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Earlier this month, a report by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution claimed numerous Georgia Bulldogs players had been engaging in “reckless, often lawless behavior that put them and others in jeopardy” and receiving little to no punishment from head coach Kirby Smart.
The offenses included excessive speeding, street racing, driving under the influence, bar fights, and illegally bringing weapons onto Georgia’s campus.
Players have also been charged with domestic violence and sexual assault.
On Tuesday, the Atlanta Journal Constitution made even more disturbing allegations about the Georgia Bulldogs football program.
The tone of the report is set right from the first sentence.
In a single weekend, a 16-year-old University of Georgia football recruit broke curfew, drank with potential teammates in an Athens bar and ended up in a police station, under investigation for sexual assault.
Georgia signed him, anyway.
“In case after case, the newspaper found, strong on-field performance appears to excuse bad off-field behavior,” reporter Alan Judd writes.
“When a top defensive player was jailed on a rape charge, head coach Kirby Smart let eight players go to court to seek their teammate’s release, the player’s lawyer said. This show of solidarity occurred even though the alleged victim worked part time for the football program.
A player charged with recording a sex act with an unconscious woman remained on the roster for a full season until he transferred. Others have stayed with the team while accused of transgressions that ranged from threatening or attacking their girlfriends to sexual assault.”
That 16-year-old Judd mentions is Jamaal Jarrett, a 6-6, 340 pound defensive lineman who committed to the Bulldogs in July of 2022.
Police eventually ended up deciding not to charge Jarrett, a month after he had accepted Georgia’s scholarship offer.
The school told the AJC that it did not rescind Jarrett’s scholarship because he was not charged with any crime. They also claimed to have “been unaware that Jarrett consumed alcohol and broke curfew” so he could still “be subject to penalties.”
Jarrett’s accuser paints a much different picture in the story she told to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“Winning is their only objective,” Jarrett’s accuser said in an interview.
According to the AJC, 11 players have been identified during Kirby Smart’s tenure that have “remained with the team after women reported violent encounters to the police, to the university, or to both. In some instances, particularly those involving domestic violence, the police either filed no charges or prosecutors allowed players to plead guilty to lesser charges.”