Attack reminiscent of Harding vs. Kerrigan

by Robert Box, staff writer

I remember the days when the only sport that you had to worry about getting stabbed or your legs broken by a hit man was ice skating. 

Well that aspect of the world has filtered into my favorite sport, football.  Mitch Cozad, a backup punter at the University of Northern Colorado, has been accused of stabbing starting punter Rafael Mendoza in his kicking leg.  Cozad was arrested on suspicion of second-degree assault.  He was released on a $30,000 bond.

Cozad has been suspended from the university and evicted from his dorm room.  He currently is staying with his mother at her home in Wheatland, Wyoming.

Cozad “has an extreme hatred, competition, and jealousy” for Mendoza, as described by Northern Colorado teammate and kicker David Dyches.

Mendoza was attacked from behind and stabbed in his kicking leg outside his apartment about 9:30 p.m. on Sept. 12.

The suspect fled in a black Dodge Charger.  About 10 minutes later, a liquor store clerk informed police that two men in a car matching the description stopped outside his store and stripped tape off the license plate and drove away.  The license plate number was traced back to Cozad’s mother.

This incident is reminding a lot of people, including me, of the attack on Nancy Kerrigan by Tonya Harding prior to the 1994 Olympics.  What is up with athletes sabotaging, not only their opponents, but also their own teammates?  I can understand the desire to play and win, but not enough to cheat and go to jail for it.  

First off, if you play for a school the size of Northern Colorado, it’s not like there are NFL scouts seeking you out.  And if you’re not good enough to start, it’s not like your future is real in the football profession. 

He’s the punter, maybe the least valuable player on the team, and he has thrown away his chances to play by making a bad decision.  Instead of working and waiting for his chance to play, he decided to try an easy way out. 

The world does not work that way.  Everyone has to pay for their decisions, and people get what they deserve.  Things are the same way in sports. 

Cozad will never get the opportunity to play football again, and he is looking at jail time.  Meanwhile, Mendoza has returned to punting less than two weeks after the incident.