TE Reese Leitao will be allowed to join Longhorns

Leitao wil join his class on campus.

The much-needed TE recruit from Tulsa, OK had his prescription drug sales arrest reduced to a misdemeanor and that was apparently enough (along with whatever other due diligence they performed) for Tom Herman, AD Mike Perrin and other Longhorn administrators for Leitao to join the team.

Newsflash: Longhorn brass values winning.

Truth be told, I don’t particularly care about media and opposing fan perception in the absence of real information about the kind of person Leitao is.

But I’m a bit torn here.

When a wealthy popular senior in high school exploits his gridiron star status to peddle prescription drugs so that he can play gangster and pretend at some hustler image he’d like to project, we’re now discussing a deeper, fundamental character deficit that goes deeper than the offense itself. What he did is just a sign of a deeper vacuum in his life. I’m not sure more status and a Houdini from real consequence is going to solve that.

Similarly, I don’t really care if Leitao’s access to a good lawyer and a favorable plea deal allows Texas to save face procedurally (don’t worry everyone, it’s only a misdemeanor). That’s gutless bureaucratic thinking.

On the other hand, the idea that a 18 year old can’t grow is antithetical to everything I believe and know about the human capacity for change. Does he view this as a come-to-Jesus moment or proof that his size and 40 time makes him bulletproof?

It boils down to the person and the total picture of what he’s really about. If Texas did their due diligence and is satisfied that he’s a fundamentally decent young man who screwed up royally, take him and piss on the critics.

If this is just procedural opportunism and the athlete took all of the wrong lessons from this episode, it won’t end well for anyone.