The Georgia football team has done a lot of good on the football field in recent years, but they have had some issues off 0f the field. There have been 24 Bulldogs that have had issues with driving related incidents such as speeding, DUIs and reckless driving. It has been a big issue for Georgia, and people are wondering why this continues to happen. Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart discussed the matter on Tuesday at SEC media days.
“Please understand this,” Kirby Smart said, according to a tweet from Chris Low. “I'm defending the program, but I'm not defensive. I don't want to seem defensive. But I am going to stand up for my program because we have good kids in our locker room. We've got to do a better job.”
Smart it clear that the Georgia football program does not condone what has happened, and that he is disappointed by what he has seen from some of his players.
“The incidents that have been happening off the field are not something we condone,” Smart added, according to an article from ABC. “It’s very unfortunate, disappointing, I guess is the best word.”
While specific punishments were not mentioned, Smart did note that his players face disciplinary measures, and there have been suspensions issued before.
“We don’t talk about the suspensions; we have them,” Smart said. “I think it’s pretty obvious that we’ve done them in the past. You guys know when we do them, but each of those cases are very different, and they’ll be handled in different ways.”
People are questioning if the players are being disciplined enough
Now that there have been 24 Georgia football players involved with driving related incidents, people are wondering what the discipline for them could be and why it isn't working. A lot of people are questioning Kirby Smart, but he insisted that that his players are paying the price.
“But if people go say, ‘Well, it falls on deaf ears, you got to have discipline, you’ve got to discipline someone,’” Smart said. “Well, we have, and we will continue to do so. If the actions require that, we’ll do what’s necessary to do that. But I do think the effective way in curtailing some things is when you go to their wallet and you fine them because these fines have been substantial, and it’ll make you think twice about the mistakes you make.”
The most recent incident came last week when linebacker Smael Mondon (pictured above) and offensive tackle Bo Hughley were both arrested for reckless driving. The players were arrested on separate days, and Mondon was reportedly racing in the streets. The most notable Georgia driving incident also involved racing, and a player and recruiting staffer were both killed in that incident.
Who knows why this is such a big issue with the Georgia football team, but it is clear that something needs to be done about it. We'll see if Smart and his staff start to come up with harsher punishments, but hopefully nothing like this happens again in the future.
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