![]() The increase generally coincides with the emergence of name, image and likeness deals between players and sponsors. In 2019, Georgia players who received speeding citations drove an average of 54 mph. It happens here.” (Hyosub Shin / speeds have risen sharply in recent years, an analysis by the Journal-Constitution shows. “Do kids make mistakes? Yes, young student-athletes make mistakes. “We’ve got complete control of our program and our kids in our program,” Smart said. Georgia head football coach Kirby Smart addressed a fatal car crash for the first time during a press conference at the start of spring practice on March 14, 2023, in Athens. Specific penalties, however, are confidential, the statement said. Those measures may include suspensions from competition, community service, mental health treatment and, since February, meetings with Josh Brooks, Georgia’s athletic director, “to assess and address the high-risk behavior.” “The recent incidents of reckless driving are completely unacceptable, and the University of Georgia Athletic Association is addressing this conduct with appropriate action, including a range of disciplinary measures,” the statement said. In a statement, the school’s athletic association said it is placing “increased emphasis on motor vehicle safety, responsibility and accountability” for its athletes. ![]() Three players broke the 100 mph mark - one on a street where the speed limit is 35. They exceeded the limit by more than 30 mph in at least 14 of these instances and by 40 mph or more at least seven times. Many violations were minor: not wearing a seatbelt or using a hand-held mobile device while driving, for example.īut at least 60 times, players were caught driving 20 mph or more over the speed limit. But he is hardly the only player who has faced legal troubles, the Journal-Constitution found through an examination of hundreds of court cases, police reports, videos from police officers’ body-worn cameras and emails between the school’s athletics department and court officials.ĭuring Smart’s time as the head coach, when about 350 athletes comprised his rosters, the police have charged Georgia players with traffic offenses nearly 300 times. He paid a $1,013 fine and is serving 12 months’ probation.Ĭarter’s arrest brought unwanted attention nationally to a Georgia football program at the pinnacle of its sport. The team’s star defensive player, Jalen Carter, later pleaded no contest to reckless driving and racing charges in connection with the crash. 15 that followed celebrations of Georgia’s second consecutive national championship. The football program’s tolerance for risky behavior was laid bare by a tragedy that rocked the team and the university alike: a fatal high-speed car crash on Jan. “Well, the players know what the punishment is.” “Everybody wants to know what the punishment is,” Smart said after a recent string of arrests. Otherwise, he routinely declines to disclose disciplinary actions after players break team rules or the law. In one instance, in 2019, he ordered six players who had been arrested over the previous six weeks to run the steps of Sanford Stadium in front of a select audience of donors to Georgia’s athletics department. Suspensions are unusual, dismissals from the team even rarer.Įxactly how Smart punishes players is unclear. They’ve been charged with domestic violence and sexual assault.īut Smart almost always lets athletes continue playing despite their off-field transgressions. Players have illegally brought weapons onto Georgia’s campus. Since Kirby Smart became Georgia’s head coach in late 2015, dozens of players have engaged in reckless, often lawless behavior that put them and others in jeopardy: excessive speeding, street racing and driving under the influence, among other offenses. The episode illustrates a permissive culture that undergirds the nation’s premier college football program, an investigation by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution found. ![]() His value to the team outweighed the gravity of his offenses. McIntosh, a running back, played in all 15 of Georgia’s games last season, amassing more than 1,300 yards of offense, including 126 in a national semifinal game against Ohio State. A judge later fined him $685.Īny penalty imposed by McIntosh’s coaches apparently was far less severe. The police arrested McIntosh on charges that included reckless driving - his third traffic offense in less than six months. Two miles south of the University of Georgia, where McIntosh played on the national-champion football team, his high-performance Dodge Charger struck an Uber driver’s Kia compact SUV with such force that it ripped wheels off both vehicles. McIntosh’s speed, an officer noted, posed “an immediate threat to public safety.” To the Athens police, though, it was too fast. No one knows for certain how fast Kenny McIntosh drove through a residential neighborhood one Sunday morning last year.
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