Georgia Bulldogs wide receiver Nitro Tuggle was arrested early Thursday morning for reckless driving and speeding, based on the Athens Clarke County arrest records.
Tuggle was released on a $26 bond. He played in seven games for Georgia in 2024, catching three passes for 34 yards. As a sophomore, Tuggle still has three years of eligibility left.
Georgia’s football team just finished their fourth spring practice on Tuesday. This situation is not something head coach Kirby Smart wants to deal with, but now he has to.
Kirby Smart’s Efforts to Reduce Arrests
Since a tragic crash in January 2023 that killed former Georgia player Devin Willock and recruiting staffer Chandler LeCroy, at least 26 Georgia football players, including Tuggle, have been arrested for speeding, DUI, or reckless driving.
Smart said last July that the team has tried new ways to stop these issues. They introduced defensive driving classes for new players and even suspended a player, Marcus Rosemy, for speeding last year. However, these efforts haven’t completely solved the problem.
Smart said, “We’ve done things no one else has done, like requiring defensive driving courses. We even fined players through their NIL payments. Some players lost a lot of money because of repeated traffic violations.”
He believes that hitting players financially may work best, similar to how the NFL fines its players. He said, “If you ask our players, they’d rather keep their money. When I say substantial fines, I mean really big ones.”
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