By Linh Tat
Daily Bruin Staff
After drawing national attention for their actions off the
field, a group of UCLA football players told their stories to
students Wednesday night.
The athletes were part of the group of 19 football players
charged last summer with illegally obtaining disabled parking
placards.
The presentation at the Rieber Fireside Lounge ““ part of
an agreement between players and administrators to give back to the
community ““ featured speeches from players Ryan Nece, James
Ghezzi, Damian Allen and Ryan Roques and a video produced by some
of the players about disabled parking.
“The idea was to restore justice,” said Cary Porter,
senior associate dean in the Dean of Students office. “This
heals the hurt and makes the UCLA community whole.”
Porter said it was important for the players to recognize their
mistakes and to cultivate respect for those with disabilities.
This was the first time the players have given the presentation,
and they plan to give a similar one during summer orientation.
Officials said it helped that the crowd of about a dozen students
who attended was small enough to allay any nervous jitters of the
athletes.
“This was their first presentation,” said Ed
Kezirian, assistant director of academic services in the athletics
department. “We’re off to a good start.”
The time spent in preparing the presentation and producing the
video did not count toward the 200 hours of community service the
court assigned to the players.
The presentation began with speeches from players, who shared
what they have learned through their experiences.
Ghezzi, a fifth-year sociology student, said he felt remorse
after seeing how those close to him were affected by his
actions.
“It killed me inside that anyone associated with me …
had to answer the same questions I answered,” Ghezzi said
about friends and family who received telephone calls from lawyers,
the media and other curious parties.
Ghezzi said one thing that remains deeply embedded in his mind
is an incident over the summer when a woman in a wheelchair outside
the courthouse cried, “I hope you break your leg walking down
the stairs!”
Nece, a third-year business economics student, was in charge of
organizing the event.
“I venture to say that every person here has made bad
choices, but a true person can rebound from their choices, learn
and grow,” Nece said.
Nece reminded the audience that any individual’s influence
is extensive and that their actions can impact many others.
“You’re an extension of a lot of entities in your
life,” Nece said. “We’re extensions of the
football team. We’re extensions of the UCLA
community.”
Roques, a fifth-year social psychology student, said the
experience taught him the importance of all his actions.
“You never know who you represent until you do something
really good or really bad,” he said.
In addition to the presentation, the players are also producing
a video that addresses the Americans with Disabilities Act and will
include interviews with legislators and police officers.
“Maybe this will be something that can be used by the
university to show other groups,” Kezirian said.
University officials said they were happy to see players use the
knowledge gained from their experiences to serve the community.
“I have a great deal of respect for the players,”
Porter said. “They’ve put in essentially a year of
their life into doing this.”
Suzanne Seplow, area director for the Office of Residential
Life, expressed her admiration of players such as Nece, who she
worked with in coordinating the event.
“I did not know Ryan ahead of time, but I was incredibly
impressed with how he truly displayed a sense of realization about
the situation,” Seplow said.
Despite the negative attention that players have received, Nece
said current players on the team who were not involved in the
scandal continue to treat them with respect.
“Our teammates are supportive of us,” Nece said.
“That’s the type of team we have.”