11 Notre Dame Athletes Arrested for Underage Drinking

Another Friday night, another bushel of arrests for underage drinking in college football. It’s almost a cliche now. WNDU reports that the illicit sipping was done in South Bend this time.

⇥⇥⇥A party in South Bend was busted by police overnight, sending 43 people to the county jail.⇥⇥⇥⇥⇥⇥...⇥⇥⇥

⇥⇥⇥⇥⇥⇥⇥⇥Among those arrested are eight Notre Dame football players, including Nate Montana, the son of football great Joe Montana and back-up QB; Lorenzo Wood, a cornerback and 2010 recruit; Chris Watt, a sophomore offensive guard; Robert Toma, a 2010 wide receiver recruit; Nicholas Tausch, a sophomore kicker; Ta-iler Jones, a 2010 wide receiver recruit; Steven Filer, a junior outside linebacker; and Tate Nichols, a 2010 recruit.⇥⇥⇥

⇥⇥⇥⇥⇥⇥⇥⇥Also arrested are Tim Abromaitis, a standout junior forward on the basketball team; Eric Atkins, a 2010 basketball recruit; and Steven Summerhays, a 2010 hockey recruit.⇥⇥⇥

It’s tempting to dismiss this as the casual disobedience of youth, and unless drunk driving charges come of this, regard it as a victimless indiscretion. Except, as FanHouse’s John Walters points out, there was an alcohol-related death in the Notre Dame football community in the past year.That makes it sensitive, and though it seems the South Bend police are especially sensitive to underage drinking, there’s a bit of cognitive dissonance involved in players who lost a future teammate thanks to a night of excessive revelry getting busted for drinking. Hopefully, all involved learn that even though underage drinking is about as benign a crime as a 19-year-old can commit, overly assiduous cops and that crime don’t mix.

And, hopefully, Golden Domers in particular will keep in mind that casual drinking can lead to actual peril, and, if breaking the law, will do so responsibly.

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