AJC: "very important member of the Georgia football team" arrested (their #2 scorer)

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

"another very important member of the Georgia football team...Marshall Morgan, Georgia’s starting place-kicker, was arrested this past weekend for boating under the influence (BUI) on Lake Sinclair...A DUI arrest mandates a suspension from 20 percent of competition dates, according to UGA’s student-athlete handbook, but it’s unclear if a BUI will meted out the same way."

UGA Athletics Director Greg McGarity said “BUI” is not addressed in the student-athlete handbook and he is not sure what guidelines might apply. He said the case would be reviewed by the “comprehensive action committee,” a panel of senior administrators, which would make a disciplinary recommendation to him and Richt.

Morgan was processed at Putnam County Sheriff’s Office on June 29 and charged with operating a watercraft under the influence of alcohol and towing a skier without an observer onboard, Putnam County Chief Deputy Russell Blenk said. Morgan reportedly was observed by Department of Natural Resources officers monitoring lake activity from a helicopter. He was released on property bonds of $1,556 and $168, police said.

Morgan started all 14 games for the Bulldogs last season. His 87 points were second only to tailback Todd Gurley (108) in scoring.

(As a Four-time All-State recruit out of Miami/Fort Lauderdale, Morgan had offers to Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Virginia Tech, etc... Scout.com wrote: "Marshall is a big time prospect. Perhaps the strongest leg in the nation. Has the ability to do all 3 (FG, KO, and Punt). A great athlete with huge potential"... he kicked a 59 yard FG in high school, and last year his longest FGs made for Georgia were 52 and 50 yards)


#13 Marshall Morgan


Lake Sinclair, central Georgia


a Georgia Department of Natural Resources officer (Cpl. Shawn Elmore earned the title of 2012 Georgia Boating Officer of the Year for his outstanding performance as a boating safety officer for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources)


a helicopter used by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources

 

Damn, you sure are thorough.

 

Perhaps 2 game suspension. Georgia is a major oddity with all the off season trouble they find themselves in, every single year. You would think opening the season with their two biggest opponents on schedule, Clemson and South Carolina, would help them to have their brains trained on other thangs. Not for a Mark Richt lead team.

 

Not justifying it or excusing it, but boating under the influence is a bit different expectation in my mind. He wasn't busted partying at 2 a.m. and got in a fight, or was drug dealing, or other things that would be clearly breaking team rules. Do you expect every athlete on every team to just sit around for fear of getting caught doing something or letting down their team? Can't expect a dude to not go boating. Could have had better judgement to not drive the boat if he had been drinking, but jeez, how many people do that? Definitely, it is better recognized to not drive a boat while drinking, and I personally do not, but it's still not as egregious in my mind as some of the other things that some of these athletes get busted for.

 

Boating while drunk is likely a lot more lethal than drug dealing, fighting, or partying to 2am, regardless of how acceptable it is to a lot of people

 

Well, that may be true, but I was really responding to Tusk's post about every player on the team being focused on Clemson and SC to start the year. Really? In July, a player is expected to not go boating b/c of games in SEPT? I'm on the boat hanging out w/friends, etc, and drink a few. I should not drive the boat for fear of an accident/lethal event, yes, but not b/c I'm playing Clemson and SC in Sept. That's my point. The whole world doesn't revolve around football 24-7-365.

 

Baloney. Some players may be motivated for the sake of TEAM, rather than selfishly making a stupid decision about ME. I would agree that Richt hasn't dented the collective conscience when it comes to getting that message across. Thus the criticism, again. Everyday, you make yourself accountable. That has been the glaring problem in athens for years. It's the drunk that makes himself the exception to the rule, that gets behind the wheel and does something incredibly stupid. The morgue is full of one and done.

 

Okay, drama boy, you keep expecting 85 players aged 18-22 to "Everyday, you make yourself accountable." That's not realistic. It should be the message coaches say to their team, but it is not realistic. Newsflash, Bama has plenty of players making bad decisions. This guy happened to get caught after he got carried a way a bit on an afternoon boating. Again, that seems less problematic, or more understandable, to me than some of these players who get busted for multiple failed drug tests, being out after curfew (an actual team rule, as opposed to boating one afternoon) and getting into a fight, breaking into homes and stealing, etc, that I read about on multiple other teams.

I want to be clear, I am not condoning drinking and driving, whether in a boat or a car. Now that Bama has been successful, you are on a high horse and try to judge other teams/coaches. Of particular target for you and Terry, has been UGA and Richt. You, in particular, are very judgmental about other teams, players, and issues, but are noticeably absent of opinion, or make justifications when something related to Bama/Saban happen. I am sure your life has been full of perfect decisions and gold standard behavior. I will not get in a back and forth with you after this post. You are not worth my time.

 

Sounds like you are not up for too much rebuttal? I always enjoy are brief time together. What it should be, is when trouble presents itself and it will, as you suggested, It should be the exception to the rule, as a program. At Georgia it's a boating incident, behind a drug incident, behind a DUI incident, behind a concealed weapons incident, behind a .................etc. The Georgia nation has grown so accustom to the early and mid summer dilemmas, that they have concluded the Georgia State and local police are out to ruin the football program. That conspiracy would be easier to swallow, if not for the fact that these players are getting in trouble with the law from Florida and Alabama and Georgia as well as were ever they happen to be spending the summer. Spurrier, who has had plenty of discipline problems of his own, feels at ease enough to badger Richt on the SEC moving Georgia off the first game of the year. Stevie's argument, they could always count on some of Georgia's best players not being available. Notice a pattern yet?