Georgia football head coach Kirby Smart is known for wishing his athletes happy birthday on Twitter. Smart’s account is flush with happy birthday posts, with nearly all of his Tweets being of that nature. However, in an unusual move, he deleted a happy birthday post just hours after posting. On Sunday, Smart’s Twitter account posted, then quickly deleted a happy birthday shoutout to wide receiver RaRa Thomas. A four-year offensive playmaker, Thomas is facing second-degree felony charges after being arrested earlier this week.
Thomas found himself in hot water on Friday, getting arrested on a felony charge of cruelty to children and two misdemeanor charges of battery. Athens-Clarke County booked Thomas in the early hours of the morning. Friday’s arrest is Thomas’ second run-in with the law, being detained on a felony charge of false imprisonment and a misdemeanor charge of family violence in 2023. The prosecution eventually dropped the charges after the two parties reached a deal.
Kirby Smart: Georgia Football Coach Deletes Post
Outside the Alabama Crimson Tide, Kirby Smart and Georgia football remains the best team in the country. Winners of two of the last three College Football Playoff National Championship games, Georgia has finished each of the past seven seasons in the top ten of the CFP Poll. However, off the field, the Bulldogs have had a horrific amount of legal problems, headlined by 47 incidents or arrests for reckless driving or DUI since Smart’s inaugural season circa 2016.
In 2023, Georgia football lost Devin Willock and Chandler LeCroy in a heartbreaking and horrifying high-speed incident hours after a parade celebrating their second straight title. The unfortunate deaths of Willock and LeCroy have done little to curb the issues within the Georgia football program, with 24 of the 47 incidents or arrests for reckless driving or DUI coming after the fatal accident.
Kirby’s account @KirbySmartUGA deleted Happy Birthday to RaRa Thomas about 10 minutes after posting. He must not want Thomas, arrested Friday for cruelty to children-family violence (2nd degree felony) & 2 misdemeanor counts of battery-family violence, to have a Happy Birthday 🤷🏻♂️
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) July 28, 2024
This week, on the heels of more reckless driving arrests, wide receiver RaRa Thomas found himself arrested on a felony charge of cruelty to children and two misdemeanor charges of battery. Head coach Kirby Smart wished Thomas a happy birthday on Sunday morning, only to delete the post shortly after. Smart has shown frustration with his team’s off-the-field issues but emphasizes that Georgia is taking the necessary steps to educate his players. “I am very pleased with the process we put in regarding education, driver safety, requiring defensive driving & education,” said Smart earlier this week, per Brett McMurphy of The Athletic.
Georgia Football WR RaRa Thomas: Fallout of Arrest
According to CBS Sports, Georgia football will suspend wide receiver RaRa Thomas after his arrest earlier this week. Thomas, a three-star recruit in the 2021 class per 247Sports, committed to the Mississippi State Bulldogs out of high school. Thomas had 18 receptions for 252 yards and five touchdowns. The six-foot-two,200-pound Thomas posted 44 receptions for 626 yards and seven touchdowns in 2022 before transferring to the Georgia Bulldogs. In his inaugural season in Athens, Georgia, the wideout collected 23 receptions for 383 yards and a touchdown.
Thomas entered the offseason as a significant piece for Kirby Smart and Georgia in 2024, but his future with the program is now very much up in the air. Colbie Young, Dillion Bell, and Dominic Lovett expect to start in three-receiver groups. Lovett had the best season last year, catching 54 passes for 613 yards and four touchdowns in 14 games with the Bulldogs.
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