Update: Three more Tech players suspended – for a half
John Dewberry helped Bill Curry win in Athens in 1984. The QB was no help in Birmingham in 1985. (AJC file photo)
Update: Georgia Tech announced Sunday that three more players — defensive Anthony Egbuniwe and defensive backs Michael Peterson and Louis Young — has been suspended for the first half of Monday’s Independence Bowl. They broke curfew in Shreveport, which I believe trumps John Dewberry’s curfew-breaking in Birmingham in 1985 for sheer ingenuity.
It’s that festive time of the year when Georgia Tech lets us know which of its players won’t be playing in a bowl game. The Jackets arrived in scenic Shreveport on Thursday, just in time to offer the following release:
Shreveport, La. – Georgia Tech announced today that four football players, including two who have already earned their undergraduate degrees, will not play in Monday’s AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl because of various academic issues.
Senior defensive end Robert Hall and senior linebacker Anthony Barnes are ineligible to compete in the game against Air Force under NCAA academic guidelines. Sophomore wide receiver Stephen Hill and senior safety Mario Edwards are both ineligible for not meeting Georgia Tech academic requirements.
Of the four players, Edwards and Hill were listed as starters on the Yellow Jackets’ most recent depth chart.
A few questions: How can you earn your degree and still be academically ineligible? Has any Jacket had a more disappointing season than Hill, who was touted as the next Demaryius Thomas but who hasn’t played well and now won’t play in the bowl game at all?
There’s a time-honored Jacket tradition of players getting docked for the postseason. Usually it’s the quarterback: John Dewberry was suspended for the All-American Bowl in 1985 for breaking curfew in Birmingham, which is tough to do, and in 2006 Reggie Ball was declared ineligible for the Gator Bowl, which brought a strange career to its inevitably strange end.
These latest suspensions constitute just another installment in an ongoing Tech saga. On the bright side, the Tech Four won’t be remembered as the most egregious college football development of Dec. 23, 2010. That dishonor belongs to five Ohio State Buckeyes, chief among them quarterback Terrelle Pryor, who were suspended for five games of the 2011 season — though not for the Sugar Bowl — for NCAA violations that include receiving improper benefits from …
A tattoo parlor. Seriously.
By Mark Bradley
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372 comments Add your comment
interesting
December 23rd, 2010
8:41 pm
I guess the tech guys need those UGA basket weaving classes
g
December 23rd, 2010
8:41 pm
I just cannot get over this Ohio State thing. This makes the NCAA look really bad, not suspended for Sugar Bowl. Money at the root??
dawg4u
December 23rd, 2010
8:41 pm
All of this talk about Eddie McAshan brings me back to one of the best Tech-UGA games ever on Thanksgiving night in 1971. I was 16 years old and remember that UGA had only lost to Auburn and the great Pat Sullivan, who probably won the Heisman based on his perfomance against us. Tech was 6-3 at the time and McAshan got Tech out to a quick 14-0 lead before we woke up. Tech really dominated that game until the fourth quarter where they had a 24-21 lead and we won in the last minute with a goal line run by Jimmy Poulus. Same day as the great Oklahoma-Nebraska game won by Nebraska 35-31. The two greatest games of college football came on that day in November of 1971 and I am 56 years old now.
todd grantham
December 23rd, 2010
8:42 pm
I do believe, as Latin says, a prima facia case has been built against certain buckeyes.
Shane
December 23rd, 2010
8:44 pm
yeah im sure all those intelligent uga players all passed their classes! i guess if you majored in afro studies or sports management or music you did!
Dog kicker
December 23rd, 2010
8:46 pm
Mark Bradley, You Are A IDIOT !!
Dog kicker
December 23rd, 2010
8:46 pm
Enter your comments here
todd grantham
December 23rd, 2010
8:49 pm
i’m so disappointed said tressel
these players took a ride on this vessel
if they’d come to me
with this monetary plea
none would be in this messel
Mark (a different one)
December 23rd, 2010
8:53 pm
The secret is to have a nine person compliance organization, and fail to properly educate the players as to the rules. Ohio State threw themselves on the sword to get the NCAA to allow their players to play in the Bowl. Oh yeah, AD Smith said the athletes did it because they needed money. When asked about the discounted or free tattoos, he tried to laugh that off. At the end of the press conference, he joked about putting a tattoo artist in the athletic building so as to avoid future issues. He needs to understand that the tattoos need to be provided to the entire student body, or it will be an improper benefit to his athletes. If in doubt, maybe he should hire a different nine people for his compliance team, and then ask for guidance.
UGA has suspended players this year that were not required to be suspended by the NCAA. Ask King and King (running back and receiver) for two examples.
I am curious how someone can graduate and not be academically eligible. Any chance of an explanation that doesn’t violate these players rghts? I am a dawg fan but I will be pulling for Tech Monday.
Reggie Ball
December 23rd, 2010
9:01 pm
Marbury and me don’t think Tech was that hard
Tech Man
December 23rd, 2010
9:07 pm
Let’s get down to serious issues. How do we get rid of Hewitt…………….
JB
December 23rd, 2010
9:08 pm
Unlike at Tech, every time Reggie throws a suit case on the conveyor belt, he hits it. Fly Air Tran
JB
December 23rd, 2010
9:09 pm
TECH MAN……………………..7 big ones………..As in millions
Skitty Fritty
December 23rd, 2010
9:10 pm
Bruce Mac:
How does UGA beating Mercer by 3 resemble GT losing to KSU? I know Tech men think they are smart but I am not following your logic on this one.
JB
December 23rd, 2010
9:14 pm
Tech ought to sue Ex AD Braine…………….He must of been mad at Tech, and did that contract on purpose, almost did y’all in also resigning Gailey for 5 years when y’all were grumbling.
D A Double U G
December 23rd, 2010
9:14 pm
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
We as UGA fans are told ALL THE TIME how Georgia Tech ONLY recruits the TRUE STUDENT-athletes.
We as UGA fans are ridiculed constantly by Georgia Tech fans(sic) saying that our athletes are dumb as dirt and do not care about academics.
We as UGA fans think this yearly tradition is HILLARIOUS!!!!!!!
Robert Hall is more embarassing than ANY UGA player who has had toruble. He beat a woman AND is an idiot academically.
TECH ATHLETICS ARE A SHAM!!!!!!!!
42-34
9-1
61-39-5
YOU SUCK!!!!!
Don't Ask Don't Tell
December 23rd, 2010
9:14 pm
The picture in this article coincides perfectally with the repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell”. Dewberry thinks Curry is dreamy!
JB
December 23rd, 2010
9:15 pm
Dewberry has become rich, this Dawg fan knows.
Don't Ask Don't Tell
December 23rd, 2010
9:17 pm
I think Curry has done pretty well for himself also.
rxdawg79
December 23rd, 2010
9:18 pm
@Dirty Jacket: Don’t know if UGA has ever suspended a player who met NCAA qualifications, but they have denied admission to such players in the past. Some high profile kid a couple of years ago who was rejected by Adams, but his name escapes me. Think he went on to enroll at Arkansas.
Don’t know about MB’s allegedly anti-Tech bias. He was one of those writers who proclaimed CPJ the greatest coach in history just a couple of years ago. Seems to me he’s a bit hyperbolic on both sides of the fence.
Skitty Fritty
December 23rd, 2010
9:22 pm
I don’t think MB is anti-Tech. The article after the Tech loss in football praised CPJ for letting UGA score. Personally, thought it was pretty anti-UGA to praise the coach of the losing team but I guess it depends on your viewpoint.
D A Double U G
December 23rd, 2010
9:28 pm
I also find it VERY, VERY, VERY amusing that so many Tech fans are on here trying to discuss the Ohio State players.
Admit it Techies…. this EMBARRASSES YOU!!!!!
INELIGIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!
D A Double U G
December 23rd, 2010
9:33 pm
WHen asked about this situation, the only answers the Techies can come up with, is justifying it with UGA players transgressions.
That to me, is a TRUE sign of weakness.
(((((Tech’s players are dumber than UGA players)))))
D A Double U G
December 23rd, 2010
9:34 pm
I
N
E
L
I
G
I
B
L
E
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
Quick Techies!!!! Think of something a UGAplayer or Ohio State player did to justify your boys being STUPID!!!!!!
dog 2
December 23rd, 2010
9:48 pm
NErds, hahahaha, remeber Tyrone Sorells, flunks out of UGA nd enrolls at nerd U on North Ave… give me a break half your team goes to Ga State.. once a dumb nerd always a dumb nerd!
Im just saying
December 23rd, 2010
9:49 pm
DA double douche…I seriously doubt ugump players could even become academically ineligible. BTW how many points do you get for a three made point shot?
D A Double U G
December 23rd, 2010
9:52 pm
im just saying,
Thank you, son. You jus proved a point i made in a post right above yours.
The ONLY justification you have for your players being DUMB AS A BRICK is to crack something on UGA players.
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!
Your “student” athletes are a MUCH bigger joke than UGA’s
42-34
St. Clarkston
December 23rd, 2010
10:00 pm
That 1985 photo was one of about 4 tech wins in the last 25 years.
Kevin
December 23rd, 2010
10:01 pm
haha congrats nerds. The one thing “you had on us” once again just gets thrown back in your face. Hate us all you want, but in the end we’re just better than you
Old Gold
December 23rd, 2010
10:06 pm
Bradley, you are a tool…i already miss Terrance and his race card beeeatch cynthia…You suckit
D A Double U G
December 23rd, 2010
10:16 pm
St Richster is 9-1 against Georgia Tech.
St Richster is 2-1 against the biggest “genius” in college footbal history, Paul Johnson.
GT '06
December 23rd, 2010
10:17 pm
Hall and Barnes were redshirt seniors and only needed so many hours to graduate and had to take extra hours to meet NCAA eligability rules, and likely didn’t pass those classes, or something to that effect.
Hill and Edwards didn’t meet GEORGIA TECH’S requirements, meaning they probably met NCAA requirements, but Tech holds their athletes to higher standards, so they have to sit.
D A Double U G
December 23rd, 2010
10:20 pm
But wait, St Richster “should have” lost the 2 wins againt the “genius” right???
So in Tech’s eyes, St Richster is 7-1-2 Moral Victories in Tech’s Favor against Georgia Tech.
D A Double U G
December 23rd, 2010
10:21 pm
GT 06′,
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!! “Tech’s Standards”????????????/
Get off the dream boat son!!!!! Your players are STUPID!!!!!!
GT '06
December 23rd, 2010
10:23 pm
@D A Double U G – When you work your butt off to earn ANY degree, let alone one from Tech, then come talk to me about intelligence
D A Double U G
December 23rd, 2010
10:24 pm
30-24
73-66
42-34
73-72
How have the last 2 seasons worked out for you Techies against UGA????
D A Double U G
December 23rd, 2010
10:28 pm
Here is the power of the “mighty” triple option.
GT 06′ makes an appearance at :34
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KDrPUcUsFY
D A Double U G
December 23rd, 2010
10:31 pm
Maybe Tech should quit recruiting such dumb thugs??
Kevin
December 23rd, 2010
10:34 pm
hahaha beautiful video. Ok buddy you keep “working your butt off.” Look at where it’s gotten you; I take it you graduated from Heck in ‘06 and you’re still here patrolling the AJC blogs… congrats loser
Just saying!!!
December 23rd, 2010
10:35 pm
Tech sux!
Just saying!!!
December 23rd, 2010
10:38 pm
Your players are not any smarter than any others playing Division I football…tech fans just talk it up like they are. And don’t give me this bullcrap about how the classes are tougher. SEC football is tougher than ACC football so cry me a river.
Tech sux and will always suck!
dawgfan
December 23rd, 2010
10:40 pm
Yes Techies, please explain to us how someone can graduate from “The Institute” and still be academically ineligible according to the NCAA. I guess you need to be an engineer to understand it because I don’t get it.
What do a septic tank and a Tech fan have in common? They’re both full of crap.
Just saying!!!
December 23rd, 2010
10:44 pm
AND don’t give me this crap about they took the minimum amount of hours because they already graduated…if they were sooooooooo d@mn smart they would have applied to grad school and been eligible for the bowl game and next year. Tech fans are as stupid as their players and COACH man boobs!!! HAHAHAHA
GT '06
December 23rd, 2010
10:45 pm
@D A Double U G – I’m so hurt. I’m glad you get your self worth off of something you never accomplished. How many of those victories by UGA did you play or coach in? My hat goes off to those guys, not to guys who sit in their basement and try so hard to put themselves above others. If you’re so awesome at football how about we put on some pads and go at it…???
@ Kevin – Is getting a job right out of college and being the youngest professional in your national company for THREE years count before someone came in younger count… just curious. And no, I’m not a janitor
D A Double U G
December 23rd, 2010
10:46 pm
I think it’s safe to say that December 23rd, 2010 is the day that Tech athletic academics have been EXPOSED.
I wouldn’t doubt it if an investigation follows, and serious probation is handed down.
Honestly Techies (and without stuttering and making a UGA joke), explain to us how a player graduates and still is ruled ineligible by the NCAA.
EXPOSED.
42-34
GT '06
December 23rd, 2010
10:47 pm
@ dawgfan – read my earlier post
@ Just saying – you’re right, they probably should have applied for grad school
kevin
December 23rd, 2010
10:47 pm
a tradition and usually a qb? you named one…not much of a tradition….caleb king is apparently ineligible for your dawgs….didnt he get arrested this year too? mark you are a true moron
Glenn
December 23rd, 2010
10:47 pm
Have the UGA academic suspensions been announced yet? I’ve heard several key players are there, including Caleb King…
Kevin
December 23rd, 2010
10:48 pm
ehhh i would say plumber falls into the janitor category
Gator Mike
December 23rd, 2010
10:49 pm
I feel bad for Ga Tech, but I am loving the fact that all of the yankees in/from Ohio now have their Buckeyes in the sewer. What a buch of jerks. The fact that they are being allowed to play in the bowl game only serves to further show how corrupt the BCS really is these days. Woody Hayes would kick these clowns off the team, but tressel wiil b his usual milk toast as the Hogs smoke the buckeyes.
The game is now being run by skunks with no pride.
Go Razorbacks!