Georgia football players add to traffic incidents since Jan. 15 crash, records show - ESPN

Georgia football players and their cars were involved in at least 10 reports of traffic-related moving violations in Athens-Clarke County since Jan. 15, when a player and team staff member were killed in a reckless driving incident allegedly tied to racing, according to records obtained by ESPN.

Players have also been involved in least 60 additional moving violations — including speeding, distracted and reckless driving and disobeying traffic signs — since the beginning of the 2021 academic year, according to ESPN's analysis of 911 calls, police reports and court records from Athens-Clarke County. About 30 of those incidents have occurred since last summer, when coach Kirby Smart said police met with the team about the dangers of street racing.

ESPN's findings echo those in a report published Friday by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which found that police have charged Georgia players with traffic offenses nearly 300 times since Smart became head coach in 2015. The data in AJC's report included minor offenses, like failing to wear a seatbelt, as well as traffic violations from other counties and states, while ESPN's analysis focused on Athens-Clarke County and didn't account for nonmoving violations, like seatbelt and parking tickets. But the analyses shows a pattern of dangerous driving that has continued even after the death of a teammate and staff member and has frustrated police, residents, Georgia coaches and administrators.

«The Athletic Association recognizes the severity of reckless driving and is actively addressing recent incidents with educational measures, mentorship, and when necessary, punitive action. Baseless reports that suggest we tolerate this behavior are categorically false,» according to a