Updated: 2/18/2008 2:38:00 PM
University of Tennessee Head Football Coach Phillip Fulmer has suspended senior punter Britton Colquitt for the first five games of the 2008 season.
The suspension is in response to Colquitt's arrest on a DUI charge early Sunday morning.
"I'm very disappointed that Britton doesn't appreciate the blessings he has been given from his family and his team," said Fulmer. "Along with the five game suspension, I am taking his scholarship away and he will be required to undergo alcohol counseling as well as other internal punishments."
A KPD spokesman said Colquitt was arrested early Sunday morning after they say he crashed into a parked car and left the scene.
A Knoxville police spokesman confirms Colquitt struck a parked car on Jackson Avenue shortly before 3:00 a.m. A "BOLO" (be on the lookout) call was issued, and another officer stopped Colquitt on Gill Avenue. The officer reported Colquitt's eyes were bloodshot and there was a smell of alcohol. He also reported Colquitt was unsteady and failed a field sobriety test.
Colquitt was taken into custody, and made bond around 9 a.m. Sunday. He will be arraigned on March 5th at 10 a.m.
Colquitt had a string of incidents before he ever put on a Vols uniform. Two underage drinking incidents and an on-campus DUI in the fall of 2003 got him suspended from school for the semester. Another incident in March of 2004 led Phillip Fulmer to suspend him from the team.
Colquitt has had no reported incidents since, and has developed into an All-American on the field.
A University spokesperson said Fulmer was aware of the situation, and he would likely issue a statement Sunday evening.
