Georgia running back Washaun Ealey, the team's leading rusher last season, has been indefinitely suspended from all team activities, sources close to the situation told ESPN.com Tuesday.
Ealey, who ran for 811 yards with 11 touchdowns in 2010, is being disciplined after failing to report for a punishment run last week, the sources said. Ealey, a junior from Stillmore, Ga., is banned from working out in Georgia's facilities or participating in any other team activities.
Ealey's suspension comes less than a week after the Bulldogs signed incoming freshman Isaiah Crowell, rated by ESPN Recruiting as the No. 1 running back prospect in the country.I can understand how the Crowell recruiting story would ruffle the former ECI running back's feathers. But it's the current scholarship tailbacks' inability to handle things both on and off the field that made the nation's #1 2011 RB recruit so vital to this class. Ealey should cut his coaches some slack instead of slacking off.
I doubt we see Ealey in the Georgia backfield again. If he proves me wrong, so be it and good for him. Right now I'm more concerned that the rest of the players in the locker room get the message that Coach Richt and staff is giving.
And to be fair, it's a message that should have been given a while back quite frankly. Who's got next? Shape up or ship out.
9 comments:
I hope Caleb gets the message!
I would think King did back in December at the latest. And it'd be nice to have a senior showing Boo and Crowell the way around the playbook.
How do you spell "last straw"? It really looks like you're either in at Georgia or you're out the door. How bad do you want to be a Dawg?
We probably won't be privy to most of the details--these kids do deserve privacy, but I wonder what, if anything, Coach Van Halanger has done to counsel the current RBs? I obviously don't know the timeline, but it seems to me that whatever happened with Ealey, it probably occurred after Van Halanger took over his new responsibilities. It seems to me, (again, I clearly know nothing about what was or wasn't said or done) that UGA really needs to work on being proactive when it comes to the off-the-field issues.
It has come down to that it seems Sports Dawg.
And I don't know what more CMR can do Jennifer. I think he put Coach Van in that position to help with this sort of thing, which it seems for lack of a better term is being reactively proactive. But this just seems to be a case of the kid not following through. I guess we can expect some difficulties with the transition from one off season program to another. But it's hard to make someone do something.
Jennifer, Coach Van Halanger can work on these issues, BUT from what we saw from Ealey last summer, he may have been a lost cause.
Be nice to see if this get tough attitude ever spills over onto Richt's favorites, Murray got a pass for his 4 to's against Florida for example, but Ealey got benched for 1 fumble.
Anonymous... Unless I missed it, Murray has not caused Coach Richt to get any phone calls in the middle of the night. In addition... Ealey wasn't benched (ie. kept off the field) at any time this season. He just lost the coaches confidence after his second and third goal line fumbles in his very short career. He still got the most carries on the team.
Next time you hear of a "values-preaching" coach giving a "bad" kid a second or third chance after screwing up... remind yourself that some of these athletes are just now facing demands for self-discipline that you mastered in grammar school. I'm not making excuses for poor behavior. Do we all recognize the abundance of "special programs" to make up for circumstances that have lent to situations with college athletes inability to adjust properly to college life. It ain't simple sport fans....a lifetime of poor habits and poor decision making is a lot to overcome. Even when you are a stud running back. Yet I see this as a positive reminder that even the stud running back has to do the right thing. Or face consequences that won't be minimized cause we need him on the field regardless of his poor behavior.
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