There’s no truth to the rumor that CSI Knoxville will debut next fall, but the recent escapades of Tennessee’s football team would certainly give a network more than enough episodes for a full season.
The latest embarrassing chapter took place over the weekend as punter Britton Colquitt was charged with DUI and fleeing the scene of an accident after hitting a parked car and a tree stump following the consumption of several alcoholic beverages.
Volunteers coach Phillip Fulmer reacted with what seems like a harsh punishment, suspending Colquitt from the team’s first five games in 2008 and stripping the rising senior of his scholarship.
However, it doesn’t seem that tough when one realizes that it’s the fifth alcohol-related incident in as many years for Colquitt. It also makes Fulmer look worse when one realizes he dismissed RB LaMarcus Coker in November after Coker’s fourth drug incident.
So clearly the precedent is set: Four drug incidents and you’re out, but five alcohol incidents and you’re still allowed to play. Doesn’t make sense ... until you remember Colquitt’s family, which has produced four good punters for the program in the last 30 years, recently donated $100,000 to the program.
If you’re keeping score (and if you are, you probably have writer’s cramp by now), this is nine players who have either been arrested or disciplined for off-field misconduct in a 38-day span. It’s obvious from this corner that the apologists have no rational defense.
“What about the quarterback at LSU?,” they might ask. Sure, Ryan Perriloux has drawn an indefinite suspension from coach Les Miles, but I’m pretty sure LSU hasn’t had nine guys get into trouble in 38 days, unlike its SEC championship game opponent.
“It happens everywhere else,” they might say. True, but not to this extent. Not with the old “Thug U,” Miami, not even with the Cincinnati Bengals, who modeled handcuffs at a dizzying clip for a while.
Simply put, Tennessee’s football program never seems to run out of ways to embarrass itself off the field. In a period where it could have basked in the glow of a good bowl win over Wisconsin, the Vols have become a punch line for every SEC opponent’s fans.
Knoxville News-Sentinel columnist John Adams suggested today that it’s time for a change at the top—i.e., Fulmer. This much is certain: Whatever footing Fulmer gained by UT’s surprising run to the SEC title game last year has now been lost.
Cheer up, Vol fans. At least you have the nation’s No. 2 men’s basketball team. And at least nine of their players haven’t had off-court issues in 38 days.