Six Notre Dame football players were arrested over the weekend, in two separate incidents. Five of the six were involved in the same incident which resulted in Safety Max Redfield getting kicked off the team. Here’s a link to more on that situation.
The sixth, cornerback Devin Butler, was charged with a felony on Tuesday.
According to the Indy Star, “Butler was arrested on a preliminary felony charge of resisting law enforcement causing bodily injury to a law enforcement officer stemming from an incident outside a South Bend bar…The officer was taken to a hospital for treatment for minor injuries, including a sore wrist, he said.”
The St. Joseph County prosecutor’s office on Tuesday charged cornerback Devin Butler with two felony counts- resisting law enforcement and battery against a public safety official. Notre Dame Football Coach Brian Kelly announced Sunday that Devin Butler had been suspended indefinitely from the team. Butler is currently injured and supposedly unavailable to play until October anyway due to a broken foot.
A not guilty plea has been entered on behalf of Butler on Wednesday. He declined to comment afterward. He is scheduled for an initial hearing on Sept. 1.
As of now, Butler remains a ND student, but a university spokesman has stated “any student arrested on a felony charge also faces dismissal from the university.”
So you can probably guess how this all will end. You can draw a straight line. Notre Dame altered the media availability this week for both players and Coach Brian Kelly. Around 5:30 PM central today, Kelly will talk to the media for the first time since the weekend’s arrests. It’s quite possible that Kelly will announce the dismissal of Devin Butler at this very press conference.
At least that’s what many media members who cover the team everyday believe. Have a listen to this week’s “Maximus and the Bartender” show. Todd Burlage, of Blue and Gold Illustrated and the Elkhart Truth comes on around the 54 mark. He believes the playing days of Devin Butler are numbered.
The South Bend Tribune ND football reporter also believes Devin Butler could join Max Redfield in getting kicked out.
Going back to how we got here in the first place, Butler allegedly shoved a woman outside the Linebacker Lounge early Saturday morning forcing officers to intervene. Devin Butler allegedly slammed an officer to the ground and a stun gun was required to subdue him. Again, isn’t he supposed to be injured right now?
According to the Chicago Tribune “Butler couldn’t be reached for comment because he has an unlisted telephone number. Court records don’t indicate he has hired an attorney. No initial court date has been set.” (we’d link the Trib site, but it has a nasty pop-up redirect going on there right now so we can’t)
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication and Bold Global.
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