UGA AD Damon Evans and his DUI: It’s no laughing matter
Damon Evans' mug shot. (City of Atlanta)
We make jokes, but there’s nothing funny about a DUI. There’s especially nothing funny when the man arrested is, by job definition, a leader of young people, and when some of those young people have had alcohol-related issues of their own.
Damon Evans warrants the same legal protection as everyone else: He’s innocent until proven guilty. But men in positions of leadership are held to a standard above and beyond legality: They’re supposed to be exemplars. Just by putting himself in position to pose for an unflattering mug shot, the Georgia athletics director has thrown his stewardship into question.
Michael Adams doesn’t like a lot of things — the BCS and Vince Dooley, to name two — but mostly the president doesn’t like being embarrassed. That’s why Jim Harrick, whom Adams had both befriended and championed, was pushed out the door within a month of Tony Cole’s appearance on ESPN in 2003.
You disappoint the president at your peril, and the president cannot be pleased today. This president chose Evans to replace Dooley, which means Adams leveraged much of what political capital he had left on the promotion. This president, as we know, has crusaded against underage drinking; he surely expects better of the adults on his staff.
There can be no quibbles about Evans as AD: Even with a difficult act to follow in Dooley, he has done well. He presides over a department that mints money and fields teams of high quality. He made a difficult decision to fire Dennis Felton and found, in Mark Fox, a coach who effected an immediate upgrade. In his public statements about Mark Richt and the football program Evans has sounded the proper notes — supportive but expectant of improvement.
Alas, there are no proper notes when you’ve been hauled to jail. There’s no way to explain the incongruity of a DUI being incurred by the man who made a video — it’s screened on the Sanford Stadium message board before and during games — imploring Georgia fans not to drink and drive.
“If you drink and drive,” Evans says in the video, “you lose.” He’s about to learn how difficult it can be to win back a good reputation. Fair or not, he’s no longer the bright and brassy AD of the state’s flagship school; he’s the guy who’ll spend the next decade trying to live down one unfortunate mug shot.
UPDATE: Georgia has scheduled a news conference for 6 or 6 :30 p.m. Thursday, and esteemed colleague Chip Towers has been told Damon Evans will appear. So that’s where I’m headed.
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1,388 comments Add your comment
Mr. Obvious
July 1st, 2010
12:42 pm
Vince Dooley was actually the concerned citizen who made the “anonymous” phone call to law enforcement about a Barack Obama impersonator driving drunk on our state’s roads and endangering innocent lives.
Thank You, Citizen Dooley.
Next week, look for UGA President Michael Adams to be arrested on pedophilia charges after police receive another “anonymous” call from a concerned citizen.
Sid
July 1st, 2010
12:42 pm
@Old Fan
July 1st, 2010
12:40 pm
********************************************************
Can you drive a house?
Buzzin Around the Crime Dawg
July 1st, 2010
12:42 pm
This is laughable but mostly disgusting, especially being the boss of classy coaches like Mark Richt and Mark Fox What a way to model a program for your student athletes! No wonder your stuednt athletes can’t stay out of trouble. He should be fired immediately if it proves true. So glad we have D’Rad. Guess Fred McGriff has been relieved of the “CRIME DAWG” title. Herschel talker is correct. Proud to be a Yellow Jacket.
Charlie Dalton
July 1st, 2010
12:42 pm
The apocalypse is surely coming. Melting glaciers, countries in financial ruin, a socialist US president and now the czar of UGAg gets a DUI.
Dawggrl
July 1st, 2010
12:42 pm
He should be typing up his resignation while I type this comment. A horrible embarrassment to the University and all of our sports programs. He has done some great things while AD, but we can’t be associated with something like this. That said, everyone is innocent until proven guilty, but looking like you are about to pass out in your mug shot is not a good sign….
Gatorzone
July 1st, 2010
12:42 pm
This is one Gator that will not pile on.
ATL_AU_ALUM
July 1st, 2010
12:42 pm
Sorry this happened Dawg fans.
George Stein
July 1st, 2010
12:43 pm
He looks wrecked in that picture. But I can still get him off.
Pi$$onaDawg
July 1st, 2010
12:43 pm
How can this not be a LAUGHING matter? Students, Teachers, and Administrators have all been caught Drunk Driving. I guess everybody at UGA is majoring and failing in WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT. AHHAHAAHAHA
Sid
July 1st, 2010
12:43 pm
I don’t feel sorry for him, not oneioda……………I feel more sorry for the Gwinnett Commish who got set up…………
Brian
July 1st, 2010
12:44 pm
The state’s flagship school…
I didn’t know this was a comedic piece.
disappointed dawg
July 1st, 2010
12:44 pm
Was he out with Jeff Dantzler?
FalconUGAFan
July 1st, 2010
12:44 pm
Agreed, his second chance needs to come elsewhere…This isn’t a teenager with a lesson to learn. This is a grown man that bears the burden of being an example to hundreds of young men and women.
gadawgs
July 1st, 2010
12:44 pm
He’s gotta go. Period.
dixiedawg
July 1st, 2010
12:45 pm
Talk about throwing it all away. Great example! I hope he recovers from this wherever he goes from here. We know it won’t be with Georgia though.
AltamahaDawg
July 1st, 2010
12:45 pm
I agree that the DUI charge doesn’t stick, but you can’t unwind the damage at this point. How ironic that he would be the most effective example to have speak at the next seminar that are routinely held for student-athletes.
Mr. Obvious
July 1st, 2010
12:45 pm
Damon Evans is now a late-blooming, hard-charging challenger to Mike Vick for this week’s not-so-prestigious “Dummy of the Week” award.
DIT
July 1st, 2010
12:45 pm
He needs to be cut loose immediatley!
Whopper Dawg
July 1st, 2010
12:45 pm
I do not think the president has any choice but to terminate him if he won’t resign. Nothing short of that will save the credibility of the administration and the sports program. You cannot keep him on.
SSIgator
July 1st, 2010
12:45 pm
Bet he wishes he had not done the don’t drink and drive video. Maybe they can edit the video and at the end say “Do as I say – not as I do.”
Jan Kemp
July 1st, 2010
12:46 pm
How bout them dawgs?
tim
July 1st, 2010
12:46 pm
looks like a metaphor for the puppies season…….
Vince Neil
July 1st, 2010
12:46 pm
Dr Feelgood in tha house!!
Dawgspeare
July 1st, 2010
12:46 pm
This cannot stand. I support UGA to my core, but this incident, ON TOP OF the shameful amount of alcohol-related incidents among our student-athletes over the past several years, should make heads roll.
I support Coach Richt, but have long wondered how in the world his wonderful personal ethics mesh with our woeful record of discipline….something just doesn’t match up.
This kind of incident at the highest level is just the last straw.
dostadawg
July 1st, 2010
12:46 pm
As a DAWG fan, this makes you want to go hide in a closet. EMBARRASSING!!!!!. He’s got to go! I hate it, but he’s got to go.
GeorgiaCommit
July 1st, 2010
12:46 pm
That does it……I’m going to Tennessee with the rest of my Georgia friends!
outasite
July 1st, 2010
12:46 pm
Out so late on a Wed. night drinking? Can you say “player.”
Captain
July 1st, 2010
12:46 pm
Yes, it is bad, no doubt about it. I am curious to know, did the AJC ever follow up on the disposition of the Joe Hamilton case when he was arrested DUI and with pot in his vehicle on the GT campus, after leaving practice as a grad asst? I’m just curious, since Evans will undoubtedly be the subject of close scrutiny by the AJC, as he should be.
Mark Bradley, when you have a couple of minutes what about a follow up on Joe Hamilton’s case.
James Brown
July 1st, 2010
12:47 pm
Bad day for UGA………….the passenger was arrested along with Evans………wonder who he/she was and what was the offense?
Tweets that mention UGA AD Damon Evans and his DUI: It's no laughing matter | Mark Bradley -- Topsy.com
July 1st, 2010
12:47 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by AJC , Mark Bradley and others. Mark Bradley said: UGA athletics director Damon Evans and his DUI: It's no laughing matter. http://bit.ly/b6I9WX [...]
Joe
July 1st, 2010
12:47 pm
Wonder if he had been drinking a few of Don Leebern’s cocktails at an alumni function.
What a bunch of mouthbreathers.
Dawg Fan
July 1st, 2010
12:47 pm
He should lose his job over this.
The Obvious
July 1st, 2010
12:48 pm
You know what the next news story will be. “EVANS WAS CO-FOUNDER OF BAD NEWS KENNELS!!!” Or, “EVANS, HE’S MIKE VICKS BEST FRIEND!” Mark, you never cease to amaze me. The more you try to appear neutral, the more you appear bias. You should work for Fox News.
Cletus Dooley Earnhardt SR.
July 1st, 2010
12:48 pm
Thiis iss just a plot by the lyberal GA tech fanns to bring this neegro and the UGA progam down! I dryve drunk alll the timme. My wife/sizster bought me a case of pabbst blu ribbonn last nite aftter a teeparrty rallly annd I droove my Forrd F350 all thee wayy back to Lagraynge! how else amm i sposed to get hoyme?
-GO UGA!
Whopper Dawg
July 1st, 2010
12:49 pm
Why won’t the DUI stick? I don’t think you can be pulled over for your driving, smell like alcohol, fail field sobriety tests, refuse to take a breath test and then walk because you refused to take the breath test??
If so, alerts all drunks out there, it is open season in GA, just refuse the breath test and you can get out of DUIs.
Does it work that way???
Todd Blackledge
July 1st, 2010
12:49 pm
He looks more hungover in that mug shot more than anything else. Better him than me. Resign, Damon.
'Bama 1
July 1st, 2010
12:49 pm
See Dick drink, see Dick drive, see Dick have an accident, DON’T BE A DICK!!!!!!! I have’nt stopped laughing yet!!!! ROLL TIDE!!!!!!!!
Frank Lane
July 1st, 2010
12:49 pm
I think he must be fired. Unacceptable behavior in a leader.
Just me
July 1st, 2010
12:49 pm
His refusal to take the breathalyzer does not give him a better chance of beating the rap…in fact, it almost always results in conviction. The refusal also means his license is suspended for 1 year; there goes the tailgating. Having lived and worked in Athens for many years, I can tell you there is a culture of excessive drinking at that university, and it is obviously not confined just to the immature students and football players. It was just a matter of time before something like this happened. Had this happened in Athens, Evans would have gotten a “pass”. He made the mistake of driving drunk in Buckhead, where DUI is enforced.
dawgster
July 1st, 2010
12:50 pm
First of all i want to say i like Damon alot and wish him well..with that being said, this is a huge mistake and yes we all make them, however when you are the AD at a major university and are considered a leader of young men, you just can’t put yourself in this position…I go out to dinner and very ofton have a drink or two with my meal, however my wife always, always is the designated driver..I don’t have all the facts as none of us do so i will reserve judgement, but i am thankful that there was not a wreck where someone could have been injured or killed…Everryone needs to be careful what they say until all the facts are in, but it doesn’t look good at this point…
OEJ
July 1st, 2010
12:50 pm
This sucks but oh well it is what it is, he #### up, and he has to go. I don’t think someone in that kind of leadership position should act like this. As a UGA fan i wouldn’t want to see him go but bye, hes gone. I mean look at that picture, he didnt even try to at least look or act sober. Looks like he was about to pass out any second. This is a crazy situation for himself and UGA.
Pi$$onaDawg
July 1st, 2010
12:50 pm
I am guessing this is a case of the Pot calling the Kettle WHITE drunk dawg fans! That PSA played during the Dawg games needs to feature Evans MUG SHOT to prove a point.
Cletus Dooley Earnhardt SR.
July 1st, 2010
12:50 pm
Heyy libberal “The Obveous” what in the tarnaashion is wrong with Fox? GO BACK UP NORTH TOO SOUTHH CARILLINA STINKKIN LEBERAL!
-GO UGA!
We_Run_This_Country
July 1st, 2010
12:50 pm
so THIS is how all those UNDERAGE “Dawgs” get arrested!!! The AD is purchasing the LIQUOR!! LMAO
NICE!
Rocky Topper
July 1st, 2010
12:50 pm
I enjoy giving you dawg fans a hard time, but honestly, you have a morally respectable coach who is respected on a national scale. This stuff not only tarnishes your program, but Richt’s hard work and efforts as well, which isn’t fair to him. You guys should demand an AD change. This will be used against your program in recruiting like you wouldn’t believe.
Dixie
July 1st, 2010
12:50 pm
Poetic justice!!…The most obnoxious fanbase in the entire world is lead by a drunk!!
HAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Alex
July 1st, 2010
12:51 pm
Who cares? Seriously, who cares? He is an idiot just like the other some odd thousands of people to be arrested for DUI each year. It’s not like he built this program. He is very respectable and i honestly think he is a good man. He made a mistake and he will pay for it just like everyone else. To bash him and call him an embarrassment is a bit much. Everyone makes mistakes. If I were Adams i would not fire him over this. I would give him the option to resign if he feels it would be the right thing to do, but I would also extend a hand and allow him to stay if he wanted to. People are so quick to have such knee jerk reactions to high profile people. Yes he is in a influential position of hundreds of student athletes, but if anything it is a good chance for people to learn a lesson. I am not a religious person, but im sure most of you are. And forgiveness is not something you pick and choose about. So wait to see the details, see if he is genuine in accepting his mistake and forgive the man even if he is fired/resigns. He has served your school well
Dawg Rule
July 1st, 2010
12:51 pm
Richt and evans don’t get along, so Damon will not have many friends back at the athletic dept. Maybe Michael Adams can step in and save his job.
My Friend Samuel Adams
July 1st, 2010
12:51 pm
Step down Damon or else stop making me pay extra money in donations for uniform changes, beat downs by FL and constant on the field dancing.
Me
July 1st, 2010
12:52 pm
That picture in itself will be tough to live down. It is a major embarrasment for UGA and it will be hard for him to overcome this situation.