University of Georgia football coach Kirby Smart said at a Tuesday press conference he never condoned sexual misconduct by his players, disputing a July 12 Atlanta Journal-Constitution story by reporter Alan Judd claiming his program rallies to support athletes accused of violence against women. “We do not tolerate sexual misconduct in our organization. … Never have, never will,” Smart flatly replies.
UGA Football Coach Kirby Smart
UGA Athletic Association attorney Michael Raeber is even tougher. In a stinging nine-page letter to the paper’s publisher and top editors (which it refused to print in its entirety), he wrote that Judd’s article “is replete with errors, unsubstantiated allegations, innuendo and possibly even fabrication.” “We have strongly disagreed with many aspects of Mr. Judd’s reporting over the last six months,” Raeber continued. “But for an organization whose newsroom ethics code states that “professional integrity is the cornerstone of our credibility,” this most recent article crossed a new line.”
The attorney demands a retraction (which the AJC didn’t report.) But as this is written, the paper curtly replied it is “reviewing” the attorney’s letter which repeatedly accuses Judd of “biased and inaccurate reporting” and cites detailed examples.
Smart, who rarely makes public comments during the Bulldogs’ off season, spoke during an hour-long session with a group of reporters invited to the football team’s offices.
UGA Athletic Director Josh Brooks said the coach wanted “to set the record straight” in response to Judd’s stories. One example from Brooks is that Judd wrongly suggested Georgia had failed to appropriately respond when players were accused of sexual or domestic violence. The reporting “conveniently minimizes the significant actions we’ve taken in direct response to address these matters,” Brooks said.
At the end of his letter, attorney Raeber concludes: “(T)here is simply no foundation for the central premise of the (July 12) article— that the UGA football program actively supports players accused of abusing women. For the foregoing reasons, we demand the AJC’s prompt, clear and conspicuous retraction of the article.”
