How NOT to win friends and influence people

Gabriel Bryant was one of LSU's first football commitments for the Class of 2007. Emphasis on the word was.

Bryant, you see, got kicked off the team at Jonesboro-Hodge. It seems Bryant had a falling out with coach Joey Pender. So now Bryant is looking for a high school with Bastrop or Caldwell Parish being likely destinations.

But Bryant did more than just get kicked off the team at J-Hodge. The scholarship offer he once had from LSU now belongs to DeAngelo Benton of Bastrop. And Bryant is a man without a team.

I asked a Division I coach in Louisiana, who shall remain nameless to keep the NCAA out of everyone's hair, if his school would take Bryant, the talented-but-troubled wide receiver.

After a pause, here was the response: "I think we'd have to see how the season plays out.''

Not to see how he performs on the field, but to see how he performs off the field.

In a way, it is good to see that character still matters. It is good to see an athlete have to get his act in order to get his scholarship.

Hopefully for Bryant he'll be able to do just that.