Gov. Chris Christie insisted Monday the latest suspension of a Rutgers football player is a "disciplinary" issue for the university to handle and scolded media for giving the story too much attention.
MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Gov. Chris Christie insisted Monday the latest suspension of a Rutgers football player is a "disciplinary" issue for the university to handle and scolded media for giving the story too much attention.
The governor, speaking on the campaign trail during a trip to New Hampshire, declined to react to the news that star wide receiver Leonte Carroo has been suspended indefinitely due to his role in an altercation outside of the football team's facility after Saturday's loss to Washington State.
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"Listen, it's not my place to be micromanaging Rutgers," Christie said. "The press does that well enough."
He then offered a scathing critique of media coverage on the university's latest story that added more fuel to the perception that the program is in disarray.
"You guys can micromanage Rutgers. I have a president there, I have a Board of Governors, if they need my help or my advice, they'll call, and if I see something that I think is completely outrageous, I'll call them," Christie said.
"They're dealing with disciplinary problems with teenagers. This is not shocking, you know, I'm a father of four (and) having disciplinary problems with teenagers is the normal course on a college campus," he said, adding, "The breathless media coverage of all of this - and every time there's a problem or some indication of a problem, some deep-seated problem at Rutgers - man, you guys gotta find something else to do."
He added: "I certainly have a lot more important things than worry about what wide receiver is suspend for a few games recently. Being governor of New Jersey and running for president is a little more important than that."
Earlier this month, Christie said the immediate suspension of five active Rutgers University football players accused of being among a group of people charged in connection with a string of crimes was "the appropriate thing."
The governor said Rutgers' athletic director, Julie Hermann, took the appropriate course of action by suspending the five players who were charged Thursday with assaulting a group of people, including one student whose jaw was broken during the unprovoked attack.
"I think the AD did the appropriate thing by suspending them immediately so there's no cloud over their game this weekend," Christie said.
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