TENNESSEE FOOTBALL PLAYERS SEEM NICE

Now this how you build team unity. With a massive bar fight. Hell yeah!

The co-owner of a nightclub near the University of Tennessee campus said “seven to 10” Volunteers football players were involved in a fight at the establishment early Friday.

DeBusk said 18-year-old freshman receiver Da’Rick Rogers from Calhoun, Ga., was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. DeBusk also said a bar patron was sent to a hospital after the fight.

According to the New Sentinel, DeBusk said Knoxville police officer Robert Capouellez was found unconscious on the street outside the bar after the fight around 2 a.m. DeBusk said the officer was not in uniform or on duty, and he was being treated for a head injury. A half-dozen other people were detained.

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.

Bar Knoxville co-owner Sandy Morton told the Times Free Press the fight started inside but spread outside, and it ended with an off-duty police officer knocked unconscious in Cumberland Avenue.

Bar fights happen all the time. It's a part of college as much as initiation and roofies in SEC Country. This whole fight could have been handled internally within the Tennessee football program and the local PD until owner Morton decided to leave this out there for the NCAA to stick their nose into...

“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.

“All they said was these several gentlemen just started beating the tar out of this one,” she said. “There was blood. There was ripped shirts. It took pretty much all my security to get them out.”

In general the NCAA has a hard time with football players accepting VIP status which means they don't pay anything. In short it can be construed as a gift. Now we all know this sort of thing happens all over campuses. Athletes get preferential treatment. No big news there. What doesn't happen is a bunch of football players beating up a person to the point where the victim has to go to the hospital.

New head coach Derek Dooley has his work cut out for him on this incident. He will need to spin it. Luckily he has practiced law before starting his coaching career. His bull shit skills should be outstanding.

I got a new nickname for the Tennessee football program: "ROADHOUSE."