Defensive lineman Chauncey Rivers was arrested for marijuana possession for the third time in seven months, and subsequently dismissed from the team on Friday.
A UGA spokesman confirmed Rivers’ dismissal. UGA’s student-athlete drug policy calls for that after a third violation.
“It’s extremely disappointing,” head coach Kirby Smart said in a statement. “He’s been given previous opportunities to remain on our football team but continues to exhibit a lack of good judgment and commitment to the standards we require and expect from our players. He’s put himself in a difficult position but we hope he finds a path that will provide some direction in his future.”
There are four charges listed on the DeKalb County web site, including a felony violation of Georgia’s Controlled Substance Act, according to the jail web site. The other charges included possession of less than an ounce of marijuana, parking in a disabled parking spot, and keeping drugs in a container.
Rivers, who played in four games last year as a freshman, was booked on Wednesday and released on Thursday, according to the web site.
Rivers was already facing a three-game suspension to start this season after two marijuana arrests last year. The first one came on Nov. 4, when he and a fellow teammate were charged for marijuana possession at a campus parking deck. The two players served an automatic suspension (per UGA’s drug policy) for the next week’s game. Then Rivers was arrested in December on another charge of possession of less than an ounce of marijuana. That triggered an automatic four-game suspension, the first of which was served in the bowl game.
A product of Stephenson High School, Rivers played mostly on special teams, registering four tackles, one for a loss.
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