GREELEY — Mitch Cozad’s life should not be ruined, but he still must be punished for stabbing his rival to get a starting spot on the University of Northern Colorado football team, a district judge said Tuesday.
“It’s a sad state of affairs for this community for someone to stab someone else for the status of a game,” Judge Marcelo Kopcow said.
Kopcow then sentenced Cozad to seven years in prison for second-degree assault for his attack on teammate Rafael Mendoza on Sept. 11, 2006.
Cozad, UNC’s backup punter, was convicted in August of stalking and then stabbing Mendoza in his punting leg outside the kicker’s apartment in Evans.
Cozad spoke little during Tuesday’s sentencing, saying his lawyers will appeal his conviction and that he was sorry for the trauma endured by Mendoza’s family and his own.
“I will continue to be a model inmate during my sentence and my appeal,” Cozad said.
