Three Players Busted on Pot Charges and Players Respond to Joker’s Job Status

Sept 8, 2012; Lexington, KY, USA; Kentucky Wildcats running back Raymond Sanders (4) runs the ball against the Kent State Golden Flashes at Commonwealth Stadium. Credit: Mark Zerof-US PRESSWIRE

How does the old saying go? When it rains it pours? Well, right now there is a typhoon happening over Commonwealth Stadium.

Lex 18 reported that three players were arrested on Thursday night for marijuana possession. The three players were Raymond Sanders, Marcus Caffey and Bookie Cobbins. They are expected in court on October 9th.

Sanders has not been in trouble (that we know of) while he has been at UK. Cobbins seems to be permanently in the doghouse and Marcus Caffey was already ruled academically ineligible. I might be a bit of a hard ass but I would give Caffey the boot if I were the head coach. Enough is enough with that kid.

But this is what Joker had to say about giving Caffey another chance:

"We’re in the business of making sure kids have an opportunity to succeed, definitely. But we’re not a rehab center or a center that we’re going to give guys chances. We don’t wait. A lot of us, this is all we got. We’ll go with him until we feel we can’t take it anymore. We’ve done that with other kids. This is all he has. We’ll continue to stick by him."

All three players will be reinstated this week.

July 18, 2012; Hoover, AL, USA; Kentucky Wildcats defensive end Collins Ukwu talks with reporters at the 2012 SEC media days event at the Wynfrey Hotel. Mandatory Credit: Marvin Gentry-US PRESSWIRE

It seems as if the players know what’s coming at the end of the season with Joker Phillips and they made some very telling comments today in the media session. The Courier-Journal’s Kyle Tucker did a nice job of blogging about what was said. Here are some highlights, or lowlights. However you want to view them.

Collins Ukwu on whether or not players are rallying around Joker”

"We more rally around each other, especially the senior class. This is our last time, regardless if he’s going to be here or gone."

Ukwu on if the players talk about saving Joker’s job:

"Not really. It’s something the team doesn’t talk about. The only thing coach Phillips tells us is we’re all we’ve got, basically."

Avery Williamson on what the players hear from the outside:

"That we don’t have a good team."

Williamson on whether or not players are playing for each other or for Joker:

"We’ve got to play for our teammates. We can’t worry about him losing his job or anything like that. We can’t worry about that. We can’t focus on that."

And that pretty much sums it up. Hopefully this team can perform some miracles in the coming weeks and turn the season around. But if not, the players know that the writing is on the wall.

I’m not sure how much more they can take. Support these guys no matter what you think of the coaches, because in all honesty, I’m not sure how much they support their own coaches.

And I’m not posting that stupid video of the fight in front of Commonwealth Stadium. Not for $100. There’s enough negativity around football without that being plastered everywhere.