Georgia’s Commings, Vasser remorseful after 2-game suspensions
Georgia's Chase Vasser, here tackling South Carolina's Marcus Lattimore last season, brings much more experience to the strongside outside lilnebacker position. (UGA photo)
ATHENS – Georgia’s Sanders Commings contradicted himself Tuesday. On one hand he said the hardest thing about his two-game suspension was having to sit home and watch the Missouri game Saturday. Later, he said the toughest part was the shame he felt from the seemingly endless stream of media reports that came out the past six months.
The bottom line, Commings said, is it has been a long and hard road, and he is glad it’s over. Commings and linebacker Chase Vasser were reinstated this week after two-game suspensions for offseason arrests. Both players will play their first games of the season Saturday night against Florida Atlantic.
“It was pretty tough,” said Commings, who spoke to reporters for the first time since his January 21 arrest for domestic violence. “But it’s been a learning experience. … I’ve learned that I need to put myself around people who bring the best out of me.”
Commings pleaded guilty to simple battery and disorderly conduct in February. Vasser was arrested and charged with DUI in Buckhead in May. Vasser received an automatic two-game suspension per UGA’s student-athlete handbook.
“It was a rude awakening,” said Vasser, a junior who started three games at strongside linebacker last season. “I’m definitely embarrassed by it. I definitely learned my lesson and I’m definitely going to help anybody who happens to get into the same situation. Once it happened I told the coaches I’m going to come back strong.”
Punishment for Commings’ misdemeanor arrest was left to the discretion of coach Mark Richt. Commings said initially he “was surprised” to get two games. He appealed the suspension but said he “waited too late” and found out the middle of last week he wouldn’t make the trip to Columbia, Mo.
“He needed to be disciplined for what he did,” Richt said. “The amount of time that was spent was appropriate. It’s one thing to miss a game. That hurts them, and they don’t like that. But part of the punishment is also what you have to live with as a person because of all the attention that it gets.”
Commings remained in Athens and watched the game on TV with former teammate Jeremy Longo. He said he was relieved the Bulldogs pulled out the 41-20 victory.
“I’d have been pretty down if we would’ve lost,” he said. “… Our guys were so pumped up. It was an environment you want to play in, a hostile environment. I was glad we got the win.”
Vasser watched the game at home in Gainesville with his parents, which he said was “stressful because they were freaking out over the game. I didn’t like it.”
Vasser said he was getting extra attention Tuesday from defensive coordinator Todd Grantham, who doubles as his position coach.
“He had a little fun getting after me,” Vasser said. “He knows when he yells at me it makes me mad. . . . My goal is to come back and pretty much punish the man in front of me.”
Commings and Vasser were two of four defensive starters who missed the Missouri game because of disciplinary suspensions. Inside linebacker Alec Ogletree and free safety Bacarri Rambo were left home because of undisclosed violations of team rules. However, it has been widely reported they are serving four-game suspensions because of second violations of UGA’s marijuana-use policy.
Because that is considered an “internal” matter, the Bulldogs have been vague about the reason of their absences and remained so Tuesday. “We’ll wait to see for sure what happens,” Richt said.
With the All-American Rambo out, former walk-on Connor Norman has started at free safety. Commings has started multiple games at safety and could play there. That would allow the Bulldogs to stick with converted receiver Malcolm Mitchell at boundary corner, where they’ve been quite pleased.
“He’s a guy that’s going to play both corner and safety for us,” defensive coordinator Todd Grantham said of Commings. “He played that last year and he’s been playing both for us the last couple of weeks, so he’ll play at both positions on Saturday.”
The Bulldogs welcomed back their disciplined comrades with open arms.
“Having them back just makes us that much deeper,” All-American outside linebacker Jarvis Jones said. “Having those younger guys get that experience and play and learn, especially in a big game like Missouri, where they can get the jitter-bugs out, that’s going to help us down the stretch.”
Said Jenkins: “Man, I feel good about it. They’re weapons we weren’t able to use the first two games. Now, since we were able to manage without them, to have them back is a big relief, because we know what kind of capabilities that they have from a team standpoint. To have those guys back feels as if everything’s starting to come together.”
MORE ON GEORGIA FOOTBALL
- Sanders Commings: ‘Missing games probably easiest part’
- Notebook: Add Richt to Bulldogs’ injured list
- A look at Georgia’s next opponent — Florida Atlantic
- Missouri’s Sheldon Richardson apologizes to Richt, Bulldogs
- Notebook: Bulldogs eager to get back suspended teammates
- ESPN2 picks up Vandy game for 7:45 p.m. kickoff
- Notebook: Offense, defense or both for Malcolm Mitchell?
- Accolades pour in for Jarvis Jones following Missouri performance
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101 comments Add your comment
Jam Kenp
September 12th, 2012
10:44 am
Boys will be boys and now lets talk about them going to class.
Joey
September 12th, 2012
11:01 am
Wow! Never knew we were in such fine company. Why, who would have thought each and every one of these techies was a teetotaler, as well as a model husband and/or boyfriend – all pillars of their communities!
Self-righteous hypocrites.
WDE
September 12th, 2012
11:19 am
Welcome back lads now lets GATA!
AltamahaDawg
September 12th, 2012
11:22 am
Oh, I realized they were all that. What is more impressive to me is how the techies are also the experts on everybody else’ thoughts and motives. You just can’t get that kind of skill at the lowly State University.
UGA O team
September 12th, 2012
11:39 am
I am concenred about Georgia’s offense. It is sluggish and we have starts and stops and we sputter. Maybe the O line is the cause of it.
We seem to rely too much on the home run balls that take far too long for Murray. he ends up being sacked. I like the quick shots and slants.
The running game is really non existant. Keith Marshall has yet to impress anyone and Malcome is good for 35 yds-45 yds per game but he cannot break one. If Murray runs, and gets hurt, we would be in deep Trouble, although I do think # 2 QB LeMay can eventually help UGA’s offense with his running and passing.
This will come to the forefront in the upcoming bigger SEC games, I fear.
Gooooooooooooo Dogs.
kingdaddy
September 12th, 2012
11:52 am
UGA O
If we lose to Vandy or UT then you can worry. The Dawgs are improving as a team. We should be 5-0 going into SC and we should be hitting on all cylinders by then. Calm down, this season is shaping up just fine…
aprilglaspie
September 12th, 2012
12:15 pm
hahahahaha : Like tthat’s wht happened you moron. Nutcas ex-girlfriend tracked the guy down in the street and attacked him. How would you have reacted? . . .If you had a nutso ex-girlfriend?…Or ever had a girlfriend?
UGA89
September 12th, 2012
12:33 pm
I agree Aprilglaspie…
I think the woman got mad at Sanders and started yelling at him and got up in his face. He pushed her away. My understanding is that CMR suspended him just for being in that situation because it looked for Sanders and UGA.
Uh oh, it was just announced on ESPN that 4 LSU football players have been declared academically ineligible for the 2012 season including starting LB Tahj Jones.
UGA89
September 12th, 2012
12:34 pm
*because it looked BAD for Sanders and UGA.
Lesson Lurned
September 12th, 2012
12:42 pm
Yeah, same story, different verse. Nothing against second chances, but these guys get the world handed to them for playing football and then screw up on a regular basis. I don’t “know these guys personally” but do know they are 2 more in a long line of UGA stellar recruits who get into trouble.
And yes, realize it’s not only at UGA, but with the constant deluge of Dwag Nation we have to hear and read, it’s pathetic that this broken record continues to be played.
DIT
September 12th, 2012
1:00 pm
Geeeez, there are haters on here that are experts in everything: Football, Discipline, the law etc. How on earth do y’all keep up with all of it………….
Seriously, keep it coming. For the most part it’s pretty humorous stuff. However, there is that small part of it that is very sad. Especially when the persons colors come out that show they are truly envious!!
Side note – if Gtbob is a graduate of GT then I’m a graduate of Harvard!! (hint – I never stepped foot on the campus)
AltamahaDawg
September 12th, 2012
1:07 pm
So when you say “second chance” you mean that the stardard you are using is that IF an athlete gets into any trouble they should have thier scholarships reduced? And them being allowed to return is a deviatiion from that. Which is a legitamate position, I’m just trying to understand what you are saying.
A “second chance” would mean that there was some sort of an additional chance given, would it not.
To me, it’s much more accurate to say that the real standard is that these guy ARE on the team, they got in trouble,and they paid (whatever the given penalty is). I don’t see where their “chances” are in play.
DIT
September 12th, 2012
1:14 pm
For all the haters. Yes, UGA is the ONLY Football program with players getting suspended or kicked out of school.
http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/8369773/lsu-tigers-tahj-jones-three-other-players-ruled-ineligible-season
AltamahaDawg
September 12th, 2012
1:15 pm
What sort of semester does LSU use that they have grades being final in Mid September?
Whiznot
September 12th, 2012
1:22 pm
According to Saint Richt domestic violence and DUI are less serious than smoking pot??? Georgia needs a coach who isn’t a total idiot!
AltamahaDawg
September 12th, 2012
1:33 pm
Well, smoking pot carries half the penalty than those 2 criminal charges, so how can that be? “according” to you?
AltamahaDawg
September 12th, 2012
1:38 pm
Smoking pot ( or more accurately knows as breaking internal rules)
1st offense, 1 game suspension
2nd offense, 4 game suspension
DUI and (other arrests)
1st offense, 2 game suspension
2nd offense, dismisal
AltamahaDawg
September 12th, 2012
1:51 pm
Well?
Idiot.
Mobile Dawg
September 12th, 2012
1:52 pm
A bit off the subject but I sure wish it was Vandy this week instead of Fla Atlantic. I’m thinking we should go to nine conference games. It would surely be more interesting.
Mobile Dawg
September 12th, 2012
1:54 pm
Altamaha, you’re starting to sound like Lex using the “I” word. Can’t ever recall you calling someone a name.
AltamahaDawg
September 12th, 2012
2:08 pm
I was just agreeing with Whiznot’s own words there.
He seemed pretty sure that any person who had those penalties backwards was a “total idiot”. Who am I to argue with him.
AltamahaDawg
September 12th, 2012
2:11 pm
So what is the deal at LSU? Tthose players had the grades to play on Sept.8*th, but not on Sept. 15th?
WDE
September 12th, 2012
2:16 pm
@AltamahaDawg their LB has not played this year not sure on the others.
RedandBlackDAWG
September 12th, 2012
2:20 pm
UGA O team
September 12th, 2012
11:39 am
I think you are being a little too harsh on UGA’s offense. I think that they are performing pretty good considering the freshmen and first year starters on the offense. Give the OL a few more games to gel as a unit, and they will be just fine. Marshall, once he gets a decent hole to run through, gets his yards and Gurley’s play speaks for itself. Once the OL is fully functional, you will see the TE’s get involved in the passing game more, and you will see a much better running game, although it isn’t that bad right now. These kids are learning still under fire, and I think doing a fairly good job. Practices can only prepare you so much, but you learn best with OJT, the same as these young men are learning now.
AltamahaDawg
September 12th, 2012
2:23 pm
ah, so they were held out? So they knew this was an issue, and this is just the final word from whatever appeal?
ARdawg
September 12th, 2012
2:26 pm
It’s just too difficult to post on here without calling some of these GT nerds the idiots that they are. Impossible, no matter how genteel one may be.
Bee Ess
September 12th, 2012
2:56 pm
It’s ludicrous to say these goons are sorry for what they did. They’re only sorry they got caught.
damngooddawg!
September 12th, 2012
3:04 pm
Dear Bee Ess, don’t be a hater. Life’s too short. You’re gonna get an ulcer going around playing God and deciding what’s in others’ hearts. I’m sure with your clean track record that you have never had occasion to need a 2nd chance.
AltamahaDawg
September 12th, 2012
3:23 pm
Ah , what we would pay to see you walk up to Mr. Vasser and call his kid a goon. Now THAT would be worth the price of a hotdog and coke.
Joey
September 12th, 2012
4:01 pm
“Ah , what we would pay to see you walk up to Mr. Vasser and call his kid a goon. Now THAT would be worth the price of a hotdog and coke.
**********************************
Dang, I wish I woulda written that . . .
And Mobile Dawg, AD picked a good time to use the “I” word. Sometimes, it’s the only noun that applied in this case.
AltamahaDawg
September 12th, 2012
4:26 pm
One of the few words I spelled correctly today.
AltamahaDawg
September 12th, 2012
4:29 pm
I suppose I should have stated that in terms that tech fans can understand:
…. that would be worth the (equivalent cash value) of a hotdog and coke.
Big Earl
September 12th, 2012
4:29 pm
Does anybody know….I thought that the UGA policy on 2nd offense marijuana was to miss 30% of regular season games. If so, that would mean that Rambo and Tree could come back @ the 9 minute mark of the 3rd quarter in the Vandy game?
Big Earl
September 12th, 2012
4:33 pm
@Altamaha….big fan of your posts…but what the heck does Altamaha mean?
Joey
September 12th, 2012
4:49 pm
May I, AlamahaDawg?
Big Earl, the Altamaha is the biggest (in terms of discharge and width) river in the state of Georgia. Two rivers, the Oconee, and the Ocmulgee, combine near Lumber City to form the Altamaha, which then runs past Baxley, then Jesup, swiftly and treacherously, until just north of Brunswick, empties into the Atlantic Ocean.
No fish whatsoever in it (wink, wink) so don’t bother wetting a hook . . .
AltamahaDawg
September 12th, 2012
5:08 pm
No water in it either, right now.
I was just thinking what a fan I am of the blog name “Big Earl”. Of cource that could be skewed slighly because the compliment to me, but yea…thats a good name.
AltamahaDawg
September 12th, 2012
5:13 pm
Don’t forget about the Ohoopee
Named for a Yamassee Indian Chief, Alatamaha
Joey
September 12th, 2012
5:31 pm
It’s crazy that the St Marys River, which I live on, has been breaking records in flood height, but 180 miles north, in the Milledgeville area, there is still an ongoing drought. That keeps Ga Power from releasing any water from the Lake Sinclair hydro-electric dam into the Oconee River, which in ordinary conditions, keeps the Altamaha levels fairly stable.
I love that muddy river, and have fished every bit of it, from above Lumber City, to a couple miles past the I-95 bridge north of Brunswick, and it has the most remarkable abundance of largemouth bass of any place I have fished, which includes many lakes and rivers in Florida.
Joey
September 12th, 2012
5:38 pm
I have been so far up the Ohoopee River that I had to back my boat for a quarter mile before I could turn it around. But nobody else tried it that day. I had it to mayself and won a big bass tournament out of Baxley.
Black water – like the St Marys. I was right at home.
Paddy
September 12th, 2012
8:51 pm
For Commings & Vasser to go public with remorse is just not right. That needs to be within the team & their family. If I would have done that at that age, my dad would have kicked my ass. Privacy needs to be protected Keep your mouth shut, go back to work and earn the respect. This social media and the need to have everyone know your buiness is disgusting. Nobody needs to know you are sorry but your family and teammates. Self respect is a lost art!!!!.
Under The Bleachers
September 12th, 2012
9:40 pm
Looks like Pinkel saw what everyone else thought they saw last saturday night,
“He was in a scrum, a big pile of players,” Pinkel said of Franklin. “It wasn’t because it wasn’t snapped that it slid off. You couldn’t tell what happened underneath there. … One was a third-down play when we were backed up on our 10-yard line. It presents a problem. We’re going to try to get the snaps better on his helmet. I don’t know really what else to do.
“I just hope it doesn’t happen again. I’ve been doing this for 35 years and have never had to pull a quarterback out for a play and put him back in. And by the way, he didn’t take his helmet off.”
Under The Bleachers
September 12th, 2012
9:44 pm
Whiners and crying over suspension of dumb selfish athletes who are not relevant anywhere but with UGA fans….too funny,,,,
kingdaddy
September 12th, 2012
11:12 pm
Joey & Altamaha
Y’all are making me cry! OMG, the fish stories we could tell. My uncle always made me paddle the boat(even though we had a motor) so he could fish. Monsters on the St.Marys and the Alt. Grandad lived in Woodbine and my uncle( The Godfather) lived by the St.Marys. Back then, preachers had to fish to eat…Nahhhh, I’m lying, they just loved to fish. Both sides of my family. Lord at the fish stories…Go Dawgs…
kingdaddy
September 13th, 2012
7:44 am
I wonder if the trolls just wake-up, run to their computer and start bashing UGA, or if they have a cup of coffee first, hmmmmmmmmm???
Tech Yellow Baby!
September 13th, 2012
8:14 am
This just means that Rambo & Ogletree get 2 more weeks to burn weed wid they homeys !
Paddy
September 13th, 2012
9:05 am
Under the Bleachers…………..Pinkel had never had to take a player out for one snap and then put him back in, in his 35 years of coaching. Reason why: It has never been a rule until now!!! Hello!!!
AltamahaDawg
September 13th, 2012
10:09 am
Bass fishing the Altamaha with success, all I can say is…..respect.
That’s never been easy IMO, But I really haven’t giving it much of a effort. Recreating more on that river for me. I think everything I own has some Alt. sand stuck in the corners. More of a salt water angler. Althought I have spend many a day in the Altamaha/Buttermilk sound fishing, just not up the river much. Caught a few bass in the Champney.
kingdaddy
September 13th, 2012
2:00 pm
Alt
back in the 60s, we fished the “slews” off the Altamaha around Jesup. That art of the river was swift and deep and dangerous. Cottonmouth creek. Fantastic “canepole” fishing. Couldn’t find it now to save my life. Only got one uncle left who could find it…
Georgia’s Commings and Vasser feel free again – Macon Telegraph (blog) | Living in athens
September 13th, 2012
7:05 pm
[...] Atlanta Journal Constitution [...]
Honey boy
September 15th, 2012
9:10 am
Ok…did wrong, got caught, received punishment, served the time meted out, get back on the field…. Simple…. So shut the F up and play some football! Stop the amateur philosophizing and legal eagle poseur bs and pass the Cheetos…..