UT football Player arrested for pointing toy gun at officer

[gunsmith]

They don't learn these guys much do they?

http://www.wate.com/Global/story.asp?S=5220088&nav=0RYv

KNOXVILLE (WATE/AP) -- Two Tennessee redshirt freshmen football players were stopped by police on Interstate 40 near Cookeville after allegedly waving a gun at an off-duty officer.

One of them, Marsalous Johnson, was charged with aggravated assault.

Johnson, a defensive back from Smyrna, and Rico McCoy, a linebacker from Washington, D.C., were pulled over about 10:30 Sunday night.

Putnam County Sheriff's deputy Michael Hoover reported that he was driving his personal vehicle when Johnson's car pulled up beside his. Hoover said the driver appeared to be upset at his speed and waved what looked like a gun.

Johnson denied pointing a gun at Hoover, but officers later found a black plastic Uzi under a passenger seat in his car.

He was released from jail on a $10,000 bond. He's scheduled to go to court on September 6.

Coach Phillip Fulmer said Monday he hasn't decided whether to punish the players.

Johnson was a red shirt freshman in 2005. He was expected to play cornerback this fall.

According to the Vols roster, in high school Johnson grabbed six interceptions as a junior defensive back and was a three-year starter at cornerback. He was also described as a speedster on track team, running a personal-best and school-record 10.4 in 100M, 21.8 in the 200M and 50.0 in the 400M.

The Vols preceded last year's 5-6 record with eight players being arrested from January 2005 to July 2005.

Practice for the upcoming season begins Friday.

 

[Gibbs505]

I guess that he is lucky that he is alive!!

 

[1 old 0311]

And he was the SMART one on the team

 

[ilbob]

I wonder what would have happened to him if I was the one he pointed a toy Uzi at?

 

[Ala Dan]

Lucky to be alive, is the best part.

Me and Phil are going too kick both their ass'es off the team~!

 

[Sindawe]

Two Tennessee redshirt freshmen football players were stopped by police on Interstate 40 near Cookeville after allegedly waving a gun at an off-duty officer.

Wow, what a coincidence.

 

[76240]

Lucky he did not have a dog with him! This was not too hard to believe. Many football athletes remain children in oversized bodies. Please note that I did not say all.

 

[sarge83]

Had this happened in Knoxville no one would have ever heard about it. If punished at all by UT it will be a game suspension when they play Podunk U.

 

[buzz_knox]

Had this happened in Knoxville no one would have ever heard about it. If punished at all by UT it will be a game suspension when they play Podunk U.

Fulmer spent years trying to get rid of UT's reputation as a team of thugs. But yeah, whether or not they would get to play would depend on how valuable they are, as opposed to the charges themselves.

 

[countertop]

Fire Phil Fulmer

Seriously,

when are we gonna get rid of this emarrasment. In the end, when they finally do dump his incompetant hide, their gonna find out he's gonan end up lookign like Jerry Tarkanian

 

[dev_null]

Yes, dumb. But aggravated assault?

 

[earthworm]

I second those who say he's lucky to be alive.Don't fret tho UT sports fans:he'll get 3 hours credit for the incident*G*.

 

[paramedic70002]

"officers later found a black plastic Uzi"

Did UZI partner with Glock? Can this weapon subvert metal detectors? Oh, the horror!

 

[444]

In Las Vegas you would have been reading about his death. I can't believe that any police officer in the world would have someone point something that looks like a gun and not shoot. The police in Las Vegas are setting an all time record for shootings so far this year (with 50% of them being fatal). They have killed several people for less than this.

 

[espanola]

Stupid, stupid, stupid. Yes lucky to be alive. I'm disappointed to read Fulmer saying he hasn't decided whether to punish the players. That they should be punished ought to be a given.
That is one thing I've always hated about Fulmer is his seeming leniency. I say seeming, because we don't always know what action does get taken.

As far as Fulmer being incompetant, I know any coach wishes they could be so incompetant as to win a National Championship!

 

[Billy_H]

Yes, dumb. But aggravated assault?

Should the penalties be any less for a person who uses a fake weapon with intent to cause fear, etc resulting in much the same result as if it had been a real weapon?

 

[sgphoto]

That's the reason UT is known as The Big Orange--It's so convenient when they change into the prison jumpsuits the same color.

It's easy to go from the playing field to picking up garbage on the interstate.

 

[HerrWolfe]

Guess a guy be right smart iff'n he checked the side of the road ways up near Cookeville...as he might find the real one these dudes had in the car. How unfortunate, a little plastic one under the seat...what a shame! Football rules at Big Orange...at bit too much though.

 

[countertop]

As far as Fulmer being incompetant, I know any coach wishes they could be so incompetant as to win a National Championship!

As a UT alum and supporter it pains me to say it but Fulmer basically got lucky. Johnny Majors - for all his problems - had a great recruiting program in place. Fulmer inhereted that as well as the Volunteers during a time when his main SEC rivals were comparitivly weak. sure, I ain't holding his outstanding record against him, but what is his actual record against teams that really count?

Does he have a winning record against Top 10 teams? No. Top 20 teams? No.

1998 - as much as I celebrated then - was pretty much an anomoly, a lucky win over a Florida State team that threw up a big stinker in the Championship game and a lucky win over Florida during the regular season.

 

[Sistema1927]

Sorry, but I couldn't read "Marsalous" Johnson's name without having a flashback to my reading of Unintended Consequences.

 

[OH25shooter]

Locally, over time many Ohio State football players have had run-ins with the local law. History seems to show the starters get little punishment. The "good" starters may get a quick blurp story on the news and it's forgotten. I think the powerhouse college schools cover up more than is reported. Speaking only for Ohio State, if the described incident had occurred back in the days of Woody Hayes, that student athlete would have been counciled in a backroom by coach Hayes, :banghead: the PD would have been called afterwards and the "former" student athlete would be headed back to mom and dad. In today's game, if you can score points, all is forgiven...now suit up and lets hit the field. Regarding the charges, lets hope he doesn't get a judge who says, well it's only a toy gun! It would be neat if the judge is a University of Miami grad.

 

[Ala Dan]

Being a devoted University Of Tennessee fan since the age of seven, I
don't condone the actions of a few of our student athlete's. For the
most part, most of our team are composed of aspiring, proud young
adults striving for sucess; in both school, and in the sport(s) of their
choice. The UT list of those who achieved those goals is far larger
than the few that have failed to accomplish this mission.

 

[carpettbaggerr]

I can't believe that any police officer in the world would have someone point something that looks like a gun and not shoot.

Shoot from one car at another? At 65+ MPH?

 

[countertop]

Ala, fully agree with you. I just think Fulmer has attracted more of a bad element (or at least looked the other way) than others have. My personal experience at UT was that most starters NEVER showed up to class ( or any of the stars in any major sport - basketball player Alan Houston was the only exception and he actually would read the assignments and was actually able to engage in the classroom debate) while the 2nd and 3rd stringers and non blue chip starterswere mostly just regular students whose reputations were generally ruined by their association with the rest of the team.

 

[Art Eatman]

Those boys can do anything with a football
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Except autograph it.

, Art