Georgia Enters SEC East Arrest Report Race, Two Dawgs Arrested, Suspended

Update, 7:45 p.m. Sunday: Mark Richt has suspended both arrested players indefinitely, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

Thursday night, Tennessee had “seven to 10” players involved in a bar brawl. Friday night, Georgia had two players arrested. This is not the way these two schools want to compete. From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

⇥Dontavius Deshawn Jackson, a redshirt sophomore tailback, also was charged with DUI and leaving a scene of an accident and other traffic violations, according to jail records. Split end Tavarres King was also arrested and charged with underage possession of alcohol, according to jail records.Compare Jackson’s DUI charge to the assault charge levied against Darren Myles, ex-Vol, if you want, or contrast the punishment Tennessee coach Derek Dooley has already handed down with the punishment Mark Richt has yet to levy. (Though, if you’re wondering why Richt hasn’t punished anyone yet, consider that it’s Saturday.) But also remember that these are college students and, sometimes, college students do stupid and illegal things.That fact hasn’t changed since college or police officers or adolescent males were invented, and it’s not likely to change soon. (We didn’t make mention of it at TSB, but Iowa defensive end Broderick Binns was charged with DUI yesterday. It’s like an epidemic of crime! These exclamation points are sarcastic!) Hopefully, Richt—whose status on a hot seat is a running joke for some—can find a way to punish his players that is acceptable to all parties involved, and, hopefully, justice is served in all of the cases open for all players at Tennessee, Georgia, and wherever else. (Florida’s Frankie Hammond plead guilty to a DUI this week, so that’s one case sort of settled.)

It’s far more likely, though, that there will still be some segment of the football-playing (or, heck, sporting, or breathing) population that commits crimes, because there are always people who do that. The idea is convincing them not to before they do and punishing them afterward if they do. Wringing hands in the interim about what has been done isn’t so productive.

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