Staying on the subject of Tennessee football….

July 9, 2010 by John Stansberry

Volunteer football players are in a fightin’ mood…literally. As many as 10 of them got into a scrap around 2 a.m. this morning:

Bar Knoxville co-owner Sandy Morton told the Times Free Press the fight started inside but spread outside, and it ended with an off-duty police officer knocked unconscious in Cumberland Avenue.

“Basically, it was a normal Thursday night — Thursday’s our big night,” Morton said. “We had all the UT football players come in. They’re on a first-name basis with my husband (and co-owner), and they get VIP status, which means they pay no cover at the door. We’ve never had a problem with them in the past, but tonight, apparently they had a falling out with another gentleman. I don’t know why. I don’t know what happened, but several of the guys started beating up the other customer. I want to guess there was seven to 10 guys beating up this one gentleman. (Chattanooga Times Free Press)

An off-duty police officer got knocked the hell out? Damn, if only Tennessee had shown that kind of fire and passion in trying to block Mt. Cody during that last second field goal attempt against Alabama. And the no cover at the door stuff? Hmmmmm…

Among the players arrested was freshman Da’Rick Rogers, the blue chipper out of Calhoun, GA. It appears Rogers is committed to replacing Nu’Keese Richardson, not necessarily as a play making wide receiver with an apostrophe in his name, but as a key Volunteer recruit who’s thug lifing his way out of Knoxville before his career has even really begun.