The number of Georgia football players and personnel involved in driving-related offenses has risen to 32 since the 2023 offseason, and most recently with two more players taken off the road.
Wide receiver Nitro Tuggle was clocked at 107 mph and offensive lineman Marques Easley was booked after crashing his car into someone’s front yard. Both were suspended indefinitely.
But they illustrate the latest in a long and disturbing trend at Georgia, and one that head coach Kirby Smart says his program has intervened constantly to put a stop to.
“It’s been several years in terms of defensive driving courses, having players ride and learn how to drive, just like my two kids did with a driver’s license,” Smart said, via the Athens Banner-Herald.
Smart said Georgia spoke to players about driving 162 times last summer, hosted police officers to speak directly with the team, and even withheld NIL payments through the football program’s collective in addition to suspensions.
“We’ll continue to look at these on a case-by-case basis,” Smart said.
“There’s things that surround each one of these outside of just the immediate reaction is, ‘How in the world can this happen again?’ And I get that, but each one is a case-by-case basis.
“You have to look at it, as these are your children. That’s the way I look at it… They make mistakes. The consequences that come with those are based on a case-by-case basis. That’s really what these two right now are doing.”
Smart said Georgia athletic director Josh Brooks has been involved, going as far as meeting with every player.
“We’ve had several speakers come in and we’re not going to stop at that,” he said.
“It’s very unfortunate that one of those young men got his driver’s license within one month of that happening at 18 or 19 years old. It’s amazing how many kids come to school now without a driver’s license.
“It’s no excuse, but it’s one of those things that we’ll continue to educate and discipline our guys and try to correct it.”
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