{Sigh} Current Dawg, Former Tucker Tiger, In Jail.

[Ben E Lou]

I'm curious as to what y'all think of this situation. It is impossible to separate myself from it all, as I know this kid personally.

Georgia DT gets 45 days in jail

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 05/11/05 Georgia defensive tackle Darrius Swain began serving a 45-day sentence in Athens-Clarke County jail Tuesday for repeated driving infractions, but won't be kept out of any football games this fall, Bulldogs coach Mark Richt said.

The Tucker High product, a rising senior who is expected to start Georgia's Sept. 3 season opener, also must participate in 40 hours of community service.

"Neither Darrius or myself felt that the sentence was unfair," said Ed Tolley, Swain's attorney.

Richt said Swain would be punished internally — extra conditioning is a possibility — but he would not be suspended. Richt has said he does not believe misdemeanor driving arrests warrant restriction of playing time.

Swain has been arrested three times in Athens over the past 16 months for driving violations, twice since the beginning of the year. His most recent arrest came April 30 for following a vehicle too closely and driving with a suspended license.

Swain was jailed for three days in early April after another driving arrest was deemed to violate his probation for a 2003 charge of criminal trespass.

"With the time in confinement, Darrius is paying a heavy price for his license violations," Richt said in a statement. "Hopefully, he has learned an important lesson."

Swain is set to start the season opener against Boise State because All-SEC candidate Kedric Golston must serve a one-game suspension for his role in a bar fight after the April 9 spring scrimmage. Marquis Elmore, Dale Dixson and incoming freshmen Jeffrey Owens and Kade Weston also could be asked to contribute to the thinly stocked defensive interior.

Swain is scheduled to be released the third week of June, giving him roughly six weeks to take part in offseason conditioning drills before training camp begins in early August. His incarceration could be reduced for good behavior, Tolley said.

Once he's out of jail, Swain could move from his off-campus apartment, where he lives with his mother, to housing close to or on campus to limit his need to drive, Tolley said.

"That's something that is being discussed," Tolley said.

Tolley said his client is in a tough spot, although that doesn't excuse his decision to drive without a valid license. Swain has been unable to afford financial requirements to acquire a valid driver's license — such as participating in class for troubled drivers.

Yet, because he lives at least 5 miles off campus — in part because he has to care for a young child — he does need to drive from time to time, Tolley said.

[Noop]

He is learning for Ole Bowden I see...

[Joe]

thats rough. but its good to see no special treatment for athletes.

[Honolulu_Blue]

I find 45 days of jail time pretty stiff for driving misdemeanors, but I have no idea exactly what the facts surrounding each offense were on or what the criminal trespass charge was all about. Still it's harsh. Folks do a lot worse with far less (0) jail time.

[Easy Mac]

wait, his penalty in team is extra conditioning? How is that a bad thing for the team? Hey you, you were in jail, now hit the weights... that will show you... who needs a stronger DT?

[Shkspr]

The information given in the article isn't enough for me to pass judgment on the kid, but I am encouraged that the charges do not appear to have anything to do with violence against another person. Or gosling. If this is the juiciest stuff the AJC could come up with on the case, I'm not that worried for his future at this time.

[Buccaneer]

What about that kid in Chemistry at UGA that had the same convictions?

[Celeval]

Originally Posted by Easy Mac

wait, his penalty in team is extra conditioning? How is that a bad thing for the team? Hey you, you were in jail, now hit the weights... that will show you... who needs a stronger DT?

Wanna bet on the suspension if UGA led off against Louisiana-Monroe instead of Boise State?

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

I find 45 days of jail time pretty stiff for driving misdemeanors, but I have no idea exactly what the facts surrounding each offense were on or what the criminal trespass charge was all about. Still it's harsh. Folks do a lot worse with far less (0) jail time.

The criminal trespass charge was pretty bizarre, and it is hard to make a judgement on it. It is possible that he was trying to steal something; it is also possible that he was just confused as to which apartment was his. Based on what I know about him, my guess is that it was the latter, and that alcohol was involved.

My understanding of the misdemeanors is that he let his insurance lapse. In Georgia, if your insurance lapses for even one day, I think, your license is suspended. (I once had my license suspended, and didn't even know that it was suspended.) He didn't have the money to get it reinstated, and chose to continue driving, thus the second and third offenses. Athens is a small town, and the cops know his vehicle, which is probably why he was pulled for driving too closely.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by Easy Mac

wait, his penalty in team is extra conditioning? How is that a bad thing for the team? Hey you, you were in jail, now hit the weights... that will show you... who needs a stronger DT?

Talked to someone who would know today. The team penalty will in all likelihood be running stadiums. UGA fans are divided pretty evenly on this one. The two camps are:

1. Suspend him, because going to jail for 45 days makes the university look bad.

versus

2. Don't suspend him, because you don't suspend a player for getting punished. You suspend a player for what he did, and you've never suspend a player for a misdemeanor traffic violation.


Richt isn't hesitant to hand out suspensions. There are two likely starters suspended for the Boise St. game.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by SkyDog

The criminal trespass charge was pretty bizarre, and it is hard to make a judgement on it. It is possible that he was trying to steal something; it is also possible that he was just confused as to which apartment was his. Based on what I know about him, my guess is that it was the latter, and that alcohol was involved.

My understanding of the misdemeanors is that he let his insurance lapse. In Georgia, if your insurance lapses for even one day, I think, your license is suspended. (I once had my license suspended, and didn't even know that it was suspended.) He didn't have the money to get it reinstated, and chose to continue driving, thus the second and third offenses. Athens is a small town, and the cops know his vehicle, which is probably why he was pulled for driving too closely.

Yeah. Getting pulled over for "driving too closely" is as bullshit a traffic violation as there is. I reckon 90% of the cars on the road are "driving too closely." It's one of those dozens of traffic laws that are on the books but are never enforced unless the cops are looking for something. Based on what you say, I find 45 days harsh.

[st.cronin]

I would bet most D1 programs have a kid in jail every couple years.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by Shkspr

The information given in the article isn't enough for me to pass judgment on the kid, but I am encouraged that the charges do not appear to have anything to do with violence against another person. Or gosling. If this is the juiciest stuff the AJC could come up with on the case, I'm not that worried for his future at this time.

It is actually at CNN/SI as well: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200....ap/index.html

[Noop]

He learned very well from Bobby Bowden.

[Craptacular]

Originally Posted by st.cronin

I would bet most D1 programs have a kid in jail every couple years.

The local team seems to have a kid in jail every week.

[kcchief19]

I'll admit I'm torn. Sure, it's "nice" to see a story that doesn't involve violence, but then again that many driving violations does show a blatant disregard for public safety.

SkyDog, I don't buy your argument about Athens being a small town and the cops knowing his car. There are 100,000 people who live in Athens; the cops don't know cars in a town that size, unless the George boosters bought him a Lincoln Navigator with vanity plates that read "DT Dawg." I seriously doubt he was singled out; I'll bet good money he committed the violations. The traffic violations wouldn't be a deal if he hadn't been on probation for the trespass. If you're on probation, a jaywalking ticket will get you in the pokey.

If you have a policy that punishes players for jail time or for poorly representing the image of the program, then you have to suspend him. The only reason no to suspend him would be that you don't care what your players do and don't care if they make you and your program look bad.

If Richt really considers "conditioning" punishment, then you can bet this won't be the first issue like this for the team. We'll eventually have to call them the Georgia Gamecocks.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by SkyDog

I'm curious as to what y'all think of this situation.

My first reaction is "typical doings in Athens." ... but that's just the partisan in me

Beyond that, I'm really sort of confused by Richt's reaction to this. My impression, loathe though I may be to admit it, is that he's been at least trying to clean things up in a program that has certainly had more than its fair share of legal troubles. But this seems to be a case where he's looking at the schedule and the depth chart before determining what to do. And that, honestly, surprises me from him.

As for whether Swain has become an easy mark for police, I'm torn on that too. I agree with you, spotting him/his vehicle in Athens is a piece of cake (although having plenty of practice doing so has certainly made it easier for them to do). But if they're singling him out, knowing the very high number of breaks that law enforcement in the area gave to a certain former Dawg over the past few years, targeting him really doesn't make much sense to me (although that is across several jurisdictions, not just A-CC police). My guess would be that Swain may have made himself some enemies with some sort of behavior with authorities while those who've gotten breaks are more in the vein of "happy-go-lucky drunk".

Bottom line is that I'm getting mixed signals from this particular case, and I'm really not sure what to make of them. I imagine the picture will become clear if Swain manages to land himself in trouble again. If he doesn't figure it out after three arrests, a fourth one is a clear signal that he's never going to figure it out and at that point, has no business getting a free ride from the scholarship fund.

You know the kid SD, I don't, but from where I'm sitting, I'm afraid the odds don't appear to favor him suddenly having the light bulb go on over his head.
My Over/Under on more trouble? +/- 4th game of the season.

edit to add: re-reading, something sort of obvious jumped out at me -- I assume the school still has on-campus housing, particularly for athletes. Seems to me that living in the athletic dorm (is it McWhorter Hall?) might need to be a condition for his continued scholarship.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

My first reaction is "typical doings in Athens." ... but that's just the partisan in me

Beyond that, I'm really sort of confused by Richt's reaction to this. My impression, loathe though I may be to admit it, is that he's been at least trying to clean things up in a program that has certainly had more than its fair share of legal troubles. But this seems to be a case where he's looking at the schedule and the depth chart before determining what to do. And that, honestly, surprises me from him.

Well, I can see both sides of the argument of why to suspend and why not to suspend. I'm torn on that one myself. I am a little bothered, though, about the notion of suspending a kid not for the severity of his crime, but for him being an embarrassment to the university. It would smell a little of hypocrisy--not that every D1 school doesn't have hypocrisy, though.

My guess would be that Swain may have made himself some enemies with some sort of behavior with authorities while those who've gotten breaks are more in the vein of "happy-go-lucky drunk".

Darrius isn't exactly the most gregarious guy when he's sober. He's always been pretty stand-offish and untrusting, even with coaches, teachers, and other adults who obviously care about him. From his childhood experiences with adults who should have been there for him, there's probably good reasons for him not to trust people. However, the sort of demeanor I'm guessing he's shown to cops in the past doesn't exactly help your reputation with local law enforcement. Combine an unfriendly demeanor with a menacing physical presence, and it would be pretty easy to make enemies.

Bottom line is that I'm getting mixed signals from this particular case, and I'm really not sure what to make of them. I imagine the picture will become clear if Swain manages to land himself in trouble again. If he doesn't figure it out after three arrests, a fourth one is a clear signal that he's never going to figure it out and at that point, has no business getting a free ride from the scholarship fund.

Agreed. If he gets in trouble again, Richt needs to pretty much throw him under the bus.

You know the kid SD, I don't, but from where I'm sitting, I'm afraid the odds don't appear to favor him suddenly having the light bulb go on over his head.

I'll be as blunt as I can. I stood on the sidelines at Tucker practices and watched coaches from UGA watching Darrius (and Jabari Davis, too....) The part of me that cares about them and wanted them to be successful wanted to believe that being in a competitive college program would help them overcome their work ethic issues and become monster successes. The part of me that is a UGA fan wanted to scream: "DO NOT WASTE A SCHOLARSHIP ON EITHER ONE OF THEM!!! THEY ARE *VERY* RISKY!!!"

Between the two of them, they gained over 50 pounds of mostly fat from late December until arriving in Athens and Knoxville in June, and neither has lived up to their *ENORMOUS* potential.

[Samdari]

Originally Posted by Buccaneer

What about that kid in Chemistry at UGA that had the same convictions?

Well, just like with the football player, the Chem major would have recieved no punishment from the university for driving violations occurring off campus.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Seems to me that living in the athletic dorm (is it McWhorter Hall?) might need to be a condition for his continued scholarship.

That makes a lot of sense, although I'm not sure what the situation is exactly with his mother, wife, and child.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by SkyDog

The part of me that is a UGA fan wanted to scream: "DO NOT WASTE A SCHOLARSHIP ON EITHER ONE OF THEM!!! THEY ARE *VERY* RISKY!!!"

Y'know, you could have screamed in the direction of Knoxville too, just on general SEC-in-this-thing-together principal.

Alas, Knoxville wouldn't have listened any better than Athens would have

[st.cronin]

Originally Posted by Craptacular

The local team seems to have a kid in jail every week.

Yup. I forget who it was that was arrested for 'stealing a cat.'

[Ben E Lou]

Heh. I'll give Darrius some props here. At least he knows how to turn on the charm around the media. Here's a take from a writer that covers UGA.

I would imagine that one part that is hard for Richt et al, to deal with is that Darrius Swain is basically a good guy. He does not come across as "thuggish", or any other manner of negativity when you talk to him. In fact, he is polite, more or less well spoken, and comes across as just a regular guy. In fact, and I do not mean this as a shot, but something that crosses my mind is, does he really even get it? Does he get it that he is doing these things that cause him so much trouble? I am no expert on Swain, but I have interviewed him many times over his career, seen him in practice, etc., and he just does not come across as a guy who is bucking the law. Perhaps I am talking in circles, but that is how the situation is. Here is a guy that seems decent enough but consistently screws up the silly stuff. Tough call. Add to it the fact that he has a family, and it only gets tougher. One of those situations where you just want to tap him on the forehead and say: “McFly!” Georgia football aside, I hope he gets it together, because he has a lot of life ahead of him and he seems to step in every pile without even seeing it in from of him.

[OldGiants]

"but won't be kept out of any football games this fall, Bulldogs coach Mark Richt said."

99 44/100 percent of the people in Georgia stopped reading right there.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by OldGiants

"but won't be kept out of any football games this fall, Bulldogs coach Mark Richt said."

99 44/100 percent of the people in Georgia stopped reading right there.

Simply not true. It is still a hotly-debated topic even among UGA fans at the various UGA football oriented boards.

[digamma]

Originally Posted by SkyDog

I'll be as blunt as I can. I stood on the sidelines at Tucker practices and watched coaches from UGA watching Darrius (and Jabari Davis, too....) The part of me that cares about them and wanted them to be successful wanted to believe that being in a competitive college program would help them overcome their work ethic issues and become monster successes. The part of me that is a UGA fan wanted to scream: "DO NOT WASTE A SCHOLARSHIP ON EITHER ONE OF THEM!!! THEY ARE *VERY* RISKY!!!"

Someone once told me Darrius was the kid with the most potential they had coached (to that point), but also one of the laziest.

[Huckleberry]

I think it's been handled well by all parties. I also agree that you wouldn't suspend a player for traffic violations.

Maybe if I knew more about the trespassing incident, violation of that probation could warrant a suspension.

But my real first reaction was that Swain's attorney made two grammatical errors in one sentence.

"Neither Darrius or myself felt that the sentence was unfair," said Ed Tolley, Swain's attorney.

[OldGiants]

Originally Posted by SkyDog

Simply not true. It is still a hotly-debated topic even among UGA fans at the various UGA football oriented boards.

That's still less than .56 percent of the total population of Georgia.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by OldGiants

That's still less than .56 percent of the total population of Georgia.

You don't know how big the Dawgs are around here.


Seriously though, my point is this: if even some of UGA's most passionate fans aren't just saying, "Whew, at least he still gets to play," it seems like it would follow that casual fans would be curious beyond whether or not he's playing. This is particularly true because Darrius has been in the news SO stinkin' much for negative stories. He's getting to be his own reality show.

[Ben E Lou]

Out of jail, Swain prepares


Lineman works to lose weight, change 'bad guy' image, earn playing time

BY JOSH KENDALL

The Macon Telegraph

ATHENS, Ga. - The kitchen? Really? The kitchen?

Darrius Swain can't catch a break.

The senior Georgia defensive lineman -- whose hard-luck, hard-head saga recently landed him a 22-day stay in the Athens-Clarke County jail -- has had his enormous potential smothered by weight issues since he arrived in Athens. So, naturally, when he went to jail in May following his third arrest for driving with a suspended license, Swain was put to work around food.

That means his time in confinement was spent battling his greatest weakness.

Swain's sentence, scheduled for 45 days but cut short for good behavior, was far from hard time, but it still was embarrassing, boring and frustrating.

"It was a little bit of everything," he said.

Mostly, it was a validation of the negative image most Georgia fans have developed of Swain in the last four years -- a bad guy with a bad attitude. It's an unfair but not entirely inaccurate assessment, according to Swain and his coaches.

Georgia coach Mark Richt visited Swain twice during Swain's time in jail.

"He told me, 'Coach, I'm not a bad person.' And he's not," Richt said. "He drove without a license. It's not like he did something unbelievable at all."

Even Swain's most public critic, defensive line coach Rodney Garner, won't argue with that.

"He's not a bad person," Garner said. "I've never had any problem with him being disrespectful or anything like that. The biggest problem I've had with him is his work ethic and his commitment to being something special. "

Swain was expected to be something special when he came out of Atlanta's Tucker High School in 2001.

"When he first got here, I thought I had one. I really thought I had one," Garner said.

Four years later though, Swain has more career arrests than sacks and his tackle numbers have gone down in each of his three seasons, from 37 to 33 to 15.

On top of that, his home life, never a picnic, is particularly no fun these days. He admits he doesn't have the relationship he wants with his 2-year-old son, Deandre, or the boy's mother. Deandre and his mother live in Atlanta, and Swain sees them "very little," he said, but that's all he'll say on that subject.

"I'll talk about anything else," he said, "but I won't talk about that."

There's plenty of other ground to cover, like how he grew up without his father in his life and with very little money, bouncing from place to place with his mother, Bradfordlyn Swain.

Money is still hard to come by for Swain. His failure to pay a fine of more than $1,200 in Gwinnett County is what caused his license to be suspended.

"I didn't grow up with the best situation as far as financially, moving around a lot, different neighborhoods, just me and my mom for a long time," he said. "There is a lot of stuff that goes on that people don't really know about. I ain't trying to ask for sympathy from nobody. I'm just trying to live my life to the fullest, make the best of my situation."

Garner has jumped eagerly into the role of male authority figure in Swain's life, and he's made it clear for three years now that Swain is not making the best of his situation.

"One of the worst things people can say about you is you've got potential. That means you haven't done anything, and I can say, unequivocally, he's got potential," Garner said. "He's got ability. If he could just commit himself, he's got the talent. Does he have the commitment? That's the question he's got to ask himself.

"If he had Kedric Golston's work ethic, man, Lord. Wow."

One last chance

Garner has one more season to see if his tell-it-like-it-is coaching style will get through to Swain. The two have given each other plenty of ulcers since Swain signed with the Bulldogs. The team even tried a position change for Swain last spring but moved him back to defensive line in the fall.

Last year, Garner started calling Swain "House" because of his size and joked he was going to have to start calling him "Mansion" if he got any bigger.

At one point during the season, he said Swain was on the third team only because there was no fourth team. It has taken Swain awhile to come to grips with the criticism.

"When you're in high school, you're the man; you don't have anybody doing that to you," he said. "And somebody like me, my dad wasn't there, so I didn't have any males yelling and screaming at me, so it was kind of like, 'Hold up a minute.'

"But as you get older and more mature, you learn to deal with it better. I know he does have my best interests at heart and cares about my well-being. I try to look at it as a positive even though he is very blunt, and he does say a lot of things."

Early opportunity

Swain has an opportunity this year. Because of Golston's one-game suspension, Swain has a starting spot ready and waiting for him in the first game of the year if he can get himself on track. And that means getting his weight under control.

"It's going to take a valiant effort," said strength coach Dave Van Halanger.

Swain has been a regular at the Bulldogs' offseason conditioning program this month, and it's not uncommon for him to work so hard that he has to be taken from the field on the team's training cart, Van Halanger said.

Swain said he will run twice a day this summer if that's what it takes to reach his goal of 315 pounds. He's at 328, he said, which is good considering he was 340 this spring and spent almost a month "locked up," as he puts it.

"It was hard to do any running," said Swain, whose playing weight has been as high as 375.

Swain's battles with weight will be his lasting image in Athens if he can't turn his career around this year.

"I ask him all the time, 'When you look in the mirror, do you like the guy looking back at you?' That's reality," Garner said. "How can he take care of Deandre when he can't take care of himself? He has to be the most disappointing to himself."

Swain and Garner are in agreement that Swain has enough talent to play in the NFL.

"That is the main goal," Swain said. "I know I can play at the next level. It's just a matter of going out and working hard every day and getting there. It kind of hurts me a little bit because in my mind, I know I've got all the ability in the world to be there."

He knows something else, too.

"There's a lot of people who are going to have their criticisms and say, 'I heard this before,' " he said.

And he doesn't care.

"I ain't got nothing to prove to nobody but myself," he said. "I know I've got the ability. I know I can do it."

[Ben E Lou]

Bump.

Darrius was at the Tucker basketball game the other night. Let's just say that it doesn't appear that he's doing much to prepare for the combines. If he isn't, this would be one of the biggest wastes of talent I've ever, ever seen. This kid was nimble-footed and athletic enough to play small forward in high school, but big enough to play DT at UGA. I honestly think he could have been better than Sapp in his prime.