A.C. Leonard Arrested: Florida Gators TE Detained for Domestic Battery

The Florida Gators are the latest college football team to be hit with unfortunate offseason news about a player being arrested. 

UPDATE: Friday, Feb. 17 at 10:00 a.m. EDT

Following his arrest on Thursday, Florida head coach Will Muschamp has suspended A.C. Leonard from all team activities, according to Chris Low of ESPN, 

In a statement, Muschamp said: "This behavior will not will be tolerated and A.C. has been suspended from team activities at this time. I certainly don't condone this type of behavior -- it is not what we expect from the University of Florida football program." 

According to The Gainesville Sun, freshman tight end A.C. Leonard was arrested Wednesday and charged with simple domestic battery. 

What started as a verbal dispute with a woman he lives with led to a physical altercation and Leonard's arrest. 

Leonard recorded eight catches for 99 yards in nine games last season. He is the 10th Florida Gator to be arrested since Will Muschamp took over as head coach. 

That is certainly an alarming statistic, and proof that Muschamp needs to be more disciplined. He'll have to make an example out of Leonard so that no other Gator acts out of line in the offseason. 

The Gators did pick up some solid tight ends in their 2012 recruiting class, so if Leonard is lost for an extended period of time the team will be all right. 

However, the fact that Leonard's arrest makes it a double-digit total for players booked by law during Muschamp's short tenure is extremely disheartening. 

Of those players arrested, three aren't with the team anymore and only one was given a suspension. If Muschamp is smart, he, his staff and the athletic department will suspend Leonard to strike fear in the rest of the roster.

On Wednesday, Florida's biggest rival, the Georgia Bulldogs, announced that cornerback Sanders Commings would be suspended for two games after being arrested for domestic violence/simple battery.  

Leonard should suffer the same fate since charged with the same thing, or else things will look pretty shady down in Gainesville.

Of course, no two cases are ever the same, so the school will definitely be investigating the situation to figure out the proper punishment.

Muschamp better hope no other player gets arrested this offseason because it will put further damage not only on his image but also for Florida.