Tommy Rees and Carlo Calabrese Arrested, may face team suspension

After the news broke early this morning that Quarterback Tommy Rees and Linebacker Carlo Calabrese were arrested after an altercation with police in South Bend, the question now remains, what disciplinary action will be taken by the team?

For those of you who do not know, Rees was arrested early Thursday morning after evading arrest for a misdemeanor public intoxication charge. Rees supposedly lifted his knee into an officer trying to detain him causing the officer to have the wind knocked out of him and suffer minor bruises. Calabrese was detained after trying to intervene and shouting to an officer “My people will get you.” He was released on $150 bond without being jailed and Rees was released on $250 bond after spending the day in jail. Tommy’s blood-alcohol level was .11 and Carlo’s was .12. Calabrese is of the legal age to drink, while Rees is not.

Coach Brian Kelly had this to say about the altercation when questioned by reporters:

“I am aware of last night’s incident involving two of our football players,” Kelly said. “I am of course very concerned given the nature of the allegations, but I am still gathering information. I’ll withhold judgment until I can collect all the facts and speak with both Carlo and Tommy.”

In my opinion, I think that this really sets back Tommy Rees as being a contender for the starting quarterback job in 2012. I am an Everett Golson man myself and as of the new details surrounding Rees’ arrest, it could be a three horse race from here on out. The disciplinary action I feel should be taken for Tommy is a 0ne or two game suspension at the beginning of the year due to the charge of resisting an officer. Police Officers are authority figures, not to be treated as if they are just someone off the street. I also feel that he should not be named the number one starter due to the fact that he would not is not capable of leading a team because of these off-the-field issues. I think that Carlo should be put on a watch by a Brian Kelly. Similar to the handling of the Michael Floyd DUI incident, Calabrese should be involved in community service and outreach programs and learn how to be a role model as football player and a Senior at the University of Notre Dame. Underclassmen should be able to look up to Seniors and act like them, not be reading articles in the paper about how they have been arrested. I happen to live in the same town as Carlo Calabrese and go to the same high school he attended and honestly I am quite fond of him.  I watched him play in high school and saw him around town and he is a good kid, who made a bad mistake. There are pictures of him and former Notre Dame Tight End, Anthony Fasano (who also attended my high school) all around my school. Tommy Rees also is not a bad kid, they both just made mistakes and they will have to pay the price for it.

Overall, it will be interesting to see how the situation sits with Brian Kelly by way of punishments. Entering his third season with the Irish, Kelly has had a few other off-the field issues to deal with, such as the Declan Sullivan tragedy and Michael Floyd’s DUI. We will all see how Kelly handles this one and if both players mature in the near future.