Another UGA football player has been arrested -- the eighth this year. On Friday, sophomore running back Washaun Ealey was arrested after hitting a parked car and leaving the scene. He was also driving while his license was suspended.

Ealey was charged with hit-and-run of a parked vehicle and driving while suspended. The reason for Ealey's driver's license suspension is that he failed to appear at a July court hearing for a speeding ticket and a vehicle registration violation. A bench warrant was also issued when he failed to appear for court.

Because of the outstanding warrant, Ealey was required to pay bonds for the May traffic offenses in addition to those required for the charges filed on Friday. He was released from jail on bonds totaling $3,480.

Coach Mark Richt has announced that he will suspend Ealey for at least the September 4 opener against Louisiana-Lafayette. He has not yet decided whether to allow Ealey to return for the September 11 game against South Carolina.

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Coach Richt was particularly irritated with Ealey because Josh Brooks, director of football operations, and running backs coach Bryan McClendon were aware of the driver's license suspension and had already addressed it with Ealey.

"He saw them face to face and knew he had a suspended license and said he wouldn't drive," Richt said.

What Can the Bulldogs Do to Address This Rash of Player Arrests?

Eight UGA football players have been arrested since March, in addition to the DUI arrest and subsequent resignation of athletic director Damon Evans earlier this year.

Beyond the disruption to the team, this pattern of arrests is extremely concerning. The arrests have involved a range of criminal offenses. Five were for underage alcohol offenses or drunk driving. Two, including Ealey's, involved driver's license suspension violations. Three of the players involved have since been kicked off the team.

All of the charges have been misdemeanors, but most serious enough to warrant both police involvement and intervention by the University of Georgia and the football organization. And while Ealey's charges are relatively minor, they specifically involve failure to take responsibility for one's actions -- which really irritates fans and football boosters.

Ealey admitted he hit the parked car when he was confronted. However, as UGA Police Chief Jimmy Williamson points out, the "hit and run" charge is actually a violation of Georgia's "duty-upon-strike" law. As Williamson describes it, the law says "you have a responsibility when you hit an unoccupied car or other fixed object, like a fence, to report it."

On top of that, Ealey's driver's license suspension was because he failed to appear at a court hearing.

A recent editorial in the Red and Black expressed some of the disappointment many fans and football boosters are feeling.

"It's time to realize the incredible opportunities offered to you by the University," the editorial reads. "It's time to stop disappointing the 10-year-old kid who wants to be just like you someday -- minus, of course, the probation officer."

In addition to his suspension from at least one game, Ealey will be "subject to internal discipline," including a lot of extra running, according to Coach Richt, and Ealey's own behavior will determine whether he will be allowed to play on September 11.

"[H]e's got to show me that he deserves to go back," says Richt.

At the same time, the ongoing pattern seems to indicate something is going on beyond individual irresponsibility.

"I don't think we have any bad seeds on this team, said tight end Aron White. "I just think we have guys who have made silly mistakes for the most part and done things that they know better."   

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