jackie I's devastating knee injury (suffered while going through private pre-draft training) has hurt his draft status. While it contains some odd tidbits (one scout describes him as a "con man"), it also relays the excellent news that Jack kicked ass on the Wonderlic, scoring a 29. In comparison, the top rated cornerbacks in the draft (McKelvin from Troy, Rodgers-Cromartie from Tennessee State, Jenkins from South Florida, and Camp Lambeau favorite Aqib Talib) scored 13, 19, 16, and 17, respectively. Your cornerbacks may be more ethical and, umm, better, but our cornerbacks are evil geniuses! Take that, world.

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