Tennessee WR Da'Rick Rogers Among Those Arrested At Knoxville Bar

Tennessee Vol receiver, Da'Rick Rogers, along with as many as six to 10 of his Volunteer teammates, were allegedly involved in the assault of an off-duty police officer at a local bar. Below is a recount of what happened as told by the bar's co-owner, Sandy Morton:

"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.

"All the security then rushed in and were trying to break it up. My husband saw them picking up bar stools and starting to swing them. We got them out the door with security. There happened to be a friend of ours who was an off-duty police officer outside. He tried to help, and he ended up getting knocked out in the street and proceeded to be kicked while he was down on the ground in the middle of Cumberland.

"That’s basically the gist of it." (Chattanooga Times Free Press, 7/09/10)

Well, we appreciate your honesty, Sandy. The first question I have to know the answer to is this, why on earth are you giving VIP status to Tennessee players at your bar?

Furthermore, I'm not up on every single NCAA bylaw, but, I'm pretty sure that it's an NCAA violation to give gifts to a Division-I football player. Did you miss the part where she said the players are on a "first name basis" and "pay no cover at the door?"

Hellllooooooooo, that's a big no-no.

I will reserve full judgment on Mr. Rogers for now as it is possible that he was simply a bystander to all the action. However, it goes without saying that it was probably not the best idea to be within a handcuff of this fight.

From reading what Ms. Morton had to say about the overall attitude of the players they serve, this seemed like an inevitability,

"We have a strict dress code, and they’ll try to cross the line as much as they can," she said. "They’ll try to come in without ID, but we’re very strict on ID. We’re very strict on underage drinking. We’ve had small occasions where we’ve had to throw a couple of them out for underage drinking. An overage friend will buy them a drink.

"That’s the typical problems we’ve had, but we’ve never had a fight. This is our first, and it will be our last."

Hmmm, on second thought, maybe Ms. Morton shouldn't say too much about how her establishment caters to football players, "...they'll try to cross the line as much as they can?"...nooooooo, really? You don't think by granting them "VIP-status" that you in effect give them a sense of entitlement?

The assault that took place at Bar Knoxville was unfortunate. Jokes aside, Derek Dooley doesn't need this controversy hovering over his program to start the season. It's a headache and a public relations nightmare. I sincerely hope that the number of players speculated to have been involved is a lot less than has been reported thus far.

No additional names have been released as of yet but, it's safe to assume, they will be revealed as soon as the charges are filed.

In the meantime, Rogers has been charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest by the University of Tennessee Police Department.