Lawsuit: Butch Jones called player a 'traitor'

Feb 24, 2016, 5:49 PM

University of Tennessee football coach Butch Jones told one of his players he “betrayed the team” after the wide receiver helped a woman who said she was raped by two other football players, according to a new legal filing in a sweeping lawsuit filed by six women against UT.

Sophomore Drae Bowles “broke down and cried” after speaking with his coach, the lawsuit said.

Jones later called Bowles back to apologize for calling him “a traitor to the team,” according to the suit.

The two calls with Jones came after Bowles was punched in the mouth and bloodied by teammate Curt Maggitt as retribution inside the UT locker room, according to the new filing.

Bowles, who transferred to UT Chattanooga shortly after the November 2014 incidents, provided the account of events in a sworn affidavit filed in federal court in Nashville.

The legal filing is the latest in the ongoing federal lawsuit that has brought renewed scrutiny to UT’s athletics department. Also on Wednesday, two new women claiming they were also sexually assaulted by football players joined the lawsuit.

In response to the initial lawsuit earlier this month, UT said through its legal counsel that the university takes sexual assault allegations seriously. Legal counsel Bill Ramsey said in response to the initial lawsuit that any claim that a culture exists “contrary to our institutional commitment to providing a safe environment for our students or that we do not support those who report sexual assault is just false.”

At a news conference in Knoxville on Tuesday, Jones was flanked by head coaches for each UT sports team when he defended the culture within the athletics department. On Saturday, Jones shook his head when asked whether Bowles had been assaulted.

According to the lawsuit, Jones and Maggitt were upset at Bowles because he helped a woman who said she was sexually assaulted by UT football players A.J. Johnson and Michael Williams.

Bowles found the woman, a friend of his identified in the lawsuit as Jane Doe IV, crying and hyperventilating in a parking in the early morning hours of Nov. 16, 2014, according to the lawsuit. They called 911 and arranged to meet an ambulance at Volunteer Hall.

Later that day, Maggitt confronted Bowles and “asked accusing questions,” the filing said.

“Bowles told Maggitt what had happened. Maggitt became violently upset, said that Bowles was trying to f**** up A.J. and suddenly punched Bowles in the mouth with great force, causing Bowles’ lip to bleed,” the filing said.

Bowles fought back before teammates broke up the fight, the filing said.

The next day, Bowles was confronted a second time. Bowles went to Smokey’s Sports Grill, the campus dining hall for athletes, and purposefully sat alone. Teammates Geraldo Orta and Marlin Lane confronted him, according to the new documents.

Before another fight broke out, football strength coach Brandon Myles physically intervened and held back Orta and Lane, according to the lawsuit. Lane and Orta followed Bowles as he left the dining hall, but Myles again intervened, the suit said.

Orta later told police that where he came from, “people got shot” for such betrayals, according to the lawsuit. Williams also told police Orta put a “hit” out on Bowles for his role in helping the alleged victim, according to the lawsuit, which cited a Knoxville Police Department Incident Report.

Johnson and Williams were charged with aggravated rape in the case. They’ve pleaded not guilty and their trials are set for later this year.

Knoxville police have declined to release records on Johnson and Williams. The Knoxville News Sentinel has filed suit to make those records public.

Bowles was a four-star recruit out of Jackson (Tenn.) Christian School but never caught a pass for the Vols. He appeared in 13 games over two seasons before arriving at Chattanooga, where he caught two passes in four games in 2015.

Bowles and his father, Dexter, a captain in the Madison County (Tenn.) Sheriff’s Office, were on the witness list for the February 2015 grand jury proceedings in the case against Johnson and Williams.

In a Facebook message with The Tennessean on February 10, Orta denied putting a “hit” out on Bowles.

THE TENNESSEAN
Lawsuit: Tennessee player assaulted by teammates for helping rape victim

According to the lawsuit, Maggitt admitted to police that he assaulted Bowles. He was never charged with a crime. Orta told police that Jones “instructed the team to stay away from Bowles,” who was given time away from the program, the lawsuit says.

Jones did not discipline Orta, Lane or Maggitt, according to the lawsuit.

Two plaintiffs, Jane Doe IV, who claims she was assaulted, and her roommate Jane Doe V, who witnessed the fight in the dining hall, say the treatment and shunning of Bowles played a major role in their decision to leave UT out of fear for their own safety, according to the lawsuit.

“Drae Bowles had acted with the utmost kindness and strength of character toward Jane Doe IV, her friends and Jane Doe V,” the plaintiffs claim in their updated lawsuit. “For his kindness and courage he was beaten up, called a traitor by his head football coach and ostracized from the team by Coach Jones and other players.

“Maggitt continued to be touted as a team leader and with Orta and Lane celebrated a bowl victory by posing for cameras flashing (alleged) rapist A.J. Johnson’s number 45 with their hands and fingers,” the lawsuit says.

Tennessean reporter Anita Wadhwani contributed to this story. Reach Nate Rau at 615-259-8094 and on Twitter @tnnaterau. Reach Matt Slovin at mslovin@tennessean.com and on Twitter @MattSlovin.

http://www.tennessean.com/story/sports/college/vols/2016/02/24/lawsuit-tennessee-coach-butch-jones-called-player-traitor/80851232/?hootPostID=381668f1a7d606f5e999db2639266426

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> UT needs to call up Phillip Fullmer and say that they
> are sorry that they fired him and confess to the
> sports world that all the football coaches since
> Fullmer have been LOSERS! Talk about screwing the
> pooch, UT's administration and ADs have royally made
> a mess of things. Ask Fullmer to come back--as far as
> I know, he did not have these issues ( oh wait, I
> forgot about Peyton Manning's junk in that gal's
> face?! )...

You know the blogs for years had what they jokingly referred to as the "Fulmer Cup"...in other words, the team that led the nation in number of players arrested that year.

It was known as the "Fulmer Cup" because the Vols usually won it going away under his watch.

Lawsuit: Butch Jones called player a 'traitor'

another of the billion reasons i love dabo***

Thank goodness Marlin Lane went there

Re: Thank goodness Marlin Lane went there

Butch's fakeness is nauseating

Re: Lawsuit: Butch Jones called player a 'traitor'

wow...So Butch Jones is gonna be out of a job...***

Butch Jones and UT

Re: Butch Jones and UT

Fulmer was apart of promoting the culture that...

Re: Butch Jones and UT

Re: Another reason to like Dabo and o staff***

Never liked Jones lying eyes or big Rat face!

If UT has any integrity, which they don't, Jones should be gone within a week***

That's Awful.....***

Disgusting! Maybe Butch should explain to the knuckleheads

TigerBoard POTD