Regarding need, I don't think it's anywhere near what it was prior to the emergence of Jonathan Allen and A'Shawn Robinson. Plus, Pagan isn't chopped liver. So we don't need Pettway nearly as much now as we did at the beginning of the year.
But positional need isn't the issue.
I don't care if we were down to recruiting DLs off the intramural fields, you simply can't have a guy who participated in the beating and robbing of multiple students, done to get money for vending machine snacks, representing the University of Alabama.
I don't know if Pettway actually threw punches or kicks, or if he held anybody down, or if he just stood lookout. But none of that matters. At an entirely different level of seriousness, it's the same concept as the driver of the getaway car being just as guilty of murder as the trigger man.
Letting a lesser participant back on the team because, see, he didn't really do anything all that bad, and, well, we really need him, just sends a message to so many people that is so wrong on so many levels.
Look, I'm all for redemption and second chances. But he participated in multiple unprovoked felonious attacks on totally helpless people -- and yes, when faced with four thugs who also happen to be in national-class physical condition, those students were indeed helpless.
Let's make this a little more personal. Just suppose I'm full of it, and Pettway is allowed back in school at UA. How do you feel about your son or daughter sitting next to him in class? Running into him on The Strip? Passing him on the Quad late at night after the library closes?
I'll be flabbergasted if Mr. Pettway doesn't have to find his redemption elsewhere.
