'Things need to change': Georgia football players address offseason high-speed incidents
NASHVILLE — Even if it may seem like Kirby Smart’s message hasn’t gotten through to Georgia football players this offseason about minimizing speeding incidents, the Bulldogs coach has consistently drummed home to players about the risky behavior, one team leader said.
“The message has been the same about speeding,” cornerback Kamari Lassiter said Tuesday at SEC Media Days. “We’re aware of our actions and things need to change.”
Georgia has had 13 players run afoul of the law for speeding or racing/reckless driving since Jan. 15, the day offensive lineman Devin Willock and recruiting staffer Chandler LeCroy were killed after LeCroy raced defensive lineman Jalen Carter following a national championship celebration.
“We definitely have made some mistakes and we definitely own them,” center Sedrick Van Pran Granger said. “We’ve been pushing guys, all of us really, to make sure we’re cautious because how we’re affecting the university.”
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There are 10 known incidents of speeding, including six for going at least 30 miles per hour over the speed limit since Jan. 15.
Wide receiver DeNylon Morrissette was pulled over by police in three different counties. That includes by the Georgia State Patrol for going 91 in a 55 on May 2 in Walton County.
Six days later, Morrissette was again driving a 2019 Dodge Charger when he was arrested in Oconee County for DUI drugs, driving too fast for condition and following two closely after he hit another vehicle from behind. Morrissette was pulled over in Athens-Clarke County on Feb. 23 for going 81 in a 45.
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Running back Kendall Milton, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, was pulled over for going 79 in a 65 by Georgia State Patrol on March 25.
“We're going to do all we can to take that out and make sure that's eradicated,” Smart said Tuesday. “But I'm also smart enough to understand and know that 18- to 20-year olds is when this happens. It's when it happened to me as a student-athlete. That's when speeding happens. What we want to do is take that out and make it safe and not have high speeds. As long as they don't get a speeding ticket, it should not be a super speeder.”
Lassiter was asked if there are repercussions for speeding that would put a scare in guys.
“That’s not really up to me,” he said. “That’s more a coach’s decision.”
Smart told ESPN that players ticketed for superspeeding will lose Alston money, which is $5,980 in an academic year.
“We don’t want to embarrass the university,” Van Pran Granger said, “and we want to have respect and show love for the people who really support us.”
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: What UGA football players, Kirby Smart said about speeding incidents
