The leader of Tennessee athletics made his feelings crystal clear, and most Vol fans will certainly agree.
Common sense won out, sort of, regarding the ongoing saga between Tennessee and Arion Carter and the NCAA.
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The NCAA agreed on Monday to reduce Carter’s suspension a second time. The original three-game ban was dropped to two after an appeal. Now, it’s down again from two games to one.
To speak the obvious, Monday’s reduction is the one that matters far and away the most. Carter, who was suspended for accepting a $427 flight during the pre-draft process (one that he paid back), is now eligible to play in Tennessee’s Week 2 non-conference matchup at Georgia Tech. That’s a contest that could be a swing game for Tennessee’s season, so having their defensive anchor back in the middle will be massive.
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That all being said, the fact that Carter is being suspended at all is still ridiculous, and it’s something that Tennessee AD Danny White went to Twitter (X) to argue on Monday.
Tennessee AD Danny White points out the absurdity of Arion Carter being suspended at all with NFL players returning to college
“The NCAA has agreed to reduce Arion Carter’s suspension from 2 games to 1,” White wrote. “While I strongly agree with Josh Heupel’s comment about how ridiculous this is in our current environment, 1 game is better than 2. If players around the country are allowed to leave NFL camps and play college football, the NCAA should do the right thing and drop it all altogether. This is yet another example of applying archaic rules from another era, without evolving and, most importantly, putting student-athletes’ experiences above bureaucracy. Arion doesn’t deserve this unnecessary distraction. He is everything that is right about college sports, a team leader who has already earned his degree.”
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White is right in that the NCAA should decide as a matter of fairness that if players now in the NFL are going to be able to return to college without penalty thanks to court orders, someone who committed a far, far less egregious offense – one that’s an absolute zero of an offense in today’s million-dollar NIL/bidding war world – should be able to be on the field for all 12+ games as well.
It’s better than nothing – way better, actually – but it’s still unfortunate that Carter will have to watch the Vols’ opener next Saturday against Furman from the sideline.
This article was originally published on A to Z Sports. Read the full story here: Tennessee AD Danny White has a strong reaction on social media to latest turn in Arion Carter suspension
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