Crowell’s story all too familiar for UGA fans (UPDATED)
Isaiah Crowell's time in Athens was troubled from the start. (Associated Press)
Seems like we’ve been here before.
Another Georgia tailback’s career derailed — probably ended — by his own actions. This time it’s Isaiah Crowell, arrested early Friday morning on three weapons charges.
For Crowell, his immediate suspension from the Georgia Bulldogs is the least of his troubles. Two of those charges are felonies.
Update: Crowell has been dismissed from the team according to an announcement Friday afternoon by Bulldogs head coach Mark Richt. “We have a dedicated and committed group of men who are working hard to prepare for the coming season,” Richt said. “Our total focus will be directed toward the team and this effort.” That was the coach’s only comment.
The 19-year-old from Columbus came to Athens as one of the most heralded recruits signed by the Bulldogs since you know who, but almost from the start the vibes were bad.
Word leaked out last summer that Crowell wasn’t in good shape and had skipped some workouts. Members of the team felt the need to pay him a visit and tell him he needed to get it in gear.
Once the season started, we saw that Crowell was every bit as talented as had been billed, but fans couldn’t help but notice that he wasn’t exactly the hardest working kid on the field, frequently taking himself out of the lineup.
He hit his stride midseason, carrying the ball 30 times against Ole Miss for 147 yards, one of four 100-yard rushing games he had for the Bulldogs.
Then Crowell sat out the first quarter of the Vandy game for an unspecified rules violation and was suspended for the entire New Mexico State game along with some other teammates who reportedly failed a drug test.
Struggling with an ankle injury, Crowell was never the same after that, running only 15 times for 31 yards in the Dogs’ last four games, and he wound up being booed by fans at the Georgia Dome when he limped off the field during the SEC championship game.
Still, the 850 yards and five touchdowns he did manage were good enough for him to be named SEC freshman of the year, and the happy talk in the offseason was that he was a rededicated and more mature player He wound up the spring sharing the No. 1 tailback spot with Boo Malcome.
But apparently even the more mature Isaiah Crowell still figured rules didn’t apply to him, and so we get this sorry story of him being arrested for having a 9mm Luger with an altered ID number hidden under the seat of the car he was driving when stopped by a police roadblock in Athens. Sheer stupidity.
So, where does that leave the Dawgs at tailback? Pretty much where they were a year ago, with a relatively unheralded veteran likely to be the starter and a super-talented, highly recruited true freshman — this time Keith Marshall — in the wings.
Actually, Georgia is better off this time around, because Marshall started school early and has already been through spring drills and shown himself to be a hard worker. Plus, there’s another super-talented, highly recruited freshman joining the team in August: Todd Gurley.
Bottom line: Isaiah Crowell had the talent to be one of the best running backs in the nation, but never showed the desire and dedication to make that happen. While fans were hoping that competition from Malcome, Marshall and Gurley would spur him to live up to his potential, chances are the rising sophomore’s obvious strong sense of entitlement would have tripped him up in the end.
The Dawgs likely will be better off without him.
Feel free to share your own views of Georgia’s prospects at tailback, but please keep your comments civil and within the bounds of good taste or they’ll be removed and you’ll be banned from future commenting.
Got something you want to discuss concerning UGA athletics or a question for the Junkyard Blawg? Send it to junkyardblawg@gmail.com.
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391 comments Add your comment
Nostradamus
June 29th, 2012
1:09 pm
Buckeye Mark
February 2nd, 2011
1:56 pm
My fellow UGA co workers are gloating, congratulations to UGA.
But I can say this without a doubt, he is no Hershel, He is no Bo, He is no Mark Ingram, he is no Emmit Smith, he is no Lattimore, he is no Eddie George, he is no Archie Griffin, he is Keith Byars, he is more of the Maurice Clarett type.
We have taken abuse from SEC fans for years now, but I can honestly say Georgia is not even in our class and we would be proud to lay a beating on this Dream Team in the near future if UGA can ever get good enough to get out of the Liberty Bowl and Shreveport Bowls to be a contender ever again.
Myanmar Shave
June 29th, 2012
1:09 pm
Coach Richt’s New Contract
Is Settled And Done
And Now He’s Enjoying
Some Time In The Sun
We’ll Be Missing Some Players
In Our First Few Games
The Contract Is New…
But The Coach Is The Same
Myanmar Shave©
Birmingham Jacket
June 29th, 2012
1:14 pm
Will cost you a trip to the NC game.
Bad luck.
Blake
June 29th, 2012
1:16 pm
We’re gonna be ok. Hopefully Mr. Crowell will learn from this mistake and carry on his college career somewhere esle. Love how all of these other people on here just sit and wait for a bad story to come out of UGA so they can pounce on it. Sadly, no one really knows what happens at Tech because quite frankly no one really cares what happens at Tech. You’ll never catch me on a Tech board.
Here’s a prediction for Nostradamus…UGA will beat Tech again and play for the SEC championship again, and in a BCS bowl. So have your fun now, I’ll laugh later.
1953dawg
June 29th, 2012
1:18 pm
It all starts at the top with any organization or any football program. Your weakest link is a strength for your competition. At UGA it all starts at the top with McGarity and Richt. Both are weak and both have shown their weakness over and over again. These two are hurting the UGA football program, and they are becoming a strength to UGA’s rivals. McGarity should have never given Richt an extention after the pitiful performance last year against major competition. Even if it hurt recruiting so be it, rival coaches are using this type of embarrassment to the UGA program against Richt and UGA and it is working very well. The top 4 players in the state have committed to go to UGA’s rivals next year. So if it wasn’t to keep recruiting going well, why would McGarity give Richt an undeserving extention?? SImple answer, McGarity is a puppet, and he is a weak leader. He only has the balls to fire a coach of women’s programs, and he keeps the 3 stooges that are coaching the Men’s top 3 programs. Then you have Richt, who has proven time and time again that he is terrible at evaluating Coaches and high school talent. And not only is he terrible at evaluating Coaches, it’s this lack of ability that costs him when he hires these below average coaches, and thus they have no clue how to evaluate talent, or how to coach the talent up once they get to UGA. Richt is the weakest coach in the SEC east now other than Dooley, and his players don’t respect his authority or his coach’s authority. This happens every year at UGA,so to blame it on players and call them thugs, isn’t totally true.If the players respected their coaches, and if the coaches knew how to teach discipline this wouldn’t happen every single year at UGA. McGarity, and Richt should both be gone after this latest embarrassment to the university, but then again, UGA has no president either. So when you have total lack of leadership from your president, to your A.D. to your head coach, to the asst. coaches, this is what you get. The board of regents should step in and put an end to this embarrassment now, besides this season will be another disaster under Richt and his coaching staff. Want proof, this idiot head coach is so stubborn that he refuses to hire a special team’s coach, after he admitted the S.T. was quote “SCARY”. What is scary is to have a head coach admit this and do nothing about it. UGA=MEDIOCRITY!!
Blake
June 29th, 2012
1:19 pm
Feel free to copy and paste that at seasons end.
Blake
June 29th, 2012
1:22 pm
Yeah, Richt is terrible at evaluating coaches. That Grantham guy is just horrible. If not for him, we would’ve won it all. Hey 1953dawg! It’s not 1953 anymore!
I-DOG
June 29th, 2012
1:24 pm
Disappointing yes, but not surpising.
Richt needs to send a very clear message. He should be IMMEDIATELY kicked off the team, putting a permanent end to his career.
All that talk about Crowell maturing and doing this the Georgia way this year were all a bunch of hot air. When you have a better than 50-50 shot at a large NFL contract, you don’t drive around Athens at 2 in the moring with a gun under your seat WITH THE SERIAL NUMBER SCRATCHED OFF!
The worst part of this is that he involved 4 other players, FRESHMAN!
IMMEDIATE action has to be taken
GFY
June 29th, 2012
1:26 pm
Nostradamus:
Have the suckeyes ever beaten an SEC team? No? Well what are you spouting off about? Playing in the little 11 is like being the tallest midget….nothing to brag upon.
DP
June 29th, 2012
1:29 pm
The mother of Josh Harvey Clemons has to be feeling good right now. According to her son she somehow felt he would be safer in Athens than in Tuscaloosa and now he’s riding around with a likely intoxicated on dope, gun carrying Isaah Crowell at 3:30 in the morning. Of course, safety wasn’t the real reason Clemons decided on UGA it was the depth chart at Alabama and perhaps the more relaxed environment playing for Mark Richt.
Myanmar Shave
June 29th, 2012
1:30 pm
Coach Grantham Remembers
When He Gets Annoyed
Were It Not For Mark Richt
He Would Be Unemployed
Myanmar Shave©
collegeballfan
June 29th, 2012
1:30 pm
“The Dawgs likely will be better off without him.”
This goes back to recruiting. Fans need to remember that recruiting is about high school players, not about college players. He was a great high school player. He may end up being just another run of the mill college player.
Samuel, King, Ealey & Crowell – all 5 star running backs recruited by Georgia. What do you have to show for it now? The answer is, of course, nothing.
Now Georgia is once again waiting on a new high school player to see if he is college material.
XUGARB
June 29th, 2012
1:30 pm
Firearms carry Serial Numbers not ID Numbers. Altering a Serial Number means tampering with a number engraved there by the manufacturer of the firearm. This is likely a violation of Federal Law as well. Watch for ATF involvement.
Jay in VA
June 29th, 2012
1:32 pm
Addition by subtraction. I had no confidence that this guy would change, especially after his sorry performance and demeanor vs LSU in the SEC title game. Sorry he’s screwed up his life, but glad he won’t be around to distract the team and the coaches anymore.
I-DOG
June 29th, 2012
1:36 pm
I kept hearing all this talk about our depth at tailback this year, but I never bought into it. We have 2 highly talented but completely unproven Freshman, we have a former walkon who is 5′ 6”, we have Samuel who has been a damn good dog, but doesn’t have top tier SEC RB ability and is unlikely to be available for 1/2 the games due to this history of injuries (though he has been a hard worker and great teamate), and we have another back who is a workhorse, but will also be lucky to play in half the games due to history of injuries. Now that Crowell seemingly ended his career at UGA with his stupidity, we have two guys that have never played at the college level and will likely have one other scholarship experienced back available for any particular game in Samuel or Boo
Richt and Bobo need to sit down with Marshall and Gurley and let them know that while this isn’t the way any of us wanted it to happen, neither is going to RS and they should prepare to play in the first game and every game this season. Gentlemen, here is your OPPORTUNITY.
Dr. Morpheus
June 29th, 2012
1:39 pm
I always hate to see a talented kid throw it all away. I’d feel the same way no matter whom he played for. What on earth was he thinking?
Innocent Til Proven Guilty
June 29th, 2012
1:44 pm
He said he didn’t know the gun was there and the weed smell came from the nightclub they was at. You guys do remember going to nightclubs don’t you? I’ll wait to pass judgement until I hear the rest of the story.
Buckeye
June 29th, 2012
1:49 pm
You dogs are quick to eat your own.
RAWDAWG
June 29th, 2012
1:50 pm
Guess that “missing man formation” Richt used to recruit him that resulted in a Secondary Violation has a whole new and ironic meaning now…
fishook dawg
June 29th, 2012
1:52 pm
No way CMR keeps Crowell on the team. The best thing for UGA is now to get Derrick Henry to recommti.
Myanmar Shave
June 29th, 2012
1:53 pm
The Nightclubs In Athens
Are As Crowell Was Hopin’
Cause They Smoke Marijuana
Right Out In The Open
Myanmar Shave©
Tim Jernigan
June 29th, 2012
1:58 pm
The dogs are sinking fast
Tim Jernigan
June 29th, 2012
1:58 pm
without a paddle
Tim Jernigan
June 29th, 2012
1:59 pm
Lets hear it for Dog Nation!!
GTBob
June 29th, 2012
2:08 pm
Here’s a prediction for Nostradamus…
Here is my prediction. UGA will have 3-4 more players arrested or suspended. They will beat Tech and make the SEC championship game because let face it, they have the easiest schedule in SEC history. They will then get clobbered and play in the Capitol One or Outback bowl. Then 3-4 more players will get arrested or suspended.
BobDawg
June 29th, 2012
2:10 pm
BUCKEYE, you off probation yet????
Bow D
June 29th, 2012
2:13 pm
That was probably the only car in Athens with a gun under the seat. I bet if you started checking the cars around North Avenue in Atlanta, you’d come up with an arsenal. It’s not a surprise that there was a gun or that they were out late or that the car smelled like pot! It’s expected in a college town – that’s why the police had a road block that late, duh! Crowell was just not the type of kid to put everything together so he could live up to his perceived ability – it’s just better that he move on however this fiasco turns out. I hope his life ends up better than what it looks like it will be!
GATiger
June 29th, 2012
2:14 pm
This Crowell story reminds me of Cecil Collins, All the talent in the world. No sense. Hate to see a kid go bad like this, regardless of where he plays.
BobDawg
June 29th, 2012
2:14 pm
…I wonder how many “stadium steps” those other 4 will be running in this heat??? would be a good thing to have the entire team come out and watch them run and use them as an example…
Nostradamus
June 29th, 2012
2:16 pm
jake
February 2nd, 2011
1:28 pm
Coach MR needs to hire someone or some things to watch over every player from now til end of year.No sellin, no robberies, no fights, no this or that. Cost of this would be well worth it.
BROWNIES
June 29th, 2012
2:16 pm
so is the UGA athletic department going to administer another drug test since afterall noone could help it that marijuana was in those brownies on spring break and I am sure no one could help it that it smelled like marijuana in the car early this morning. After those 5 stars are just victims
Big Albany Dawg
June 29th, 2012
2:18 pm
Keep him on the practice squad. I dont want to see him at LSU or UT after sitting out a year.
What a Difference a Year Makes
June 29th, 2012
2:18 pm
mountain dawg
February 2nd, 2011
1:49 pm
yessssssssssssssssssssssss! we run this state.
isaiah, my dear friend, you have just made a lot of people very, very happy. thank you, sir, and welcome to the bulldog nation. can’t wait to see you tote the rock in red and black, baby!
just awesomeness!
Professor Max Roland Reinhart
June 29th, 2012
2:19 pm
Joey -
Would you like to address the fact there were other players involved now?
PMC
June 29th, 2012
2:22 pm
It’s just a sad story to me Bill. Here’s a young man who just a few years ago was excited about coming to Georgia, maybe becoming a great player there and then moving on to the NFL. At this juncture, he’ll have to hope the felony charges get reduced, he can resume a football career elsewhere and then maybe get drafted.
It’s sad. I don’t really know what else can be done or said. You can only be told so many times what you have to lose, what to do and what not to do. It’s just amazingly disapointing when this happens. It has happened all too frequently at Georgia in the last 5 years.
wisconsinfalcons fan
June 29th, 2012
2:23 pm
It is a shame, a disappointment and a waste of time an talent how dumb can you be to put yourself in a situation when he should know that he is not under the radar, by him being a black kid all this do is make it harder for some one who is dedicated to work much harder, as he should anyway, what a let down I hope he can see what a embarrassment he is to the school his parents, friends (those that care) an mostly to himself, come on IC are you kidding me now I hope he sees this wasn’t cute it was BS, and I was proud of him because I went to the same school as he did, turn it around man do it now
Nostradamus
June 29th, 2012
2:27 pm
Scott
February 2nd, 2011
5:19 pm
Crowell better be hungry for greatness. Caleb King was highly touted too. You got to work the dream into reality. We gonna see how nbad Crowell wants it, we gonna see how hard he works, we gonna see is he can learn to passblock, we gonna see how hungry Crowell is.
Dust in the Wind
June 29th, 2012
2:28 pm
all we are, is dust in the wind. now so is crowell.
DawginLex
June 29th, 2012
2:34 pm
Not defending him at all but, these felony charges won’t stick
1st time offender
Claims others drove his car
Gun not registered to him
IMO, it will be dropped to a misdemeanor with no jail time. Reports are widespread that the gun actually belonged to someone else. Yes, there were 4 players in the car, Clemons, Dawson, Harrow and Tibbs. None charged and no marajuana found. IC and his buddies were at a club.
He will still be done at Georgia and rightfully so. No respect for himself or his teammates.
Flo-Ri-Duh
June 29th, 2012
2:35 pm
Crowell carries on the tradition of Pulpwood Smith who had the talent to be in the NFL but the common sense of a stump. You can’t coach S T U P I D. Maybe with one less on the depth chart this will have a silver lining with Henry or Kamara.
DawginLex
June 29th, 2012
2:38 pm
floriduh
Already very good recruiting news happening with RB’s and others
lee
June 29th, 2012
2:38 pm
thank God for a surplus of running backs huh, dawggie nation? makes it easier to toss an 18 year old kid on the trash pile doesn’t it?
jack
June 29th, 2012
2:42 pm
if theres smoke….drug test all of um
DIT
June 29th, 2012
2:43 pm
I would not count on Henry re-committing, but maybe Kamara.
DawginLex
June 29th, 2012
2:47 pm
lee
No one is heaping trash on Crowell except for the fans of our opponents who wait for anything anti UGA to come up
Crowell made his own bed. Are you defending him?
kingster
June 29th, 2012
2:56 pm
I really hate to say this, but it was only a matter of time, CMR baby that boy to much, he set UGA back last year, sure he was SEC Rookie of the year, but that was given, what happen to Lynch, that was his big brother to help mold him, I guess you cann’t watch the children all the time. If the gun was his mother, surely she would have told him, you are tying to tell me he didn’t look under the seat for money, (nickels, dimes and quarters), kinda hard to understand.
Buckeye
June 29th, 2012
3:09 pm
Ain’t facing no felonies!
The irony
June 29th, 2012
3:10 pm
of a Gator and Techie lecturing us about discipline matters.
And to DP: are you saying Bama never gets out recruited for a player? Its always the depth chart is too crowded or some other excuse. Why not just admit every now and then you get beat on a recruit? Is that too much to ask? Pride goeth before a fall.
SupremoDawg
June 29th, 2012
3:18 pm
Good Riddance to Bad Gargage! How about the other idiots in the car with him? We want kids who have a DESIRE to play for UGA, consider it a privilege, and have enough self restraint to OBEY THE LAW! What a novel concept!
Mike
June 29th, 2012
3:25 pm
Doesnt look good but lets wait and see what happens. He claims its not his gun and he didnt know it was there. Until that’s proven wrong, we need to assume he was telling the truth.