Wisconsin Football: Why Montee Ball Citation Won't Impact Badgers

Montee Ball found himself on the wrong end of the law over the weekend, receiving a $429 ticket for trespassing after he didn't leave a resident's porch when asked during a block party on the street. Headlines and reports, naturally, ensued.

What should probably not ensue, however, is a suspension or anything else that would negatively affect the Badgers in the 2012 season. And that's because this citation had every opportunity to be worse than it ended up being, and it stayed a non-issue because of Ball's maturity. Here's what we mean:

It was not an alcohol-related incident. It's not tremendously out of the ordinary to see a young college student so drunk (or otherwise messed up) that they start to lose sense of where they are or aren't allowed to be. That's tremendously embarrassing if said student is a scholarship athlete. Wisconsin didn't have to deal with that element, though.

Ball didn't escalate the situation. The trespassing that Ball is accused of is, by itself, not an offense that merits arrest. Often, though, receiving unwanted attention from the police causes the accused to become verbally combative (or worse), and that's begging for a disorderly conduct charge, a trip to jail and a multiple-game suspension. Ball was cooperative, according to the police report. That matters. 

Ball took responsibility. After receiving the ticket, Ball went onto Twitter to talk about the situation. Did he decry his bad luck? Did he opine that the $429 fee was excessive? Did he try to explain his side of the story? Not at all. He simply explained the bad news:

That's maturity, and that's exactly what Bret Bielema needs to see out of his superstar after being on the wrong porch at the wrong time.

As such, Ball's probably going to get some punishment, but Bielema would be wise to demonstrate to his team the value of cooperation and responsibility by making Ball's punishment as reasonable (and suspension-free) as possible.