Backup punter may have stabbed starter
PAT GRAHAM
Associated Press
GREELEY, Colo. - There was never any hint of jealousy or animosity between the two punters competing for the starting job at Northern Colorado - at least, that's the way it appeared on the football field. That all changed this week when the starter, Rafael Mendoza, was stabbed in his right thigh after parking his car outside his apartment Monday night in Evans, about 50 miles north of Denver.
Charged in the attack: His backup, Mitch Cozad.
Mendoza was treated and released from the hosiptal, but will miss at least Saturday's game at Texas State. He told Denver station KCNC-TV he was recovering and wished luck to his teammates.
"I'm looking forward to getting back to playing with my team," he said. "I'm upset this happened but at the same time there's nothing I can do and just move on."
Cozad, meanwhile, was freed Wednesday on a $30,000 bond and faces a charge of second-degree assault.
"I guess the only identified motive (in the attack on Mendoza) at this point in time is the competition for that position," Evans police Lt. Gary Kessler said.
According to Kessler, Mendoza was attacked from behind about 9:30 p.m. The assailant fled in a black Dodge Charger. About 10 minutes after the attack, a liquor store clerk told police that two men in a car matching that description stopped outside the store, stripped tape off the license plate and drove away.
The clerk gave police the license number, and the car was traced to Cozad, who was arrested Tuesday, Kessler said.
The incident was reminiscent of the rivalry between figure skaters Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan. Harding was banned from the sport for life after her former husband hired a hit man to smack Kerrigan on the knee with a crowbar at the 1994 Olympic trials.
Downing wasn't so sure that athletic competition was the reason one of his punters attacked the other. Cozad and Mendoza, a junior from the Denver suburb of Thornton, were competitive, he said, but no more than players at other positions.
"No different than starting quarterback or starting right tackle," he said. "Everyone was held accountable to the same level."
Once a week, players meet with coaches to know where they stand. That way there's no confusion.
"We want them informed ... why they stand in the position they stand," Downing said.
Mendoza won the job over Cozad and freshman Zak Bigelow. With Mendoza and Cozad not available this weekend, Bigelow, Michael York and David Dyches will all audition for the punter's role.
Cozad was suspended from the university and the team and was evicted from his dorm room, director of athletics Jay Hinrichs said. Cozad had no listed phone number in Greeley, and a message left at a phone listed for his Wyoming address was not immediately returned.
Bears coach Scott Downing said he talked to Mendoza, who hopes to make a quick recovery. He's averaging 37.6 yards per punt on nine punts in two games.
"Rafael is a competitor and wants to get back as soon as he can," Downing said. "When that occurs, I don't know."
The Bears recently moved up to Division I-AA play as a member of the Big Sky Conference. Downing took over the Bears on Dec. 27, 2005, leaving his position as recruiting coordinator for the University of Nebraska. He also coached tight ends and kicking specialists.
Associated Press Writer Don Mitchell contributed to this report.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercu...s/15513800.htm
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