Georgia has 2 players arrested on reckless driving charges

Two Georgia football players were arrested on reckless driving charges this week, according to police records.

Star senior linebacker Smael Mondon Jr. was arrested late Wednesday night by Athens-Clarke County police on misdemeanor charges of reckless driving and racing on highway/streets. He was shortly after released on bond early Thursday morning.

Redshirt freshman offensive lineman Bo Hughley was arrested Tuesday evening by the University of Georgia police on misdemeanor charges of reckless driving and failure to maintain lane/improper driving on the road. He was released on bond Tuesday night.

The Georgia athletic department declined to comment Thursday but expects to address the incidents at SEC media days next week in Dallas.

The two arrests this week add to a string of reckless driving and other traffic-related incidents within the Georgia football program, including a car crash that killed player Devin Willock and team staffer Chandler LeCroy in January 2023. In relation to the fatal crash, Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle and former Bulldog Jalen Carter was charged with street racing. He received no jail time after pleading no contest to two misdemeanor charges of racing and reckless driving.

In the months after the crash, receivers De’Nylon Morrissette and Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint were also arrested on driving charges. Morrissette was arrested in early May 2023 in Oconee County in South Carolina and charged with DUI, driving too closely, driving too fast for conditions and violating Class D restrictions of not driving between midnight and 5 a.m. local time.

A few weeks after Morrissette’s arrest, Rosemy-Jacksaint was clocked going 90 miles per hour in a 45 mph zone and weaving in and out of traffic. He was charged with reckless driving and speeding-maximum limits.

In March — three months after transferring to Georgia from Florida — Trevor Etienne was arrested on four charges: DUI, reckless driving charges, failure to maintain lane/improper driving on road and affixing materials that reduce visibility of windows/windshield.

On Wednesday, Etienne reached a plea deal that dismisses the DUI charge, with the running back pleading no contest to the reckless driving charge.

Following Etienne’s arrest, coach Kirby Smart said Etienne will face university and team discipline, but chose not to specify the consequences as he has done in the past.

Last May at SEC spring meetings — following the fatal crash — Smart said “everybody wants to know what the punishment is. Well, the players know what the punishment is, and that’s important for our guys to acknowledge that and understand it. But I want to educate further, I want to make sure they understand.”

Georgia president Jere Morehead offered support of Smart at that time, saying he knows the football coach “is addressing it.”

“But I leave it up to him to determine what he wants to say publicly or not say publicly,” Morehead said. “I trust his judgment in that regard.”

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(Photo: Todd Kirkland / Getty Images)