Two MSU football players were arrested Tuesday for a prank - plain and simple.
Irving Campbell and Terry Love, both redshirt freshman wide receivers, did not intend to threaten or hurt anyone. To them, it was just a big joke.
Late Monday night, Love and Campbell made "MacGyver bombs," taking household chemicals, some metal foil and shoving them into a plastic bottle. The two planted the bottles outside apartment doors in Spartan Village, waiting for the chemical reaction to burst the bottle's skin.
Their mutual friend, who made a game of playing pranks back and forth with Love and Campbell, told police he heard the explosions. He knew his friends were pranking him, and didn't think twice.
Just after midnight Tuesday morning, the first bottle exploded and a neighbor called the cops, mistaking the noise for gunfire. By the time police arrived, the third bomb had yet to go off. Police caught both men fleeing the scene.
Right now, both face one charge each of possessing a dangerous chemical compound. They were released on a $500 bond.
Using the word "bomb" to explain what happened is a little misleading. Mostly, the bombs are loud. While "MacGyver bombs" can injure or damage property, their potency is on par with - or even less than - some illegal fireworks. People standing inappropriately close to the bottle might be sprayed with corrosive cleaning chemicals or catch some plastic bottle shrapnel, but the point is that neither player was using malicious intent.
Put the prank in context. One prank doesn't mean Spartan football has discipline problems like under previous coaches, nor does it justify putting this in context with any other troubles the program has seen. That said, however, these student-athletes do not deserve a free pass or a clean slate. Plainly, they broke the law and authorities took the appropriate steps.
That being said, Campbell and Love will be punished. And they deserve to be. For their misdemeanor, they'll pay a $100 fine or spend 90 days in jail. Eventually, once the legal side is resolved, John L. Smith will reprimand the two. Until that happens, Campbell and Love are free to dress and play football on Saturdays. A one-game suspension, if anything, is a reasonable punishment. But only for making an error in judgment.
Perhaps the most unfortunate element to this story is the effect it could have on the MSU football team. Fans know that Love has come on as of late, and the threat of suspension is a very real one. To be bowl eligible, the Spartans need to sweep the rest of the season with wins over Wisconsin, Penn State and Hawaii. With a rising star quarterback on the mend and a team working to right the ship after two tough losses, this is really the last thing Smith needs to deal with. Going face-to-face with the head coach might well prove their most humbling moment of the ordeal.
Everyone makes mistakes. For Campbell and Love, Tuesday morning was just that. Since no one got hurt, the possible suspension of two Spartan football players was the most important aspect of the story. The prank might have crossed the line, but it's an offense we can forgive.
