In its bid to be the best at everything, SEC Football already has a lead on the rest of the country in arrests and other embarrassing actions.
Just this past weekend, four SEC student-athletes have drawn negative attention to their schools—a trend that has become all too popular in college athletics.
Down in Baton Rouge, quarterback/head case Ryan Perriloux has been suspended. Again.
Even though this is Perriloux’s fourth suspension while at LSU, head coach Les Miles has given Perriloux the obligatory “indefinitely suspended for violating team rules” line and says the quarterback’s status for spring practice is “uncertain.” Not surprisingly, the rule broken was unclear.
Perriloux’s act was already old even before the latest suspension. You have to wonder if Les Miles’ free passes are actually hurting the kid rather than helping him.
Meanwhile in Knoxville, Phil Fulmer laid down the hammer on Dustin Colquitt, Tennessee’s punter. After hitting a parked car and then fleeing at approximately 2 AM, Colquitt was arrested on charges of DUI and leaving the scene of an accident.
Fulmer’s response: A five-game suspension, snatching away Colquitt’s scholarship, mandatory alcohol counseling, a public statement berating the 22-year old and his actions, as well as “other internal punishments."
You have to credit and respect Fulmer for dealing with the problem swiftly and severely. Not only is Colquitt an extremely valued member of the team, he is also the fourth member of his family to punt for the Vols.
In Columbia, one of Steve Spurrier’s prized South Carolina receivers, Dion Lecorn, was arrested at an apartment complex and charged with marijuana possession.
Stupidity clearly played a role in Lecorn’s arrest, as the volume of his music was so loud that a police officer came to the apartment to warn Lecorn and his friends to lower the volume. It was then that the officer smelled marijuana, did further investigating and promptly arrested Lecorn.
And finally, Alabama's freshman defensive lineman, Jeremy Elder, was arrested Sunday on charges of first-degree robbery when a police report indicated that two Alabama students were robbed at gunpoint. Elder currently remains in jail on bond.
In the meantime, Alabama coach Nick Saban has not ruled out kicking Elder off the team, but until Saban can gather all of the facts he has “indefinitely suspended [Elder] from all football-related activities.”
Unfortunately, we won’t have to hold our breath long before the boys in Gainesville make some headlines of their own...then Starkville, and Lexington, and Fayetteville, and Auburn.
Comments (15) Add a comment »
from 2 months ago
Nice read Tim. I guess that's the price that comes with glory. You get to the top and then it all gets to your head.
I could not imagine having the God-given talent and ability to play college football, and then being blessed enough to play in the best conference in the nation, getting a free education, and virtually anything you want or need, and then go and throw it all away! I just cannot even begin to imagine that!
from 2 months ago
Yeah, nice story. But, the SEC ain't so bad. Look at Florida State. 50+ players got the boot there!
from 2 months ago
Typical Pac-10 A$$hole sports writer. No Pac-10 player ever does anything wrong! If a player was arrested, no one would care, because you have no fans because your teams suck (all except USC). There was 3 incidents with over 1000 players and you want to crucify the entire conference? Over the entire SEC there was no academic cheating scandal (ACC), paying players who did not work (Big-12) and lets not forget the biggest cheaters of all, Reggie Bush and USC. Why don't you look at your own conference!
from 2 months ago
Anonymous Coward,
Perhaps you read the wrong bio or something.
from 2 months ago
Interesting take on Fulmer from The Knoxville News Sentinel:
http://www.scrippsnews.com/node/30810
from 2 months ago
I disagree with the article as well, but it takes some guts for the hometown beat writer to put those words in print. I'm not quite sure what he was thinking.
As for the "real issue," it would take a thousand page novel to cover all of the ridiculous stories occurring across the nation. There just so happened to be 4 situations at SEC powerhouses--and all in the span of 48 hours, so I thought I would point them out.
from 2 months ago
A few years back, before women's athletics got more popular, it was all the rage among the sporting press to talk about the noble ladies in sports. How morally superior to the men, no contract holdouts, no off field scandals, no steroids, yada, yada, yada. Then, as women's sports expanded, came contract holdouts, off field scandals, female coaches sexually harrassing their players, and steroids.
These problems are not just in the SEC and not just the men. Because the SEC has such a high profile, it is under a microscope more than any other league. Some of the moralists who praise a coach for kicking players off the team for misconduct will scream for his scalp if a coach has a bunch of Eagle Scouts...and loses
from 2 months ago
The SEC has such a high profile, but they have also had the most crime this off-season. 6 out of the 16 teams with players who have had criminal offenses this off-season have been done by players from SEC schools (UT, Ole Miss, UF, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina). The blog Every Day Should Be Saturday keeps track of these criminal offenses and jokingly assigns points regarding the severity of the crime:
http://www.sportsargumentwiki.com/index.php?title=Fulmer_Cup
Last year? 8 SEC schools had multiple players with criminal offenses that year compared to only 2 conference schools which had no players with criminal offenses in 07.
Yes this stuff happens everywhere, but we aren't talking about women's basketball or anything else. This is college football and over the past couple of years, crime has occurred more often in the SEC than anywhere else (anywhere else meaning...Division I-A. Though I'd imagine there aren't as many criminal offenses in Division III...).
from 2 months ago
I think it's wrong to pick on the SEC as far as incidents off the field - all conferences have these issues - but I think the SEC's are more prominent because of who they are - let's not forget the Big 10 had off the field rape and assault issues with Minnesota and Penn State and who can forget the infamous sex scandal at CU. I agree with the above commentator regarding FSU - they've been leading the charge in criminal behavior since the 80s as they competed with "the U" for Florida's top prisoner in training program.
from 2 months ago
Thanks for the great read.
-Bryan
from 2 months ago
Actually, this is the typical response from SEC fans! How about the concept of 75 years of Sportsmanship, which CBS portrayed across the television airwaves in its national campaign saluting the history of the SEC. The biggest cheaters of all have all come from the SEC and the now defunct southwest conference. But then again, SEC fans only see things one way.
I found this particular article very interesting considering the hype behind the SEC:
www.ncaa-schedule.com
See Part I and Part II regarding the SEC.
from 2 months ago
John Adams isn't afraid to say anything about anyone in Knoxville. A lot of people don't like him around here because he pretty much thinks he knows everything. Though I have to give him credit, he's good at his job.
I'm no Fulmer hater, but this year was the first time I questioned him remaining our coach, but I'm interested in seeing what he does with some new blood in the coaching staff.
Regardless, I find it a little absurd that Colquitt was allowed to stay on the team. I have lots of mutual friends with the guy and know that is not the brightest guy and seems to think he is immune to getting in real trouble (which seems to be the case with lots of these guys). I mean weeks after he kicks Dorian Davis and Antonio Wardlow off the team, he lets Colquitt stay on? Even though he should have been on his last strike, Colquitt (a member of a UT punting family, who more than likely donate a decent amount of money to the university) gets to stay on.
I think it all points to a very crappy trend. If you are a starter, you have a lot more room to get in trouble than a bench player. Coaches try to send messages by disciplining the less important players, and what good does that really do when the starters know it?
from 2 months ago
Perrilloux didnt commit any criminal act..from what we know, he skipped a couple of team meetings(his dad died a week earlier)and WDSU of New Orleans sighted this and the news media and the fans blew it out of proportion. Any player will be suspended for missing a meeting or practice. Im sure Perrilloux will be back and ready to take the quarterback spot this year. You just make it sound like he did something to the extent of all the other players and there you are wrong. Just find all the info next time.
from 2 months ago
I guess we agree to disagree.
from 2 months ago
agreed...maybe you should have one of bama's players pictures up top..12 of their players have gotten into trouble for things over the past few months, perrilloux's issue is mild compared to these guys(even if it was just a dozen misdemeanors and a couple robberies)
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