KNOXVILLE — An infuriated Tennessee Coach Phillip Fulmer unloaded on his team during an emotional meeting Monday night following the arrest of fifth-year senior linebacker Marvin Mitchell. "It's embarrassing to all of us," Fulmer said. "I made it very clear that we're not going down this road again. If they don't represent us in the right way, then they're not going to be here. It's that simple." Mitchell, the Vols' starting middle linebacker, has been indefinitely suspended from the team by Fulmer. Mitchell's suspension comes after being arrested by UT police and charged with disorderly conduct following an incident at approximately 3:15 on Monday morning at the Rocky Top Market on the Cumberland Avenue strip.
It's the first arrest of a Vol football player since a rash of off-the-field problems last spring. Since January 2005, nine players have either been arrested or issued citations, but Fulmer said there had been no issues in nearly a year until Mitchell's arrest. "That's what makes me so angry," Fulmer said. "We hadn't had anything. Now we have one guy who's embarrassed us all. It's not fair, but that's the way it is." Police said when they arrived to disperse a disruptive crowd early Monday morning at the market, they heard Mitchell shouting and swearing at another customer near the front door. According to the UT police report, Mitchell threatened to "knock the customer out." Sensing that an altercation was about to occur, police told Mitchell to leave and noticed a strong odor of alcohol on his breath. Mitchell initially left, according to police, but came back into the store and began swearing at someone else.
When police again told Mitchell to leave the area, he told one of the officers to "chill the (bleep) out," according to the police report. While police were escorting Mitchell out of the store, the report stated that he became verbally abusive and continued to swear. Police said while trying to establish control of Mitchell that he pulled away from them three times and was uncooperative during the completion of the arrest report. Mitchell was booked into the Knox County Detention Center and released on $500 bond. His arraignment has been scheduled for May 8. Fulmer noted that this was Mitchell's first discipline issue in four-plus years in the program. Also, Fulmer said he's told his players to stay away from the Rocky Top Market, where several UT athletes in past years have run into trouble with the law. In announcing Mitchell's suspension yesterday, UT took the rare step of including comments from other players. "Coach Fulmer laid down the law at our meeting," junior quarterback Erik Ainge said in a statement. "He made it very clear that we had not had problems in a long time, and he would not tolerate problems in the future. Marvin is a good kid and hasn't been in trouble since he's been here, but he made a mistake." N Senior defensive tackle Turk McBride added, "Coach Fulmer has made it very clear what is expected of us. He was very angry and very emotional at our meeting (Monday) night. I think the guys understand that he's not going to tolerate problems."
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