Anybody ok with forgiving DJK?

edr247 said:
He doesn't owe **** to us. You can talk about the scholarships and all that, but through four years of play, he's made that up. The people who he would need to seek forgiveness from are maybe his teammates and coaches, but most importantly, his family and himself. That's it.
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Wrong. If he wants to keep us as fans, he does owe us something: an apology. We still have a bowl game that we will be going to and cheering on our team and he has let us down. If he wants to go pro and make a living playing football, then yes, he does us the people that will pay his salary everything. He better show remorse, contrition, and an ability to make things right.

I for one have no problem forgiving him if he decides to apologize and take steps to make up for what he has done wrong. I'm sure there are lots of Hawkeye fans who will buy his pro jersey if he turns out to be a pro-bowler in 5 years after turning things around. America is the land of second chances. He should get a second chance, but he's got to earn it. It's not going to come for free.
 
I forgive him but don't want to see him in an Iowa uniform again...even if he had eligibility left. There are consequences for poor decisions...even when they are forgiven.
 
I think what has been missing in DJK’s fall from grace and the messageboard lynch mob that has followed is that I have heard or read few people that have shown any sympathy or understanding.

I think that he may have been negatively swayed by the wrong crowd and/or cultural influences even before he arrived on the Iowa campus.

I certainly don’t think that DJ’s a bad kid. Misdirected to be sure, but not hopeless. Quite the contrary. The young man I’ve seen has shown many character traits that I associate with leaders. He failed here. I just don’t want Iowa fans to fail him by things they say or do in the immediate aftermath.

He can’t undo anything he’s already done, but he can face up to it. He can tell the truth. He can seek forgiveness.
And we can and should forgive.

He will always be a Hawkeye and I hope that 15 years from now after a successful life (both on & off the field) we welcome him back with open arms as an honarary captain.

Lets not forget. The crime he is accused of had nothing to do with harming anyone else but himself. No violence. No theft. His only crime may simply be addiction. For that there is help.
 
I will be willing to forgive him in time, but right now the wound is too fresh and it just makes me sad. What really bothers me is all his "friends" on facebook who all just tell him its just a stumbling block and "no worries brah". I mean this is a fairly serious crime. Should he eventually learn his lesson and hold his head up and move on?? Absolutely. But right now it just seems like a bunch of leeches sucking onto his fame and telling him what he wants to hear. No one wants to tell him the hard truth...that he really ****ed up and needs to do some soul searching. Now I'm hoping that he probably realizes this...I hope so I will give him the benefit of the doubt. But damn...the people on his page bother me...
 
I posted on his page a little bit ago. Told him that he's made some really poor choices, but my prayers are with him regardless.
 
My point in my earlier post was that those who crucified Jesus did not have to ask for his forgiveness. He gave it before they even understood the true severity of their actions.
 
The primary benefactor of forgiveness is not the one being forgiven, but the one doing the forgiving.
 
Iowafan1isback said:
Hopefully, the door hit his a$$ on the way out.
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Nice attitude. But then judging by your tag, not surprising. I love your brand of compassionate conservatism. I hope the door hits your a$$ on the way out to Alaska to hang with your hero Sara Palin.

A little recreational drug use is IMO no worse than getting drunk occasionally. The ridiculous drug laws in this country make criminals out of ordinary kids out to have a little fun.
 
HawkeyeTech said:
Nice attitude. But then judging by your tag, not surprising. I love your brand of compassionate conservatism. I hope the door hits your a$$ on the way out to Alaska to hang with your hero Sara Palin.

A little recreational drug use is IMO no worse than getting drunk occasionally. The ridiculous drug laws in this country make criminals out of ordinary kids out to have a little fun.
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I agree with the notion that some recreational drug usage isn't a big deal but having pot, coke, and a plethora of prescription drugs, many of which weren't prescribed to him, seems beyond a little recreational usage.
 
My forgiveness doesn't really matter. I really have no reason to be mad anyway. He is a football player on a team I like. Doesn't mean he owes me anything. He made a mistake, some may say it's a big one, but who can really judge what mistakes are worse than others. He didn't hurt anyone else, just himself. It's not up to me or you to forgive him.

Do I think he should play in the bowl game. No, but that is because of what KF and the program stand for and it would be a MSU type deal for sure.
 
At the risk of sounding uncaring...who cares? I don't know the guy. He doesn't need my forgiveness because he hasn't done anything to me. I am sure he has bigger things on his plate than making sure IFG doesn't hold a grudge against him.

I hope the best works out for him, and he can use this expereince to learn and become a better person in the future, but I am not going to lose sleep if he doesn't. I feel the same about every single person sitting in the Johnson County Jail right now.
 
I for one am. Apology is not a necessary prerequisite to forgiveness. He made a mistake, time to help him correct it, get his life in order, and move on to bigger and better things. DJK has alot of potential in more than just football.
 
Why should I forgive DJK? He never did anything to me personally that he should be sorry for. He should apologize to family, team, and maybe small children that thought of him as a role model. What he did was put an illegal substance in his body and not physically harm anyone in the process. I know several friends who have done the same type of things and didn't hurt me a bit. A suspension from team activities and whatever legal consequences are appropriate. Hopefully he has a strong support system to help him through this time.
 
It's not up to us to forgive him for what he is charged with. That is between him and his family and coaching staff who have put time and effort to educate him and try to make him a better person. Most of us fans don't have a vested interest in him but we do have a vested interest in the university and the athletics program through tuition or ticket purchases. The real question is can we forgive him for giving our university and athletics program a black eye. Right now I don’t really want his name mentioned in the same sentence as Iowa Football. I know that is impossible since he is our leading receiver and will always be mentioned as “Iowa Hawkeye Football Player” or “Former Iowa Football Player Derrell Johnson-Koulianos.”

Although I am pretty ****** at him right now for putting Iowa Football in the spotlight for all of the wrong reasons, I do realize he is just a stupid kid who made a very stupid decision. Hopefully he will get things in his life straightened out and I wish him the best but I will not miss him not being in the line up for the Insight Bowl.
 
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