Blazevich, Smart on recent arrests and what needs to be done
HOOVER, Ala. – When it comes to helping teammates like Jonathan Ledbetter avoid the kind of trouble he got himself into with Sunday night’s DUI, tight end Jeb Blazevich said it’s up to players like himself to start doing more.
During a Tuesday morning session at SEC Media Days, Blazevich gave some frank answers when discussing the latest off-the-field incident to bite the Bulldogs, for those counting the seventh arrest for Georgia since Kirby Smart took over as head coach last December.
“It’s embarrassing. I think everybody knows that. I feel terrible for some of those guys,” Blazevich said. "It’s embarrassing for them, but it’s embarrassing for me because I wasn’t a good brother on the team to be able to hold them accountable. So we’re trying to change the culture around there where everyone is holding everyone accountable so we can eliminate these kinds of mistakes.”
According to head coach Kirby Smart, that’s just what he’s trying to do as well.
“You take each one on an individual basis and you call the kid in, you talk to the kid and you address it with them, their parents and you handle it the right way,” Smart said. “I certainly think that lessons can be learned from every one of them and every guy on the team should take them as an opportunity to learn.”
Smart said making sure the team understands what’s going on with a particular player is part of the of the process as well.
“You want to address them to the team as well and make sure the team understands where the player is currently, where he’s going with him and why it’s happening with him,” Smart said. “They want justification a lot of times and they want to understand, so it’s important that you give that to them, to give them closure when they have those issues. But it’s not something we share each guy’s individual business with the family. You’ve got to handle some of those internally.”
As for Ledbetter, Smart offered no further details on the incident following the arrest when police found the sophomore asleep at the wheel in his car after stopping at the intersection of Lexington Road and Barnett Shoals Road.
Smart did say that Ledbetter would be suspended per UGA’s rules but would not reveal how many games he will miss.
“I just feel so bad because a kid makes mistakes but that’s no excuse, that’s no reason to say ‘Ok it’s OK.’ But I look at what I could do better to eliminate some of these types mistakes,” Blazevich said. “That’s the approach I’m taking. How can I love these guys, get them back where they need to be, show them love and then how can I look back on myself and reflect personally how I could help hold them accountable?”
In regards to alcohol-related offenses, Smart said those are issues he takes extremely seriously. He also takes getting affected players like Ledbetter the help they need.
“Certainly it is a disease. That’s a known fact. I know that it’s affected Jonathan Ledbetter, it’s affected many people in the United States. That to me is the most dis-heartening thing, to see a young man in great health like himself make poor decisions,” Smart said. “He’s got to pay the price for those decisions, but we’re going to help him any way we can. So by no means do I condone what he did as right – drinking and driving is a bad thing – a really bad thing. He is going to pay the price for that but we are going to stand by him, support him and help him.”
In the meantime, Blazevich said he’ll try to be a better teammate to make sure other players don’t fall victim to the same fate.
“The main problem is, the devil’s at your shoulder saying you’re going to be OK, don’t worry about it. The hardest thing to say is, 'This is a bad situation.' Once you realize that, guys can get out of it. I’ve told numerous guys on the team – Brandon (Kublanow) and Dominick (Sanders) too – if you need help, call us,” Blazevich said. “All the coaches have said the same thing. If you need help, call us, but the temptation that Satan leads if you into is you’re going to be OK, you’re OK until you get in a little bit too far. Once again, that goes back to how can I go about asking the tough questions, are you good, are you really OK, can I help you out. That’s really what I need to do a better job of.”