Georgia receiver Young suspended after arrest
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Mark Schlabach
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Mark Schlabach
ESPN Senior Writer
- Senior college football writer
- Author of seven books on college football
- Graduate of the University of Georgia
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Chris Low
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Chris Low
ESPN Senior Writer
- College football reporter
- Joined ESPN.com in 2007
- Graduate of the University of Tennessee
Georgia coach Kirby Smart said Wednesday that wide receiver Colbie Young has been suspended indefinitely from the team following his arrest early Tuesday morning on misdemeanor charges of battery and assault on an unborn child.
Smart said he met with Young on Wednesday morning.
“He’s been suspended indefinitely until this legal matter is resolved,” Smart said on the weekly SEC coaches teleconference. “We can’t really comment any further on the specifics of it, but I had a good meeting with him this morning. We’re committed to continuing to educate our players and do the best job we can of making sure they understand the serious nature of these incidents.
“It’s very unfortunate, but we want to be responsible in decision-making on and off the field. This is obviously a really tough situation.”
Young, from Binghamton, New York, was booked into the detention center at 4:18 a.m. ET and released later Tuesday on $3,800 bond. Young is at least the eighth Georgia football player arrested in 2024, although three of those players — Trevor Etienne, Smael Mondon and Sacovie White — either pleaded down or had their driving-related charges dismissed.
Young played two seasons at Miami before joining the Bulldogs in December.
According to an Athens-Clarke County Police incident report obtained by ESPN, a 20-year-old woman, who described herself as Young’s ex-girlfriend, told police that she went to his apartment around 12 a.m. ET Tuesday to discuss their relationship.
When the conversation became heated after she discovered he was on the phone with another woman, the complainant said Young “grabbed her left arm near her biceps and triceps and physically pulled her out of his room.” The woman said Young was “using derogatory terms and being demeaning of her.” She said Young went back to his room and locked the door.
The woman told police she started to collect her belongings when a friend called her phone. When she answered, the woman told police, “Mr. Young came out and grabbed her from behind. She said that he picked her up and began to squeeze her torso and abdomen very hard. She said she felt like [Young] was trying to harm her.”
The officer noted in the report that he observed a bruise and discoloration on the bottom of the woman’s chest where it meets the abdomen and redness on her right side. The police officer transported the woman to an Athens hospital for treatment.
When the officer interviewed Young, he said he escorted the woman to his front door when the conversation became contentious and denied grabbing her. When the officer asked how the woman suffered her injuries, Young said “it wasn’t from him.”
“Colbie Young was arrested last night after he asked his ex-girlfriend to leave his apartment,” Kim Stephens, Young’s attorney, told ESPN on Tuesday. “He did not make physical contact with her in any way that could ever be considered a crime. I expect Mr. Young to be fully exonerated once our investigation is complete and the truth revealed.”
The senior receiver had 11 catches for 149 yards with two touchdowns in the No. 5 Bulldogs’ first five games. He had three receptions for 51 yards in Saturday’s 31-13 victory against Auburn at Sanford Stadium. Georgia coach Kirby Smart, speaking to reporters Tuesday, didn’t get into the details of Young’s arrest, but said the string of run-ins with the law involving Georgia players has worn on everybody associated with the program.
“When you have 130 17- to 23-year-olds, you’re going to have issues,” Smart said. “It’s not going to be perfect. I certainly recognize we’ve got to do a better job, but it’s hard. It’s hard on our staff because we’ve got really good kids. We’ve got really good people, man, and our kids go out there, and they have one of the best practices we’ve had all year on a Tuesday. They’re out there competing, working. You just want them to make better decisions as men off the field. And, you know, I take a lot of responsibility for that. It’s tough, but that’s the cost of leadership.
“You’re going to be judged by the people you lead and you’ve got to stand up and face it and do right by the kids and keep trying to find a better way. I mean, we’re constantly trying to find a better way to make a difference, and that’s in everything we do in our organization.”
Former Bulldogs receiver Rodarius “Rara” Thomas was dismissed from the team Aug. 1 following his arrest on multiple family violence charges. At the time, Smart told reporters, “He can no longer be part of the football team. He understands that. We wish him the best moving forward.”
Thomas, a senior from Eufaula, Alabama, was charged with cruelty to children-family violence, a second-degree felony, and two misdemeanor counts of battery-family violence. His case is pending in Athens-Clarke County Superior Court, according to court records.
Knight’s Choice has won the 2024 Melbourne Cup, defeating Warp Speed and Okita Soushi in a thrilling finish at Flemington on Tuesday afternoon.
The massive outsider saluted for Irish-born jockey Robbie Dolan, who claimed victory in what was his first ever ride in the “race that stops a nation”.
In what was a gripping 164th staging of Australia’s most-watched thoroughbred race, Knight’s Choice proved too strong in a sprint to the finish, pulling over the top of Okita Soushi and holding off Warp Speed by the barest of margins.
Trained by John Symons and Sheila Laxon on the Sunshine Coast, Knight’s Choice was well down the betting across all markets. It was Laxon’s second Melbourne Cup triumph after she trained Ethereal to victory 23 years ago.
“This is the pinnacle of all pinnacles, this is the Melbourne Cup,” Symons said.
Zardozi rounded out the first four.
As the field approached the final few hundred metres it appeared as though Jamie Kah, aboard Okita Soushi, would become just the second woman to ride the winner in the Melbourne Cup. But Okita Soushi was swallowed up as the winning post neared, with Knight’s Choice beating Warp Speed to the line after a peach of a ride from Dolan.
“We’ll be singing tonight after a few beers,” Dolan, who was a contestant on the 2022 edition of “The Voice”, told Channel 9.
“It is amazing and a lot of people doubted this little horse. Doubt me now.”
Laxon was more than happy with the ride, with Dolan threading his way through the field from near last on the bend.
“He started the race, and he knew how to ride him. We didn’t give him instructions, he knew what to do,” she said.
“I love it being down for the Australians. The Australian horse has done it, and Robbie is Australian now as well, so I’m thrilled to win the Cup, and it is the people’s Cup, and that’s what it is all about.”
Knight’s Choice is just the sixth Australian-bred horse to win since 1993, and the first since Vow and Declare back in 2019.
The five-year-old gelding carried only 51kg to victory and was making its first start over the 3200m trip. It had most recently come off a fifth-placed finish in the Bendigo Cup, but had showed sparing little form this preparation otherwise.
“I watched every Melbourne Cup for the last 40 years. I thought my best chance was to get him to stay the trip and, hopefully, he can run home and do the quick sectionals he can on a good track and he proved everybody wrong,” Dolan said.
MILWAUKEE — The Brewers‘ starting rotation could have a new look next season with right-handers Frankie Montas and Colin Rea heading into free agency.
The Brewers announced Monday that Montas had declined his part of a $20 million mutual option for 2025. The Brewers turned down the $5.5 million club option on Rea’s contract.
Montas receives a $2 million buyout and Rea gets a $1 million buyout.
In other moves Monday, right-hander Kevin Herget was claimed off waivers by the New York Mets, and left-hander Rob Zastryzny was claimed off waivers by the Chicago Cubs. First baseman Jake Bauers and right-hander Bryse Wilson cleared waivers and were sent outright to Triple-A Nashville.
Montas, 31, had a combined 7-11 record with a 4.84 ERA and 148 strikeouts over 150⅔ innings in 30 starts for the Cincinnati Reds and Brewers this season. He was 3-3 with a 4.55 ERA in 11 starts for the Brewers, who acquired him just before the trade deadline.
Rea, 34, was 12-6 with a 4.28 ERA this season in 32 appearances, including 27 starts. He struck out 135 in 167⅔ innings. Rea had an 8.31 ERA in September and was left off the Brewers’ NL Wild Card Series roster.
Herget, 33, had no record with one save and a 1.59 ERA in seven appearances with Milwaukee this year. He was 5-1 with four saves and a 2.27 ERA in 38 relief outings with Triple-A Nashville.
Zastryzny, 32, was 1-0 with a 1.17 ERA in nine appearances with Milwaukee. He pitched in 30 games with Nashville and went 4-0 with a 3.03 ERA.
The 29-year-old Bauers batted .199 with a .301 on-base percentage, 12 homers and 43 RBIs in 116 games this season. He also hit a seventh-inning homer that broke a scoreless tie in the decisive Game 3 of the Wild Card Series with the Mets, who rallied in the ninth to win 4-2.
Wilson, who turns 27 on Dec. 20, went 5-4 with a 4.04 ERA in 34 appearances, including nine starts.
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