Ultra Peanut
02-18-2008, 03:22 AM
Colquitt suspended for 5 games and loses scholarship after DUI charge
Knoxville News Sentinel staff
Originally published 03:56 p.m., February 17, 2008
Updated 09:12 p.m., February 17, 2008
Tennessee junior All-SEC punter Britton Colquitt will be suspended the Vols' first five games this season and will lose his scholarship following an arrest early Sunday morning on charges of DUI and leaving the scene of an accident.
"I'm very disappointed that Britton doesn't appreciate the blessings he has been given from his family and his team," UT coach Phillip Fulmer said in a statement released Sunday night. "Along with the five-game suspension, I am taking his scholarship away and he will be required to undergo alcohol counseling as well as other internal punishments."
Fulmer previously suspended Colquitt in March of 2004, following the former Bearden High School standout's fourth alcohol-related incident since arriving on campus in 2003.
His latest arrest came shortly around 3 a.m. Sunday, when according to the Knox County Judicial Commissioner's Office, the 22-year-old Colquitt hit a parked car on Jackson Avenue near Humes Street, a few blocks east of the Old City.
He then fled the scene in his 1998 Jeep Cherokee, and Knoxville police stopped Colquitt about a mile away on Gill Avenue near Gratz Street.
According to police records, Colquitt admitted to have two beers, three mixed drinks and hitting the parked Ford Focus as well as a tree stump.
Police said Colquitt had a "strong order of alcohol," bloodshot eyes, slurred speech and staggered when he walked.
He performed poorly on a field sobriety test and refused a chemical test, which could be either a blood or breathalyzer test, according to the Judicial Commissioner's Office.
He was released from the Knox County Detention Center on bond at 9 a.m. this morning, and his initial hearing is set for 10 a.m. on March 5.
According to police records, damage from the accident exceeded $400.
Fulmer could not be reached for additional comment.
Sunday's arrest is the fifth alcohol-related incident involving Colquitt, whose older brother Dustin was an All-American punter and father Craig was an All-SEC punter at Tennessee.
In 2003, UT police charged Britton Colquitt three times in 12 days on alcohol-related charges, including DUI and underage consumption.
His first DUI charge was dismissed by a Knox County General Sessions Court judge in August 2004.
Colquitt is the sixth UT football player charged by police since Jan. 11 and the second to be hit with a DUI charge in a little over two weeks.
On Feb. 2, 27-year-old walk-on defensive back and former professional baseball player Vince Faison was charged with DUI after UT police found him passed out behind the wheel of his truck in the parking lot of a restaurant on Cumberland Avenue.
Fulmer also dismissed two players, sophomores Antonio Wardlow and Dorian Davis, last week for an unspecified violation of team rules.
Another player was also punished by Fulmer, although not charged by police, for his role in an incident in which two teammates were charged with possession of marijuana.
In all, Fulmer has disciplined nine players in a little more than a month.
More details online as the develop and in tomorrow's News Sentinel.
Darren Dunlap contributed to this report.
Knoxville News Sentinel staff
Originally published 03:56 p.m., February 17, 2008
Updated 09:12 p.m., February 17, 2008
Tennessee junior All-SEC punter Britton Colquitt will be suspended the Vols' first five games this season and will lose his scholarship following an arrest early Sunday morning on charges of DUI and leaving the scene of an accident.
"I'm very disappointed that Britton doesn't appreciate the blessings he has been given from his family and his team," UT coach Phillip Fulmer said in a statement released Sunday night. "Along with the five-game suspension, I am taking his scholarship away and he will be required to undergo alcohol counseling as well as other internal punishments."
Fulmer previously suspended Colquitt in March of 2004, following the former Bearden High School standout's fourth alcohol-related incident since arriving on campus in 2003.
His latest arrest came shortly around 3 a.m. Sunday, when according to the Knox County Judicial Commissioner's Office, the 22-year-old Colquitt hit a parked car on Jackson Avenue near Humes Street, a few blocks east of the Old City.
He then fled the scene in his 1998 Jeep Cherokee, and Knoxville police stopped Colquitt about a mile away on Gill Avenue near Gratz Street.
According to police records, Colquitt admitted to have two beers, three mixed drinks and hitting the parked Ford Focus as well as a tree stump.
Police said Colquitt had a "strong order of alcohol," bloodshot eyes, slurred speech and staggered when he walked.
He performed poorly on a field sobriety test and refused a chemical test, which could be either a blood or breathalyzer test, according to the Judicial Commissioner's Office.
He was released from the Knox County Detention Center on bond at 9 a.m. this morning, and his initial hearing is set for 10 a.m. on March 5.
According to police records, damage from the accident exceeded $400.
Fulmer could not be reached for additional comment.
Sunday's arrest is the fifth alcohol-related incident involving Colquitt, whose older brother Dustin was an All-American punter and father Craig was an All-SEC punter at Tennessee.
In 2003, UT police charged Britton Colquitt three times in 12 days on alcohol-related charges, including DUI and underage consumption.
His first DUI charge was dismissed by a Knox County General Sessions Court judge in August 2004.
Colquitt is the sixth UT football player charged by police since Jan. 11 and the second to be hit with a DUI charge in a little over two weeks.
On Feb. 2, 27-year-old walk-on defensive back and former professional baseball player Vince Faison was charged with DUI after UT police found him passed out behind the wheel of his truck in the parking lot of a restaurant on Cumberland Avenue.
Fulmer also dismissed two players, sophomores Antonio Wardlow and Dorian Davis, last week for an unspecified violation of team rules.
Another player was also punished by Fulmer, although not charged by police, for his role in an incident in which two teammates were charged with possession of marijuana.
In all, Fulmer has disciplined nine players in a little more than a month.
More details online as the develop and in tomorrow's News Sentinel.
Darren Dunlap contributed to this report.