Clinton Police Chief Rick Scarbrough has publicly apologized for allowing a University of Tennessee football player charged Sunday with drunken driving to earlier speak at a Drug Abuse Resistance Education ceremony for students.
Britton Colquitt, 22, spoke in late January about the dangers of drug and alcohol use to 140 Clinton school system fifth-graders graduating from DARE training.
The all-SEC punter was arrested and charged early Sunday morning with drunken driving and leaving the scene of an accident.
Colquitt's earlier run-ins with the law over alcohol-related offenses resurfaced Monday following his arrest.
"I apologize for allowing Mr. Colquitt to be our speaker and accept full responsibility," Scarbrough said in the letter addressed to students, parents and Clinton residents.
"He (Colquitt) should have been screened more closely, possibly disclosed information himself, and not been allowed to address our group by the university," Scarbrough's letter states.
"I was kind of surprised they (UT officials) let him come," Scarbrough said Tuesday of Colquitt's DARE speech.
The university wasn't asked to allow Colquitt to speak at the DARE graduation, UT athletics department spokeswoman Tiffany Carpenter said.
"They went directly to the family, and we were unaware of the speaking engagement," Carpenter said Tuesday afternoon.
Scarbrough said Clinton School Director Vicki Violette was "obviously upset" over Colquitt giving a speech to students who just completed a course emphasizing the dangers of drug and alcohol use.
"We should have done a better job of screening our candidate," Scarbrough said of Colquitt's speaking invitation.
Still, Scarbrough said, Colquitt "did a very good job" in warning students about the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse.
Colquitt's subsequent DUI arrest and the resulting loss of his athletic scholarship "is a lesson that supports the curriculum of DARE," the police chief's letter states.
"Let this be a reminder how devastating the use of alcohol and drugs can be," it continues.
Scarbrough said Clinton Police Department Detective Jim Campbell, a former professional football placekicker, knows Colquitt's father, Craig Colquitt.
The police chief said Campbell contacted Craig Colquitt and asked whether his son would be available to speak at the DARE ceremony.
"I can only assume that his family may have felt that supporting DARE was a way for Britton to confront his dependency issues," Scarbrough's letter states.
"I'm sure his family felt he was back on the road to recovery," Scarbrough said Tuesday.
Now 25 years old, the DARE program involves a series of classroom programs led by police officers teaching children how to resist peer pressure to use drugs and alcohol.
Bob Fowler, News Sentinel Anderson County editor, may be reached at 865-481-3625.
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Comments » 65
Homermoosevols writes:
Everybody point the finger...Everyone is responsible for this embarrassment i.e. Colquitt, Fulmer, assistant coaches, Colquitt parents, the university, his teammates, fans, his girlfriend, Budweiser, Jack Daniels, the homeless guy on Cumberland who talks to himself, etc etc...What this world needs is people who take accountability for their mistakes...PERIOD. For the record, I would have loved to hear his speech to these children.
TommyJack writes:
Nice investigatory work, Chief.
utcomvol (Inactive) writes:
This police chief apparently lives on the moon to not know of Colquitt's four prior alcohol related run-ins with the law. He's just trying to cover his rear saying the school shouldn't have let Britton do the speach. Maybe UT thought the DARE program was using Colquitt as a way of showing how to turn your life around after prior mistakes since it had been a while since his last citation/arrest. Regardless of all this, Colquitt should not be on the team anymore. Phil is so inconsistent with his punishment its ridiculous.
utchris writes:
There were less articles about LSU winning the National Championship than Colquitt and his DUI. Enough already.
utvolz#637682 writes:
This is clearly a knee-jerk overreaction to this weekend's DUI. Britton's prior alcohol-related mistakes were clearly public knowledge. Good grief Chief; surely you were never a detective!
Frank in Miami
pdhuff#552644 writes:
tngeoff where does this snowball stop and how big is it going to get? Its getting close to enuf.
HotlantaVol writes:
Steve Martin in Leap of Faith: "And I say to you tonight, if you want to give up the bottle, who you gonna talk to? Someone who's never touched a drop? And if you want to give up womanizing, who you gonna talk to, some pale-skinned virgin priest? And if you want to give up sin, and I believe everyone here tonight wants to give up sin, who can lead you off that crooked road? You need a real sinner people!! A sinner of such monumental proportions that all your sins wrapped up together in one couldn't possible equal this king of sins. Because you know if he can walk that straight and righteous path, if he can go from grit to grace, from sin to sanctity, from lowliness to holiness, that you, with all your everyday sins, can rise up like an angel and ride that golden elevator to God's own penthouse in the sky!!"
HotlantaVol writes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnXxUU...
volfan1511 writes:
wbk and utvolz being from near the area i wouldnt even go through Clinton if i were you unless you want pulled over and searched for having a dim license plate light or something. Scarbrough has no room to talk period about other people or their families if anyone is from the area and knows what im talking about. Get back on track Britton and make it to the NFL
dfreeman writes:
Was this "chief" a detective before?? I sure hope not! If he didn't do a little investigating before bringing the kid to speak it's all his fault! He's got egg on his face and he wants to blame the University and Colquitt!!
rbatten9#231828 writes:
Is it time to pound the fritter again?
CoverOrange writes:
Wait a minute. Don't rehabilitated criminals get sent out on community service talks all the time as examples of how they went wrong? Why does the chief have to apologize for anything? Or did the chief think he managed a coup by getting A UT FOOTBALL PLAYER under the guise of community service?
Yes, Britton apparently wasn't rehabilitated enough but only Britton knew that then.
GoVol writes:
I hope that Colquitt gets the professional help that it appears he needs. Based on the number of alcohol related incidents he's been involved in, it certainly appears he could have a serious problem that needs to be dealt with quickly and professionally.
Good luck Dustin...wish you the best.
Now, as far as this story goes....looks like another situation that will bring the University and the KPD relationship closer (sarcasm of course).
pdhuff#552644 writes:
rbatten9 2:04 - LOL -a fritter is always positive, pounded or not. Rarely is one pulled over by the police for doobing a fritter.
Anything that's an inch thick and 7 1/2" across with a pure apple center covered in sugar has got to be good for you. Cheaper than hitting tree stumps, too. Fritters rule.
vscebail#247785 writes:
Thank goodness we have basketball to cheer us up for the short-comings of the Football Team. --LOL!!!!! -- I can't believe I just wrote that! --HA-HA-HA-HA!!! --Can you imagine someone wrinting this 3 years ago?!! -- Oh, how things have changed on Rocky Top! --HA-HA-HA - I can't stop laughing! LOL!!!!
Rick8363 writes:
Maybe he can't kick sober, so why give it up!!!
Timed_vol (Inactive) writes:
you know, afetr reading this, and the blogs, some simple solutions ring out:
-all the athletes at UT need to be lined up and shot, so their genes don't contaminate the world
-all the UT coaches need to be executed by hanging, just because
-close the UTK campus
-destroy Knoxville, Tn, block by block and brick by brick
-send the Knoxville residents to the four wineds
-remove statehood from tennessee
-revert USA to British control
then, and only then, can all the shock jocks, half-wit pundits, and anal fans be truly at peace.
----------------------------------
geez, whatever happned to sports and fun and the game. It has apparently been lost in a sea of garbabe.
newtonrail writes:
Govol, this is Britton, not Dustin.
DSaVol writes:
MPARKER...Actually just your first two recommendations are needed! And you could even narrow them down a bit from ALL athletes and ALL coaches to just those who REPEATEDLY REFUSE to accept responsibility and accountability - you know, like Colquitt and FOOLmer.
anthony writes:
The pure and holier than thou speak up and cement their brains in sand forever probably. Too bad for them. Britton will of course make fools of the rest of them some day while the school ads and police chiefs will always be SO WELL LIKE!!!
PureOrange writes:
Let's not try the chief. He may not have been keeping up with UT police reports. It would be pretty much a full time job lately.
No excuses. The blame goes to Colquitt. He is the one who chose to drink and drive. I am sick of hearing people try to divert the responsibility away from the guilty and place it on someone else.
Like it or not, UT players are role models. They are young, but they are adults. We should not pro-rate their responsibility.
stevefrommemphis writes:
The police chief should be apologizing to the students for wasting classroom time subjecting them to that DARE nonsense. See the article below:
http://www.reason.org/commentaries/no...
woodwr#217203 writes:
You'd think he was selected to speak BECAUSE he had gotten in trouble drinking.
Who better to warn about teens about drinking than a former teen drinker?
Wouldn't you want Art Schlichter & Pete Rose to warn about gambling and you know who to warn aboput steroids?
budd#207344 writes:
I cannot believe we have people on here defending Colquitts actions. This is his FIFTH time. He should be kicked off the team and out of the University. And Fulmer with him. Don't be blaming anybody other than him
GoVol writes:
Newtonrail - thanks for catching that and pointing it out. My bad....just a slip.
Colliervol writes:
Only one problem woodwr. He's not just a "former" teen drinker. He's an up-to-date teen drinker who likes to drive while he does it. Not a great combo.
volunteer_cowboy writes:
this is pounding the fritter watch, you all will love it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fNZVN...
VOLinDAWGland writes:
marc_ash,
He doesn't so much look like a hypocrit as he does a sad example of what can happen if you do this stuff. These kids were have just seen a first hand example of life's hard lessons.
Cleve writes:
Quick, Batman! Notify John Adams! That he may report on another infraction by this worthless so-called student athlete. Does this not qualify as contributing to the delinquency of a minor? How many students heard the presentation? One count for each student I say! John Adams, please help us to form our opinion that is may fall closer into line with your own.
volunteer_cowboy writes:
ALL VOLUNTEER PLAYERS AND VOL FANS, THIS SHOULD BE THE ATTITUDE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_i9wT0...
rabidvol1998 writes:
This is ridiculous. If the chief isn't smart enough to know Colquitts past, he should apologize for being chief.
To make this public statement is piling on. If Britton had talked to my kids, I would just use the inicident to reinforce the lessons, no one would have to apologize to me for having invited him.
Timed_vol (Inactive) writes:
marc, c'mon, most of the time you are pretty sharp. these kids in elementary school may be angels now, but once they hit high shcool (middle school for some), adults cease to exist except for the 'rebels'.
Think back, kids always admire the 'cool' and the people who stand up to adults.
Britton either has a severe problem or he has damned bad luck. Either way, I'm getting pretty tired of other people's private lives. Aren't you??
romevol writes:
Go Vols...Fo Fulmer.
Britton - "He put that bottle to his lips and pulled the trigger." Listen to ole Brad & Allison!! Unless you kick better sauced. In which case, take a sip and let er rip!
TNPilgrim writes:
Our football program just gets more pathetic by the minute - wait until the wire services get hold of this one. We finally develop a shining star in our basketball program and our football program becomes the laughingstock of the SEC. Do it Haslam - tell them to pull the plug. Do it now.
VolCane7979 writes:
A compilation of Britton Colquitt highlights:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbraI6...
madisonvillevol writes:
he drove drunk..... what more can be said. what if he had hit someone you know or one of your children would we want to just let it lay? i don't think so. kick his butt off the team now! if fulmer won't do it, then kick his big butt off the team too! can i get a witness?
chefjorge writes:
One only need go to the National headlines to see that there are problems everywhere. Things are probably never as bad as one thinks and John Adams is a jackass. While I agree, Britton Colquitt should have been more harshly punished, I'm just not willing to throw in the towel on Fulmer over this. It's like you bunch have the itchiest trigger fingers I've ever seen. You think it's bad here. Do you remember Lawrence Phillips at Nebraska, those great Barry Switzer teams at OU or those Miami teams. Our guys are Saints in comparison and I'm guessing you'd all be whistling through the graveyard if we were the defending SEC or National Champ. In the words of Sergeant Hulka in Stripes: "Lighten up Francis."
DennisVols writes:
This is almost as amazing as the Army discovering we had an alcohol problem back in the late '70's. Our soda machines sold beer instead of Coke or Pepsi (.25 a can), there was a bar within a block of every barracks and cases of beer sold at the PX for $3.
Some genius finally figured out that soldiers had to easy an access to alcohol.
There is no excuse for a police cheif not being aware of Britton's past transgressions involving alcohol, for UT not being aware of what any player is getting involved with, or Britton and his family for not being forth-right in disclosing his issues with alcohol prior to accepting this invation.
The maxium effective range of an excuse is 0.
movol77 writes:
Good grief DennisVols, are you sure that you didn't leave somebody out of the blame for the willful actions of an uncontrollable 22 year old adult, who is of legal drinking age?
Orangebrewbasher writes:
Goodness, over 700 posts, seriously guys, hes a punter, we shouldn't even need a GREAT punter if we had an offense worth a darn. i'm pretty sure the defense will be ok, maybe clawson can turn things around. maybe he will stir up things as much as CBP did for the BB team and eventually gets the HC job. Well...we all get to dream a little at least
THANKYOU4GETTINGRIDOFTHENOTSOSLIMONE writes:
Posted by VolCane7979 on February 19, 2008 at 7:37 p.m. (Suggest removal)
A compilation of Britton Colquitt highlights:
___________________________________________________
Very nice. I almost soiled myself after seeing that one Volcane7979!
IMAVOLFN writes:
This has gotten silly now. He made a speech in January, and I am sure said then and would say more so today that it is a dumb choice to drink and drive. This is just someone wanting to get on the band wagon, and an apology was not necessary from the chief of police or whoever and anyone blaming the school and anyone other than Britton is not right. He has had every opportunity, and should have learned from the previous times what the impact of this could be on his life. I want him to have the help he needs and to recover from this for his own good and for his family. I also want the other great guys that are there waiting in the wings right now that are NOT doing the bad things to get a chance to shine, punt and get a scholarship to the school they are proud to be at and love.
movol77 writes:
Well said by IMAVOLFN.
DannyVol writes:
Marc-ash and jh43: you make sense. A lot of people want to bash the police chief and the newspaper? I imagine it did embarrass the police chief, whose job description does not include running a background check (not yet, anyway) for every guest speaker at the schools.
As for the newspaper, this story is very much news. Colquitt represented the University of Tennessee in front of children...again, in front of children...by talking to them about the pitfalls of drugs and alcohol. Then he drinks and drives, crash his car and leave the scene of an accident. So, there is the possibility that his important message was erased in the minds of some of those kids. At the very least, someone else will have to clean up his mess by talking to these kids about people not doing as they say, etc.
That's so embarrassing to me as a Volunteer fan. Much more embarrassing than a blowout loss to a 6-6 Alabama team. It's even more embarrassing than current players smoking weed with recruits in the middle of our worst recruiting season in recent memory.
snafu14u#241639 writes:
Anyone see the Tuesday edition of USA Today, page 4c.Nice national coverage of our program. With the possible exception of the article about the footVol issues.I live in Oregon and I heard about it out here already.Thanks. There are multiple issues here.1) Fulmer is only as good as his coaches, Trooper left, he was in charge of off field discpline.2) Cutcliff was a hard nosed guy, he's gone (did both of these guys see the hand writing on the wall).3)Recruiting for next year just got tougher.4)The new coaches have to be asking themselves what they've gotten themselves into.5)Players should'nt be in charge of players, in the real world.6) John Majors just ordered another double.7) You can spin this anyway you want to, but NINE incidents is NINE incidents and the off season still going (how many more before Spring Game).8)Lame duck coaches? What a mess. Nice job UTAD.bonzaivol
bloodrunsorange writes:
All you “PERFECT” people do all the casting of stones and the rest of us that are not perfect want to back these kids that make the same mistakes most of us adults do and/or have done in our youth. We also want to back the program that is trying to help them. Some of us are just fortunate not to have been caught. If he really needs help UT and Coach Fulmer will do the right thing to help him. So all you perfect people slam real hard on the kid and the coach trying to help the kid because I’m sure it helps the kid and the program with your constant negativism. I’m sure it’s real difficult to sit at your computer and destroy Tennessee efforts because we are the only school having any kind of problems with kids making wrong choices. How does it feel to be PERFECT and know how to deal with every kid and every situation? With your vast amount of experience dealing with the young in THIS day in age why don’t you apply for a director of schools job in a major metropolitan inter city school system with all your knowledge and being so PERFECT and get these kids right before they even get to college. God knows some of us have tried and are continuing to try but we’re not perfect like you.
movol77 writes:
snafu14u said, "You can spin this anyway you want to, but..." That won't be necessary since you've spun it pretty hard yourself. :)
Volalumnus writes:
I think the "real" (to quote a few regulars on here) nagative sentiment in the program is this total devoted thought that the TN program just isn't good enough to get rid of the bad apples (players and coaches).
I believe the program is strong enough to survive if you got rid of all the coaches and players and started over. I don't believe that is necessary but believe the program is strong enough to withstand it nonetheless.
Others rather see the bad apples begin to rot the entire barrel because they don't believe in the Big Orange enough to realize the program is bigger, stronger, and more than the individuals.
And just because an apple has a nice orange color doesn't mean it can't be infected or infecting the other apples either.
Colliervol writes:
Marc_ash, it's almost as good as Brittany Spears' mother writing that book on parenting.
pdhuff#552644 writes:
marc ash - 11:30 a.m. "only perfect person put on this earth was Jesus Christ". Have you forgotten about vol4Jesus?
Now vol4Jesus, before you quote the Epistle to the Romans or so, I was just kidding. I enjoy you darting in as you do to pic the bull.
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