The story about the Yale QB who turned down a chance to interview for a Rhodes scholarship so he could lead his team against Harvard (Yale lost the Nov. 19 game 45-7) has taken a couple more strange turns.
First, the QB's coach, who had made up a story about his own candidacy for a Rhodes when he was a player at Stanford (see above), got fired for that in December.
Yale Coach Resigns After Rhodes Scholarship Claim
New York Times
Dec. 21, 2011
...The quarterback’s situation had an unlikely twist. His coach, Tom Williams, said he had faced almost identical circumstances in 1992 when he was a linebacker at Stanford. Williams said he had chosen to pursue a career in professional football at the expense of a possible Rhodes scholarship — and never regretted the decision. Witt leaned on his coach for advice, and eventually decided to play in the game. Yale was crushed, 45-7.
As it turned out, the shellacking of the Bulldogs by their rival in the Yale Bowl on Nov. 19 was far from the worst of it. The appealing back story — Williams’s providing counsel to his talented quarterback based on his own experience — turned out to be founded on a lie.
The coach had never been in Witt’s position. He had never been a Rhodes scholar candidate or applicant, let alone a finalist, as he had let the world believe. He had told Yale he was a candidate with an entry on his résumé. His biography on the Yale Web site said the same thing.
On Wednesday, a day before his 42nd birthday, Williams paid with his job. Yale, which had undertaken an internal review to investigate Williams’s Rhodes scholarship assertion after an article in The New York Times raised doubts about its legitimacy, announced that the coach had resigned...
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Then the New York Times reported Thursday that the QB actually withdrew his Rhodes candidacy because of an accusation of sexual assault.
At Yale, the Collapse of a Rhodes Scholar Candidacy
New York Times
Jan. 26, 2012
NEW HAVEN — On Nov. 13, Patrick J. Witt, Yale University’s star quarterback, announced that he had withdrawn his Rhodes scholarship application and would instead play against Harvard six days later, at the very time of the required Rhodes interview. His apparent choice of team fealty over individual honor capped weeks of admiring national attention on this accomplished student and his quandary.
But Witt was no longer a contender for the Rhodes, a rare honor reserved for those who excel in academics, activities and character. Several days earlier, according to people involved on both sides of the process, the Rhodes Trust had learned through unofficial channels that a fellow student had accused Witt of sexual assault. The Rhodes Trust informed Yale and Witt that his candidacy was suspended unless the university decided to re-endorse it.
Witt’s accuser has not gone to the police, nor filed what Yale considers a formal complaint. The New York Times has not spoken with her and does not know her name.
Witt, who is 22, is no longer enrolled at Yale. He completed his class work last semester, is working on his senior essay and has been training in California in preparation for a possible N.F.L. career, according to the Yale athletics Web site...
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The story of how Witt's high school and college career evolved is also interesting:
...Witt, who attracted N.F.L. scouts to New Haven last fall, grew up in a family willing to go to some lengths to pursue its football ambitions. His parents, airline pilots in Atlanta, could not be reached for comment.
Patrick and his older brother, Jeff, transferred from one Atlanta-area high school to another so that Jeff — who would later play quarterback at Harvard — could play in a more pass-oriented offense. But after Jeff graduated from Parkview High School in Lilburn, Ga., the team relied on a star running back, so Patrick rarely got to throw.
The family moved to Dallas, where Patrick enrolled at a pass-happy football powerhouse, Highland Park High School. When it became clear he would not start, Patrick transferred within weeks to Wylie High School, in a Dallas suburb, his fourth school in three years.
He shone at Wylie, graduated in midyear and enrolled early at Nebraska so he could attend spring football camp. But after redshirting his first year and playing little his second, Witt transferred to Yale in 2009...
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To further complicate the controversy surrounding Witt's Rhode's candidacy, Witt today maintained that he did not withdraw his candidacy because of the accusation of sexual assault.
Diverging Stories of a Rhodes Candidacy
New York Times
Jan. 27., 2012
Witt, who provided his version of events through his agent Friday, denied that he ever had been told his candidacy had been suspended. And he insisted he made his decision to play the annual game against Harvard, rather than pursue the scholarship, before the Rhodes Trust ever knew of the allegation.
A statement released by the sports management firm representing Witt, while acknowledging a sexual assault allegation had been made against the quarterback, noted that the university’s inquiry “yielded no disciplinary measures, formal reports or referrals to higher authorities.”
Mark F. Magazu, II, Witt’s agent, said Friday that Witt and the female student had a casual relationship, and that any contact between them was purely consensual...
