From what I know, his drinking problem will always be front and center. I hope he can stay sober and maximize this chance.
Excerpt from the above linked article talking about the current day... Andrew Long. "How can he best prove himself... if people like you want to constantly beat the drum (no pun intended Chief) of his mistakes from the past". Let him prove he's up to the task... before you "hope he stays sober". I really think after a year of NOT drinking in jail and then working for a Teen Foundation for troubled teens for a year has proven that Andrew can abstain from drinking. It also has been clearly stated in many forums including your beloved HR... where you also beat your drum for more worthless causes... that many who participate in Andrews life, have stated, that extreme faith has replaced the bottle he used to seek solace in.
Andrew's drinking won't be front and center if he continues on the path he has been on for years... to even get this minute chance. Evidently, the people in the know and administrators at Grand View who want to give him the benefit of the doubt have more faith in him than you do. Stop beating your drum... and get some faith, Chief. My brother was a raging drunk... lived to drink.. but NOW is repulsed by it. He lived with me and chased me around my kitchen with a butcher's knife around my own home while drunk. I have more faith he'll follow the path he's already established... without the negativism of doubters.
Excerpt:
"We talked a lot about what drove him at that point in his life as far as what kind of person he was compared to now. I think the thing I'm excited about for Andrew is his faith is a real big part of his life now, and that wasn't the case before.
"I think that's part of why, as a school, we felt more comfortable about it because Grand View is a faith-based institution. Hearing him come in and talk about (how) his faith is really leading him now and he's trying to use it as his guide, that's something for me, personally, that makes me feel a lot more comfortable with his situation."
Mitchell said Long spent a year at Teen Challenge of the Midlands, a faith-based residential program in Colfax. Long has continued to live and work at the training center as an intern, and Mitchell said the 26-year-old Creston native plans to make the 25-mile commute to school at Grand View.
"He's got a really good group of people around him right there, and I think he feels those are some people who have really been a good foundation for him for his faith and where he's at right now," Mitchell said. "I'm happy about that, too. I think it's a good transition where he's going to be going to school and commuting to Grand View every day, but he's still got a good group of core people around him that I think can help keep him on track."
Did you read this before you commented or were you caught up in beating your own drum? Any thing not an Iowa plus... has to be a negative. Or Andrew, an Iowa native helps win Penn State's 1st National title. Lingering latent hate maybe??? You like to stretch... so I did. Iowa fans have a fanatical hatred for Iowa State also. And you're MR. Super Hawk.