Every meat-eating person knows one harsh truth: We don’t care how the sausage is made, and we prefer not to know. As long as the brats are delicious, who the hell cares?
Allow that blissfully ignorant thought to fade away as you read on.
When Gators receiver Antonio Callaway was accused of sexual assault in 2016, the star player was represented by attorney Huntley Johnson. The case was ultimately dismissed, and Callaway did not miss any playing time as a result.
Johnson has been called a “fixer” in a recent Chronicle of Higher Education story. He’s gotten cases of rape, assault and other serious accusations dismissed or had sentences reduced. He’s represented nearly 30 Gator football players since 1984. Former UF running back Chris Rainey said Johnson could “get you out of anything, everything.”
That shit needs to stop.
That isn’t to say that anyone accused of crimes should go without representation. But in an institution where one man can pretty much guarantee that an athlete won’t lose playing time over something as serious as a sexual assault allegation, you have to say that there is a flaw in that system.
There is not much in this world that will keep me from watching SEC football. God help my potential future wife should she go into labor during Iron Bowl weekend. If my dream job called me up during UF-UGA, I’d let the phone ring the entire night while I force myself to listen to ‘Glory, Glory’ for the fifty-gazillionth time.
But this habit of dismissing every alleged victim of sexual assault as liars and thieves is disgraceful to the institutions that we all claim to love, not to mention towards basic human decency.
Johnson is not without his own legal issues. In 2001, the first district court of appeals upheld a ruling against the attorney in a suit brought upon him by his former secretary.
Pamela Thigpen accused Johnson of assault, battery and false imprisonment. The decision revealed that Johnson allegedly repeatedly asked Thigpen for oral sex, at one point Johnson saying to Thigpen that she just wanted to “get down on his hog and honk it.” Thigpen won a $1 million judgement in the civil suit.
Nowadays, Johnson is filling public records requests, looking for dirt on the university’s inner workings. He’s the man who essentially exposed the payments for President Fuch’s pool and the porn-purchasing habits of former Title IX Coordinator Chris Loschiavo.
This caught on after the university refused to issue $400,000 in payment for Johnson’s services of Callaway, among other requests that were apparently denied or ignored.
For whatever good comes of those public records requests, I’m not sure if it is worth having the man defend the next Aaron Hernandez (yup, he did). To make matters even more strange, Johnson doesn’t get paid by the university. He won’t disclose the fees he imparts for UF athletes - the NCAA prohibits pro bono work, and Johnson is not on retainer at UF.
As long as we enjoy the product without thinking about it, we can’t really be surprised when incidents like the Callaway case, heard by an adjudicator who’s a financial booster of the football program, get dismissed.
The sausage factory is alive and well despite the infighting. Link upon link is churned out, and we all still eat up every last morsel. We’re all hypocrites, and I’ll be the first to admit to it.
Morgan McMullen is a sports writer at the Alligator. His columns appear frequently on Tuesday and Thursdays. Contact him at mmcmullen@alligator.org and follow in on Twitter @MorganMcMuffin.
Antonio Callaway and Tyrie Cleveland sit on the sidelines during Florida's 24-10 win against Georgia on Oct. 29, 2016, at EverBank Field. Huntley Johnson has represented both players in past criminal cases.
