Last week, wide receiver James McDonald was booted from the Penn State football program following his arrest for DUI.
At some point before that arrest, backup offensive lineman Ako Poti got himself a drunk driving charge as well, Scout.com is reporting.
Citing court documents, FightOnState.com reports that Poti was charged on July 17 with DUI, DUI with a high rate of alcohol (blood alcohol content of .10 to .16) and disregarding a traffic lane. A summons was served on July 20, and a preliminary hearing was scheduled for Sept. 2.
Head coach Joe Paterno made no mention of Poti’s off-field legal issue during the Big Ten meetings this week, so it’s uncertain if the school or the program is aware of this latest alcohol-related issue involving one of its players.
What is clear, though, based on the precedent set for McDonald, is the fact that Poti is likely not long for the Nittany Lions in 2009 and beyond.
Especially considering the fact that he’s merely a reserve, and it’s easier to make an example of a player not expected to contribute much, if anything, on the field for a team that’s expected to yet again fight for a conference championship -- if not more.
For a Happy Valley example of what happens to a big-time contributor, see Bowman, Navarro.
