Another UGA player arrested; facing DUI charge

Chris Low, ESPN Senior WriterMay 10, 2023, 01:14 PM ET
Close
- College football reporter
- Joined ESPN.com in 2007
- Graduate of the University of Tennessee

The Georgia football team’s turbulent offseason continued when wide receiver De’Nylon Morrissette was arrested on multiple driving-related charges — including driving under the influence of drugs — just after 3:30 a.m. Monday.

Morrissette, a sophomore who played in 11 games last season as a reserve, also faces charges of driving too fast for conditions, following too closely and Class D license restrictions of not driving between midnight and 5 a.m., according to the Oconee County (Georgia) Sheriff’s Department.

Jail records show that Morrissette was booked at 10:10 a.m. and released at 11:55 a.m. on bonds that totaled $1,721.

ESPN has put in a request to Georgia athletic department officials for comment.

Morrissette is the fourth member of the 2022 Georgia football team to be arrested since the Bulldogs won their second straight national championship. Three of those arrests involved driving-related charges.

Defensive tackle Jalen Carter, who was selected ninth overall in the NFL draft by the Philadelphia Eagles, turned himself in to police on March 2 after a warrant was issued for his arrest. He was charged for racing and reckless driving in relation to a Jan. 16 crash that resulted in the deaths of Georgia offensive lineman Devin Willock and recruiting staff member Chandler LeCroy, who was driving the other vehicle at the time of the crash.

Police said LeCroy was traveling about 104 mph shortly before the crash, and a police investigation determined that LeCroy and Carter were both “operating their vehicles in a manner consistent with racing.”

Carter pleaded no contest and was sentenced to 12 months of probation and ordered to pay a $1,000 fine and perform 50 hours of community service.

Five days before the fatal January crash that took the lives of Willock and LeCroy, linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson was also charged with racing and reckless driving. Dumas pleaded guilty to reckless driving, and the racing charge was dismissed.

Later in January, receiver Rara Thomas, who transferred from Mississippi State, was arrested and charged with felony false imprisonment and misdemeanor battery/family violence. The false imprisonment charge was dismissed, and Thomas entered a pretrial diversion program. Thomas did not play on offense in the Bulldogs’ spring game, and coach Kirby Smart said Thomas had “some things he had to work on.”

During spring practice, Smart said education programs are in place at Georgia about the dangers associated with driving but that education wasn’t enough.

“You have to do a great job of making sure your players understand the risks and dangers that are out there with vehicles, especially nowadays, that go really fast,” Smart said. “You’ve got to be extremely careful.”