College Football Criminal Count: 15 Programs with Offseason Legal Trouble

While certain college football programs will spend this offseason scheming ways to score more points, others will be tied up on the phone with their lawyers scheming for ways to stay out of the pokey.

Yes, if we’ve learned anything at all in the last couple of seasons of college football, we’re pretty darn sure that anything could happen anywhere in terms of NCAA sanctions and actual criminal offenses.

The following slideshow pinpoints 15 programs that are facing some degree of legal trouble during the current offseason.

While the nature of the allegations and who they involve are as varied as the teams themselves, the common thread that ties them all together is the fact that each program will have some level of messiness to deal with that could cost valuable on-field focus.

Wisconsin

Wisconsin is still dealing with the case of now former assistant AD John Chadima, who was accused of sexually assaulting a male student at a function preceding the 2012 Rose Bowl.

 

Miami (Fla.)

Though the Hurricanes hauled in the No. 9 nationally ranked recruiting class in February (per Rivals.com), a black cloud will remain over Miami until the NCAA hands down sanctions resulting from booster Nevin Shapiro’s blistering allegations.

While the Hurricanes might not technically be in trouble with the law, the NCAA legal system may come down harder on Miami than any program in recent memory.

Boston College

The most recent criminal complaint bomb shell in college football comes via Boston College, where junior DT Jaryd Rudolph has been accused of videoing another player having sex with a female graduate student.

Texas Tech

The Red Raiders already would have been eligible for our list with Tommy Tuberville’s name appearing in a February dated fraud lawsuit, but now there’s more reason for Tech to be facing legal woes.

Approximately two weeks ago, sophomore TE Jace Amaro and sophomore RB Kenny Williams were arrested for apparently using a credit card that wasn’t theirs at a Lubbock restaurant.

NC State

NC State’s only experienced linebacker coming into 2012, D.J. Green was suspended by the NCAA in late February for failing a drug test.

Green alleges that he was using a weight gaining supplement that he was not aware was illegal.

Missouri

Missouri’s second string QB Ashton Glaser was recently arrested for an unpaid speeding ticket, but what’s more interesting is how the cops found him.

According to an article on CBSsports.com, Glaser knocked on the door of a female neighbor early one morning only to be punched in the face by a male assailant.

Onlookers called the Columbia police who wound up booking Glaser due to the outstanding warrants for his arrest related to the unpaid tickets.

Arizona

In another altercation involving punching, four Arizona football players were arrested in early March following a fight at an off-campus home.

The four athletes in question were all sophomores and include CB Jourdon Grandon, OT Fabbians Ebbele, OL Eric Bender and S Jared Tevis.

The storyline of this brawl is made considerably more juicy by allegations that women were the targets of some of the hitting.

 

Iowa State

The Ames P.D. was called early one Saturday morning to deal with a passed out individual in a hallway at an off-campus residential complex.

The individual in question turned out to be Cyclone TE Pierce Richardson who, when finally stirred, further exasperated the situation when by physically resisting arrest resulting in his being tased.

Arkansas

The Razorbacks legal woes sprang up just recently when OT Jason Peacock was arrested for felony property theft.

Peacock, who has been suspended indefinitely from the team, allegedly stole a wallet from another student’s handbag while on campus.

Northern Illinois

In one of the more bizarre and surreal incidents from the 2011 season, NIU LB Jamal Bass has recently been indicted on charges surrounding his allegedly intentional assault on a Toledo band member.

Bass was indicted on both a felonious assault charge and a misdemeanor assault charge.

 

Penn State

Realistically, it could be quite some time before Penn State’s name is out of the woods from a legal standpoint.

Successfully unraveling the Jerry Sandusky case and the institution’s direct involvement will take time and diligence, and in the meantime we’ll be duly updated and reminded of arguably the biggest scandal in modern college football.

UCF

UCF is yet another program embroiled in a legal mess due to a player allegedly assaulting another individual, only this time the athlete punched a police offer.

UCF receiver J.J. Worton apparently resisted arrest while being forcibly removed from a St. Patty’s day celebration at a off-campus bar.

This is another peachy tale that involves Worton actually hiding under a car from the arresting officer and then punching him in the face.

 

Georgia

The Bulldogs currently are dealing with a pair of 2012 starters who have legal issues on the burner.

First, DB Sanders Commings was arrested for domestic violence (he’s suspended for the first two games of next season), and then CB Braden Smith was recently booked on a misdemeanor marijuana possession charge.

TCU

In a well-publicized case, four TCU players were arrested on Feb. 15 on charges of distributing illegal substances when they sold marijuana to undercover police officers.

The instance led to reports that upwards of 75-plus TCU players had failed drug tests, a number that eventually was whittled down to a mere five.

 

Virginia Tech

In another St. Patrick’s Day arrest, Hokies LB Telvion Clark was arrested in Blacksburg for “public swearing and intoxication.”

Clark was released the next day and has since been dismissed from the Virginia Tech football team.