Multiple arrests of Georgia football players early in Kirby Smart's first off season as coach have placed the Bulldogs among the leaders for the Fulmer Cup, which distributes points for "negative law enforcement contacts" by college football players during the off season.
Georgia has accumulated 15 points in the Cup to rank No. 3 behind Colorado (46) and fellow SEC member Kentucky (19). The Cup is named for ex-Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer. Georgia finished No. 1 in the 2010 Cup standings.
Earlier this month Georgia football players Julian Rochester and Chad Clay were arrested and each charged with two felony counts : weapons on school grounds and criminal damage to property. Last month Georgia defensive end Jonathan Ledbetter was arrested on two misdemeanor alcohol-related charges : possessing or making a false ID and underage possession/furnishing alcohol.
In the days following the arrests of Rochester and Clay, Smart said : "It's just sad, because both of those kids were improving on the football field, and to make a decision so dumb, I mean just a dumb decision. It really saddens me, because it embarrasses all of us, it embarrasses our university, and it embarrasses them and their families."
There is a fairly intricate point system for the Cup based on the severity of the alleged crimes, which must be documented with "a court record, arrest record, or news article describing the citation, charges, and/or arrest." The points begin to accumulate when the national championship begins and continue until 24 hours before the first game of the next season.
The Fulmer Cup was started in 2006 by Spencer Hall, editor of the SB Nation college football blog Every Day Should Be Saturday. The Cup has been awarded every year since with the exception of 2013, when the title was “vacated.”
The standings and other information about the Cup have since migrated from EDSBS to reddit.com/r/CFB.
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