After a video filled with sounds of abuse and violence surfaced, Coach Taggart took action.
Domestic violence on college campuses is nothing new. It’s been occurring for way too long.
But now more is being done to both punish the perpetrators and raise awareness of this issue in the hopes of preventing it from happening in the future.
This weekend another alleged incident took place, and a school took action immediately.
A video surfaced on Instagram, believed to have been posted by the girlfriend of Florida State quarterback Deondre Francois. In the video, a man could be heard off camera, threatening the woman filming it with physical violence.
“Throw it again so I can beat your ass,” says the man. “.. F* you, I’m going to hit you in your face every f*ing time.”
Although the video was later deleted, social media caught it, including the caption written by the woman.
“For 2 years I have been in a domestic situation with [Francois]. I thought I loved him and thought he could change for the better but it has gotten worse. I lost my first child because of all of the beating and I suffer from post Partum [sic] depression. The situation is taking a toll on my life. Yes, I stayed after that because I was stupid and blinded by love. This isn’t love. You are a coward and this isn’t right. Just because you are who you are that doesn’t give you the right to put your hands on a woman ever!!!”
Upon learning of the video, Seminoles’ coach Willie Taggart wasted no time, swiftly booting Francois off of the team and issuing a statement.
“Last night, I informed Deondre Francois that he is no longer a member of the Florida State football program,” said Taggart in the statement. “As we build a new culture and foundation for FSU Football, we have high expectations for all of our student-athletes and we will not shy away from those high standards of conduct. We are moving forward as a program.”
Sadly, this is not the first time that Francois has been involved in a situation involving domestic violence. In January of 2018, he and his girlfriend at the time were involved in an altercation where she alleged that he kicked open the door and threw her down. Due to the lack of witnesses, the case was dismissed. But that brought the spotlight down upon Francois, so the school was definitely watching.
Not only were they watching, but they were also remembering everything that went down with Jameis Winston when he was playing QB for the Seminoles. After that incident, we’re sure Coach Taggart and the University weren’t going to take any chances, so they had to make the call immediately.
