Stoneburner, Mewhort Lifted From Scholarship; Punished In Show Only

Those wondering how Urban Meyer, disciplinarian 2.0, would confront the first major test of his authority and powers as Ohio State's football coach now have an idea; roughly the same way he (and basically any other coach) would when a couple of relatively premiere players commit publicly shaming but otherwise innocuous acts. Meyer released the following statement late Friday:

"We are disappointed with the decisions made recently by two of our football players. Jake Stoneburner and Jack Mewhort will each be removed from athletic scholarship beginning with the summer term, and they will continue to be suspended from team activities until stipulations are successfully met. They will have an opportunity to return to the team in good standing following the summer session."

The players will have to pay their way through summer school and while they'll be allowed to leverage the Woody Hayes Athletic Center to continue working out, they won't be able to do so with their teammates.

So what does this mean?

Honestly, not much. Particularly for Stoneburner, a fifth year senior to be, how much classwork could he possibly have to complete in what's likely a bare minimum summer semester for most student athletes anyways? Mewhort, a junior, could potentially find himself a tiny bit behind the eight ball, but without a full load of classes to worry about, it's nothing anyone with the resources Ohio State football players have at their disposal can't easily make up.

Further, seeing as both individuals are in-state products, they'd be only looking at roughly $404.63 per credit hour out of pocket. For a single 3-hour class, that'd be $1213.89 and for two (which as I understand is a customary summer load for student athletes), they'd be looking at around $2427.78. Coupled with legal fees, that's a rather stern lesson, but as neither player's parents have likely had to spend a dime on their education since they graduated from high school (and I'm going to go out on a limb and speculate before the punishment was handed down, feelers were put out to make sure this wasn't an undue burden), it could've been a lot worst. Since both players will be eligible to be reinstated after the summer semester, the two could conceivably see no loss of time on field and given their upper classmen statuses within the program, may ultimately not have so much as a tangible impact on the product on the field.

Those hoping the relative minor nature of a college aged individual urinating in public would be met accordingly get their wish and the cynics thinking Urban wouldn't have the gall to actually make them miss on the field action (at least for now) also get their smug satisfaction.