Thursday, September 11, 2008

Leon Patton Rumor

Ok, people have been begging to know the Leon Patton rumor, and the reason why he is suspended and not playing this year. Everyone knows about the Wal-Mart and parking ticket issue, and those have been taken care of.

Here is the current rumor--and I stress, this is a RUMOR. I have seen absolutely no factual basis for this rumor, I am not presenting it as truth or fact. I have no reason to believe it is true. In fact, I have heard several different versions of the rumor.

Here is the rumor, phrased as a question as I asked friends about it in an e-mail on August 6.

ok I have heard a rumor from someone about patton.

I have heard that he is being investigated for the death of an infant, who died allegedly from shaken baby syndrome. And yes, I was told that it was patton's kid that died.

does anyone know if he has a kid? Whether a child passed away? I have a hard time believing this would fly under the news radar.

if anyone can dispell the rumor I would appreciate it.

As you can tell, I was (an am) in disbelief, because I think some news source would have reported (a) the death of an infant and (b) that it was the child of a major college football player. Murders, whether shaken baby syndrome or abandonment of a baby, are always news fodder.

That said, I have also heard another version of the rumor:

Patton is a person of interest in the death of an infant, but he has being investigated for domestic violence. The only reason nothing has surfaced in the media, is the investigation is still on-going.

In this version of the rumor as it was explained to me, Patton's girlfriend was the actual perpetrator, and after Patton found out there was a domestic violence incident.

In my best impression of Snopes, I have several questions about these rumors.

First, I don't know that Leon has a child. Second, I don't know that Leon has a girlfriend. Third, I don't know whether Leon's girlfriend had a child, whether Leon's or not. Fourth, I don't know that a child associated with Leon died. Fifth, I don't know that anyone associated with Leon suffered any physical abuse.

Mostly, though, I find it hard to believe that even if an investigation is ongoing, that the media has not reported the death of an infant and that the death is being investigated. I have no idea if the alleged death occurred in Manhattan or Leon's hometown of Dallas. That said, whether it happened in Manhattan or Dallas, deaths are matters of public record and would be available. No media source that I am aware of (and I used my google-fu skills) has reported the death of an infant associated with Leon.

For all I know, Leon is deep in Prince's doghouse and this is all rumor and innuendo and has absolutely no basis in fact. Prince has a tendency to not play players if they do all sorts of things; it does not have to be anything criminal. For example, Xzavier Stewart hasn't been playing and he hasn't gotten so much as a parking ticket. I also find this hard to believe since Leon is still listed on KSU's roster. I would think that if it were true or there was a substantial basis in fact, he have been dismissed from the team completely.

There, now you have read the rumor. All I ask is for everyone to consider that it is a rumor, and so if you hear someone that KNOWS Leon did something wrong, they are full of crap. If anyone KNEW Leon was associated with a child that died and he was implicated, he would have been arrested. The only thing that people KNOW are the rumors. That's it.

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