Tennessee officials dealing with number of player arrests
Five players who started at least a game last season were among those arrested.
The most recent brushes with the law involves quarterback Brent Schaeffer and receiver Bret Smith, who were arrested and charged Sunday with misdemeanor assault. Two more players, redshirt freshmen Robert Ayers and Jerod Mayo, were arrested Tuesday on charges stemming from an incident last month.
Schaeffer and Smith were suspended from the team.
“We’ve got some great, great young people on this team and some that have acted pretty immaturely in this chain of events we’ve had recently,” coach Phillip Fulmer said Tuesday.
Athletic director Mike Hamilton wants to know if the staff needs to make changes in warning and disciplining players. He and Fulmer have talked to players about staying out of trouble.
“So where is that message not hitting home?” Hamilton said. “Is this a freak run of instances or is it a trend? Because the reality is it has an impact on the impression of your program not only locally but nationally. That’s concerning.”
The athletic department also may be fighting social issues to get rid of the problem.
“I think sometimes in today’s society the impression is that the way to be a man is to stand you for yourself,” Hamilton said. “But sometimes the way to be a man is to walk away.”
Researchers at the Center for the Study of Sport in Society at Northeastern University believe violence and aggression is a problem among college men, not just athletes. Players often become targets in social settings, said Jeff O’Brien, the center’s program director.
“When these guys walk into a party or a club there’s immediately a spotlight on them. Sometimes it’s good and they like it, but other times other men don’t like it and go over and try them,” O’Brien said. “There’s a lot of that stuff that goes on at all campuses among men. But when there’s athletes involved, it becomes a story.”
Ayers and Mayo were charged with aggravated assault for allegedly being involved in fights that broke out between football players and fraternity members at a party on campus.
Schaeffer and Smith were charged with misdemeanor assault after an incident early Sunday in a campus dorm. Police said some of Schaeffer’s actions were caught on tape by a video camera in the dorm lobby.
Schaeffer allegedly picked up another student from behind and threw him on the ground, causing a cut in his head that required four staples to close. Smith allegedly hit Emerson while he was down, but the video tape does not show it, police said.
Schaeffer started the first three games of last season as a freshman, but he missed the last half of the year with a broken collarbone.
The incident was the fourth time a football player was linked to a fight since December.
Defensive tackle Tony McDaniel was scheduled to be in court Wednesday for a hearing and remains suspended from the team after he was charged in January with aggravated assault, a felony. McDaniel was accused of punching another student in the face during a basketball game on campus.
Reserve linebacker Daniel Brooks has been accused of being involved in two fights, in December and March. No charges have been filed, and he has remained on the team.
In other cases, tight end Chris Brown was cited for shoplifting and suspended one game, and tight end Victor McClure was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest last summer and then suspended from the team after a domestic dispute with his girlfriend that drew no charges.
Defensive backs Brandon Johnson and Chris Heath were dismissed from the team after they were arrested on gun-related charges in October. Receiver James Banks was cited in July for underage drinking and a violation of the city’s noise ordinance. Those charges were dropped, but Banks was kicked off the team after he failed a drug test.
Last spring, punter Britton Colquitt was suspended for several alcohol-related incidents.