An MSU football player with a troubled past, Robert Flagg, is in the cross hairs of the law and facing marijuana charges.
The 20-year-old bandit linebacker will be arraigned in 54-B District Court today. Flagg, who already has been suspended twice by the team, was improving as his stock and playing time rose this season.
Court records obtained by The State News show that Flagg, a junior from Carol City, Fla., was charged within three hours of the team's return from a 33-23 loss to Ohio State at Columbus, Ohio, on Nov. 8.
MSU athletic director Ron Mason and head coach John L. Smith declined to comment on Flagg's legal troubles.
Under department policy, MSU police would not release the name of the student cited at 8:45 p.m. that night at the MSU Department of Police and Public Safety.
But Sgt. Florene McGlothian-Taylor confirmed that police cited a 20-year-old male student from Carol City, Fla., at the department at that time.
The student was picking up his impounded car when police noticed the smell, McGlothian-Taylor said.
"When the officer arrived in the lobby to release the vehicle, he was overwhelmed by the smell of marijuana and the odor of burnt marijuana," McGlothian-Taylor said.
"His eyes were red and watery, and he was asked if he had been smoking based on the appearance of strong odor."
The team rode a bus to the game but traveled back by plane, arriving in East Lansing between 6:30 and 7 p.m.
Flagg did not travel with the team to Wisconsin on Saturday.
Before the Ohio State game, head coach John L. Smith indicated that Flagg was gaining ground on senior bandit Monquiz Wedlow for playing time after forcing a fumble that led to a Clifford Dukes touchdown in MSU's loss to Michigan.
At Monday's news conference, when Flagg was eliminated from the two-deep depth chart, Smith would only say one thing about his playing time: "We're working on some things (with Flagg)."
The junior was suspended twice last season: for the first game for violating team rules, and for all of spring practice and part of the fall for neglecting schoolwork.
Flagg was reinstated to the team along with senior quarterback Jeff Smoker in August.
More recently, there are two outstanding warrants for the arrest of junior defensive tackle Kevin Vickerson on charges of driving with his license suspended.
The incidents occurred on the MSU campus, when Vickerson was pulled over for failure to wear a seat belt and failure to use a turn signal on Sept. 24 and Oct. 12.
The incidents are a reminder of last season, when Smoker, defensive end Greg Taplin and running back Dawan Moss were suspended for nonfootball-related problems.
In the midst of a season tempered by off-season troubles and on-field disappointments, head coach Bobby Williams was fired in November.
John L. Smith replaced interim head coach Morris Watts in December.
Ingham County Prosecutor Stuart Dunnings III said Monday he wasn't aware of any significant legal problems among football players this season.
"As far as I know, this is the first issue with the team," he said. "We haven't had a lot of problems with football players since (former head coach Nick) Saban left.
"We didn't have that many last year, either."
Last November, Dawan Moss was arrested and charged with resisting and obstructing a police officer, drunken driving and fleeing and eluding.
"The Moss incident got a lot of publicity, but that was just one guy," Dunnings said. "Before coach Williams, we would have incidents involving multiple players."
Smith was expected to bring a new attitude to the program and eliminate off-the-field issues that would cause problems for the team.
"I don't know that you can expect a coach to monitor the individual conduct of all of his players," Dunnings said. "He just sets the tone.
"As far as I know from Coach Smith and Williams, they set a tone that it wouldn't be tolerated."
After MSU's victory over Minnesota, athletics director Ron Mason spoke about how the team had cleaned up its off-field activities.
"I like the way they're playing," Mason said on Oct. 18. "I like what they are doing off the field moreso, to be honest with you.
"To build a program, you've got to start off the field. The wins, of course, are what everybody sees, but things behind the scenes are what I see. It's nice to get the wins, which really solidifies both sides of the fence."
Smith has taken a different approach this season with his team, trying to enforce stricter rules. On the road, he does not allow his players to go out on nights before games, keeping a watchful eye over them.
"For the most part, they were focused all the way," Smith said. "We don't allow them to be any other way, to be honest with you, when they're around us.
"They can go up in their room the night before and screw around, but that's limited because we lock the door, we check them in and tuck them in bed."
Jon Styf can be reached at styfjona@msu.edu. Steve Eder can be reached at ederstev@msu.edu.
