Tennessee Reinstates Greg King And Marlon Wells After Bar Fight, Darren Myles Pleads Out

Darren Myles, erstwhile can’t-miss prospect and a would-be jewel of Derek Dooley’s young first Tennessee team, was the most high-profile casualty of the Vawl Brawl, ejected from the team almost immediately following the now-infamous barfight that hospitalized an off-duty police officer. He’s now presumably on his way out of town as well, and managed to get all his summer court-going out of the way at once:

Myles, 19, pleaded guilty to resisting and evading arrest for the incident at Bar Knoxville when an off-duty Knoxville policeman, a UT police officer and a patron were assaulted.

A disorderly conduct charge and a charge for assaulting the UT police officer who was chasing Myles were dismissed.

He also pleaded guilty to public intoxication and resisting arrest for an incident on April 18 when he was arrested and charged with two misdemeanors at Sobu on Kingston Pike.

Probation, diversion, community service, and alcohol classes were handed down, and with that, we bid Myles a less-than-fond adieu. It’s a true shame, though. After the April arrest, provoked by Myles’ drunken car-surfing in the parking lot of a sushi restaurant, I kind of wanted to see this kid play. That’s a recreational activity that requires some serious fleetness of foot.

Tennessee will start fall camp with two more players then the team expected, because head coach Derek Dooley is reinstating linebacker Greg King and defensive tackle Marlon Walls. The two were involved in the Bar Knoxville brawl last month:

For those keeping score at home here is the status of the rest of the Vols who were involved with the fight:

Raise your hand if you wanted to see the wretched saga of the Vawl Brawl spin out for the rest of the summer and into football season! HAHA AWESOME, because that’s exactly what it’s about to do:

Da’Rick Rogers, 19, a wide receiver from Calhoun, Ga., is charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest after the brawl broke out. Originally set for today, his case has been reset to Sept. 14 in Knox County General Sessions Court.

Darren Myles Jr., 19, is charged with assaulting a UT Police Department officer, evading arrest and resisting arrest. The sophomore safety, who previously was charged in April with public intoxication, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, has since been kicked off the team.Originally set for today, his case was reset to Aug. 12 in General Sessions Court.

And no, they still haven’t figured out who beat up the off-duty cop and left him bleeding in the middle of the university’s busiest street. Golly, Media Days should be pleasant this year!

For all the latest Tennessee Vols news and teeth-gnashing, visit SBN’s Rocky Top Talk.

SBN’s Rocky Top Talk examines the tangled web of testimonies stemming from last week’s Knoxville barfight, and finds a whole bunch of words with very little to go on. The bar in question has a surveillance system that’s mysteriously non-operational. One key witness is already contradicting his own statements. There’s one player listed in the incident report who the university says wasn’t even there that night, and two who are indefinitely suspended despite not having been charged (yet). And everybody’s talking through their lawyers, which doesn’t do anything but muddy the waters.

Let’s not forget that this is largely still all concerned with who threw the first punch, and that the investigation hasn’t even begun to cast light on who assaulted the off-duty police officer as the fight progressed. Like most things with Tennessee football these days, it’s very safe to assume this is going to get much, much worse before it gets better.

At some point in this whole Vawl Brawl rigamarole, just assembling a complete roster of Tennessee players and checking off the ones involved wouldn’t be the worst idea, in the interest of saving time. But I digress: here’s the latest shoe to drop, in which an incident report alleges senior DT Chase Nelson was the one inciting the initial incident that led to the swarm:

Chase Nelson, 22, started a fight with 20-year-old bar patron Gary Russell inside Bar Knoxville, 1820 Cumberland Ave., just before 2 a.m. Friday, Russell alleges in a statement to the Knoxville Police Department.

Now, this is according to a fellow punch-thrower and not cameras or eyewitnesses, so adopt the requisite skeptical stance. But regardless of his level of involvement, the future doesn’t look too rosy for Nelson, who we suspect is now on double secret suspension, since he’s already being held out of all team activities thanks to poor grades.

For more existential Vol despair and teeth-gnashing, visit SBN’s Rocky Top Talk.

The investigation into Tennessee players involved in a bar brawl Friday morning is expected to last “several days” and will lead to additional charges, according to Knoxville Police Department spokesman Darrell DeBusk.

As always, keep an eye on Rocky Top Talk for all developments.

At this point in the wake of the Friday morning bar fight in Knoxville, nearly all the media attention has shifted to the Tennessee Volunteers targeted in the investigation, and also new coach Vince Dooley’s response to the incident. There are also questions about whether the players’ “VIP” status with the bar was a violation of NCAA rules.

It’s worth remembering, though, that this isn’t just about responses to immature behavior; there is an actual victim in this case, and according to GoVolsXtra.com, he’s still in serious condition after the attack:

The hammer has already fallen at Tennessee for some of the players apparently involved in a bar brawl that ended only after an off-duty police officer was injured and barstools were swung. Head coach Derek Dooley dismissed Darren Myles from the team and handed Marlon Walls and Greg King the dreaded “indefinite” suspension.

Dooley:

The first charges have been filed in the Tennessee Vols football brawl, and it is not good news for Tennessee. The most heralded recruit of Tennessee’s 2010 class and, WR Da’Rick Rogers, has been charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. Sophomore safety Darren Myles’s situation is far worse: he faces charges of assaulting a UT police officer, as well as evading arrest and resisting arrest.

Rogers could conceivably make it back onto the team, but as a repeat offender Myles likely will not.

The Curse of Phil Fulmer lives! Somewhere between “seven to 10” Tennessee football players were involved in a massive barfight at Bar Knoxville in Knoxville, Tennesee on Friday morning, according to the Chattanooga Times Free Press’s Wes Rucker. The fight began with one patron getting into with a group of men, and then spilled into the street where an off-duty police officer was swept into the melee and knocked unconscious. The single patron attacked by the group of men identified by the bar owner as Tennessee football players ended up at UT Medical Center that night. That there were not more casualties is miraculous, since early descriptions of the barfight sound like something from a bouncer’s worst case scenario manual:

Only one Tennessee player has been identified as a participant: freshman WR Da’Rick Rogers, who has been charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. The other alleged brawlers are all under investigation at this time, and no names have been released.