Georgia coach Mark Richt confirmed Friday that Davin Bellamy will be suspended for the first two games of the season.
Bellamy, a redshirt freshman outside linebacker from Chamblee, was arrested and charged with DUI and speeding by Athens-Clarke County police this past Saturday. The two-game suspension is consistent with the Bulldogs' conduct code for student-athletes. Georgia has had two other players arrested for DUI in the past five years — Cornelius Washington and Marshall Morgan — and each was suspended two games.
“He’ll serve a two-game suspension for his deeds, or misdeeds,” Richt said at UGA’s preseason football media day gathering.
That means Bellamy will miss Georgia’s all-important contests against Clemson on August 30 and South Carolina on Sept. 13. He entered preseason practices, which began Friday afternoon, listed as the backup to junior Jordan Jenkins at the “Jack” outside linebacker position.
Bellamy’s absence will likely mean and increased presence from Georgia’s 5-star signee at that position, Lorenzo Carter of Norcross. But Richt said the Bulldogs were going to take a close look at the 6-foot-6, 237-pound prospect anyway.
“Regardless of whether Bellamy was eligible or not eligible …. we were going to find out what Lorenzo could do,” Richt said. “When you see Lorenzo walk down the hall, you get a little more excited than when you see some others. He might be one of the first guys off the bus when we get off the bus. … He’s a pretty looking athlete, very talented, smart, conscientious. We’re eager to see what he can do.”
In the meantime, Richt wanted to defend Bellamy’s character.
“I’ll say this right now: Bellamy made a mistake; it was stupid; he know’s it; he’s remorseful. But he’s not a bad person,” Richt said. “… People do things they’re not supposed to do. You hate it. It’s like I told him, ‘I don’t like that you made the mistake, but I’d rather you make the mistake now and learn from it than be 30 years old with a wife a kids and a good job and maybe lose your job or your marriage.’ You hate that it happens and I don’t condone it. But we certainly do everything in our power to learn from it.”
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