The Syracuse University football program may have caught a break Thursday as suspended senior wide receiver Marcus Sales' felony drug charges were dropped and the play-making wide receiver may be able to return to the team sometime this season or next.
Sales, who scored three touchdowns in the Orange's New Era Pinstripe Bowl victory over Kansas State last December and was going to be SU's top wide receiver this year, was suspended from the team after he and his brother, Michael Sales Jr., were pulled over in late July after running a red light. The two were then arrested on felony drug possession after a sizable amount of marijuana was found in their car.
Sales and his attorney will now be looking to have his suspension, which came immediately after the arrest, lifted. It is still unknown if Sales will be looking to join the team this season or for 2012-13. Of course, nothing can be done until SU decides if it will allow him to return to school. After that, it is up to the football program and head coach Doug Marrone.
"Marone, of course, has the final say on any solution, whether it is that Sales is invited back this season, next season, or not invited back at all," wrote Syracuse.com's Nolan Weidner Thursday.
The coach also has instituted a leadership council on the football team, comprised of players and coaches. Sales might have to go before that group, or a team vote could be taken if Marrone or other coaches feel that is the proper thing to do."
Sales' athletic talent would be welcomed on the football field. However, this has certainly turned into a moral issue for SU fans.
Either you think Sales should be allowed to return to school and the football team because his charges were dropped; or, you feel as if his actions warrant a termination of playing eligibility -- at least, at Syracuse.