Okay, something strange is going on in the world of football.
Florida and Texas seem to be having some competition over who can get the most players arrested in a calendar year. At the moment, the Gators are ahead by a nose thanks to safety Tony Joiner’s recent trip to the clink. Joiner became the eighth Florida player in the last nine months to get in trouble after he was arrested and charged with felony burglary on Tuesday.
Police say he was arrested around 5 a.m. outside the fenced impound lot of a towing company.
He was accused of pushing a heavy electric gate open to enter the lot in an attempt to retrieve his girlfriend’s car, which police say was being held in place of a $76 towing bill.
Joiner was taken to the Alachua County Jail and later released on his own recognizance.
And what makes matters worse is that Joiner is a senior captain who has already racked up 20 tackles this year. Not exactly the leadership Urban Meyer was looking for heading into a huge SEC showdown with LSU.
Then you’ve got Texas Tech linebacker Kellen Tillman, apparently trying to take some of the limelight away from the state rival Longhorns, who got popped with some pot. Perhaps he was trying to take a bit of the edge off after getting suspended for unspecified reasons in the Red Raiders 75-7 blowout of Northwestern State.
Tillman, a 23-year-old senior who played at Plano West, posted $750 bond on a Class B misdemeanor charge of possession of under 2 ounces of pot and was released shortly after his arrest late Monday, the same day his suspension from the team was lifted.
Tillman, a starter, had 21 tackles and a sack in Texas Tech’s first four games.
According to police, an officer walked up to one of two cars stopped in the center turn lane of a street and saw what he believed to be marijuana. Tillman, the only person in the car, was arrested at the scene, Lubbock police Lt. Scott Hudgens said.
It appeared the two cars had been involved in a minor traffic accident, Hudgens said.
If convicted, Tillman faces up to 180 days in jail and a $2,000 fine.
All right, now for the real kicker: while these guys were getting hauled off by the cops, Pacman Jones was actually doing some good in the community for a change.
Jones bought 1,500 tickets to the next TNA Wrestling pay-per-view and he’s donating them to students as incentive for good grades and good behavior. Go figure.
Links:
[NewsChannel5.com]: Florida team captain Joiner arrested, charged with burglary
[DallasNews.com]: Texas Tech LB arrested on marijuana charge
[SI.com]: Pacman buys TNA tix for students
