The Janoris Jenkins arrest has brought to light the fact that Gator players have been in the news more than usual lately for breaking the law. From the Cam Newton laptop incident to backup Marquis Hannah’s recent arrest we have been hearing about how awful the Gators are lately from the media at-large. While the trend is a bit disturbing, whatever happened to due process and innocent until proven guilty? The first report never gets the real story as it truly happened because the muck-racking, news-starved media has nothing better to do than search police blotters and do their best to sensationalize the story as much as possible.

Columnist Dave Hyde recently wrote a story in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel about how Florida should be labeled the new Thug U, or university known for its football team being a bunch of criminals. This comparison is completely unfounded and mostly ridiculous.

Think about the incidents Miami was involved in that earned them the reputation they have today. Numerous fights, grant money scandals, phone card fraud involving almost half the team, and that's just to name a few. Yeah, and there was that bench-clearing brawl with FIU where Anthony Reddick used his helmet as a weapon and Brandon Meriwether stomped on an FIU player with his cleats. That being said, I believe Randy Shannon has done a commendable job cleaning up the program and he should be applauded for doing so.But, you cannot change the reputation Miami has built for so long in a few short years.

While there is no dismissing Ronnie Wilson shooting an AK-47 in the air or a number of the other incidents, for the most part these arrests have been overblown or downright false. You hear the initial report in the Gainesville Sun and you see it on the ticker on ESPN2, but do you ever hear the outcomes of these cases? Search any number of cases and you won’t hear a thing about the ones that were dropped or lessened. The real facts are mostly only known to the attorney and the player, but many times they get skewed by the media.

Remember the Carl Johnson story where he supposedly broke a restraining order? Even worse than that, the restraining order was for 'sexual violence?' That made waves through the media when the story borke, but the actual outcome never did. Why? Because it was all a lie by a crazed ex-girlfriend. "The restraining order, unfortunately, was a mirage. It just was never legitimate,'' a Gainesville attourney was quoted afterwards. All charges, including the restraining order, were dropped. That didn't make headlines though, and Carl Johnson and the Gators stay tainted because of it.

Cam Newton supposedly stole a laptop, but there have been rumors that he bought the laptop from someone else and panicked when the cops came because he realized it was too good of a deal to be true. Similar questions can be asked about almost any case involving a Gator athlete.

He may not be on the football team, but another great example of police falsely charging an athlete is baseball player Stephen Locke. He was arrested for DUI and kicked off the team immediately, but it was later proven that he was not at all intoxicated and that the officer radioed his buddy so he could meet a quota. If you are an athlete at the University of Florida, don’t expect to get a break, or even a fair shake.

Janoris Jenkins was minding his own business outside of a night club when someone attempted to steal his chain, and a fight ensued. The only person singled out by police of six alleged people fighting was….you guessed it: A Gator football player. He was then shot by a taser gun after the police yelled for the fighting to stop and it continued anyway. This kid has absolutely no record of any sort and is described to be a great kid by those involved with the program.

The district attorney himself has said that this is a very minor incident. Yet, all you see on the ticker on ESPN is "Florida cornerback Janoris Jenkins arrested for resisting arrest." If I am Joe Schmoe reading that it sounds pretty bad, yet if Joe had the facts he would know this is at worst a minor incident.

The Thug U comparison is absurd. Out of 100 young adults, an average of six have been arrested per year, and most of them are minor incident as desribed above and are handled appropriately. When the Gators get busted for a scam involving half the team or start a bench-clearing brawl on national television, let me know Dave. Until then, Miami will remain the one and only 'Thug U.'

Ben Petitto is a columnist for GatorTailgating.com