Former University of Tennessee defensive tackle Mondre Dickerson, twice accused of rape, signed Thursday with the Tampa Bay Storm of the Arena Football League.

Dickerson pleaded guilty Aug. 10 to a misdemeanor assault charge as part of a plea deal. He was sentenced to one day short of a year on unsupervised probation as part of the agreement, approved by Knox County Criminal Court Judge Mary Beth Leibowitz.

Dickerson was charged with raping a 30-year-old woman he met at a Cumberland Avenue nightclub in June 2004. She was the second woman to accuse the former player with rape, although the first alleged incident did not result in any criminal charges.

Dickerson was first accused of rape in early 2004 by an 18-year-old woman, who told authorities the linebacker sexually assaulted her in a South Knoxville apartment. However, prosecutors concluded there was not enough evidence to charge Dickerson, who insisted the sexual encounter was consensual.

By the time the probe was concluded, Dickerson had missed the last three games of the 2003 season for violation of team rules. He went from being a projected third-or fourth-round NFL draft pick to not being drafted.

He signed with the Cincinnati Bengals, but he was released by that team just days before the second rape allegation was leveled.