Vols in massive bar brawl, two cops assaulted

Being a Tennessee alumni, I can say that the state of the Men’s athletic program is a distraction and an embarrassment for their off-the-field actions.  I haven’t seen a program this out of control in years.   Barry Switzer’s Sooners come to mine. Between all the arrests in the last 2 years, and the distracting antics of Lane Kiffin,  it is getting very hard to take this program seriously.

The latest news out of Knoxville is there is serious trouble as up to 10 Tennessee Volunteer football players are being questioned by police after a bar brawl near campus last night. One UT player, 5-star recruit Da’Rick Rogers from Calhoun, Ga., has been charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.

Not only was there a huge fight at a bar, where players allegedly get in free (more on that below), but to make everything worse is the news that an off-duty police officer named Robert Capouellez was found unconscious on the street after being beaten and kicked by a mob of alleged UT players.

Another player being questioned by the police is Darren Myles Jr., a sophomore safety, who was arrested 3 months ago for public intoxication.  He is also only 19-years old.

This horrible incident happened outside of Bar Knoxville, located on “The Strip,” which is a street next to the campus lined with restaurants and businesses.

Photo by J. Miles Cary

Da’Rick Rogers was the No. 9-ranked high school player in the country last year. He picked UT late in the recruiting process after being committed to Georgia for almost a year. According to reports, UT safety Darren Myles, defensive tackle Montori Hughes and receiver Denarius Moore were being questioned by police about the brawl. “Basically, it was a normal Thursday night — Thursday’s our big night,” Morton said. “We had all the UT football players come in. They’re on a first-name basis with my husband (and co-owner), and they get VIP status, which means they pay no cover at the door. We’ve never had a problem with them in the past, but tonight, apparently they had a falling out with another gentleman. I don’t know why. I don’t know what happened, but several of the guys started beating up the other customer. I want to guess there was seven to 10 guys beating up this one gentleman. [via]

Hmmm….VIP treatment?

Hopefully that won’t qualify as meaning the players received extra benefits based on the fact they were college athletes.  The Vols have been tempting the fate of  NCAA sanctions for years and I hope this isn’t as blatant as it sounds. That could be an NCAA violation and the Vols are already in some trouble from last year under one-and-out coach Lane Kiffin.

Several UT players were arrested last year for various trouble as well as recruiting practices including the infamous “Vols Hostesses” that were used to entice potential recruits.

New Vols head coach Derek Dooley, who was out of town during the incident, will have his hands full trying to clean up this mess.

“Employees of the bar intervened and pushed the fight outside onto the sidewalk. Officer Capouellez intervened in an attempt to stop the fight when he was attacked. “According to witnesses, the officer was hit in the head and knocked to the ground. Once on the ground the suspect kicked the officer several times before fleeing the scene. Six individuals were identified as potential suspects. These individuals were located and detained for questioning. It appears several of these individuals may be associated with the University of Tennessee football program.”One of the suspects has been turned over to UTPD, who will file charges after one of their officers was assaulted while attempting to take this individual into custody.[via]

The University of Tennessee sure cannot get a hold on its players.  Last year, 3 football players were arrested for attempted robbery at a gas station, one for underage drinking and public intoxication, one for shoplifting and 4 basketball players were arrested.

The UT Football program has had three coaches in 3 years, a 12-13 record, and various major run-ins with the law.  Tennessee Athletic Director Mike Hamilton is doing a bang up job.

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