Florida State LB Hayes demoted to second team after arrest
Associated Press
Updated: September 25, 2007, 8:16 PM ET
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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Florida State linebacker Geno Hayes has been demoted to the second-team after being arrested for an altercation with police outside a bar.
Hayes and fullback Joe Surratt, who is sitting out the season with an injury, were suspended Friday after being arrested earlier in the day. The Seminoles were idle Saturday and coach Bobby Bowden reinstated Hayes on Tuesday.
Florida State plays No. 22 Alabama in Jacksonville on Saturday and Hayes will not start.
Bowden also ordered Hayes to get behavioral counseling and perform community service besides other unspecified internal discipline.
Hayes issued an apology through Florida State to the school, fans, teammates, coaches and his family.
"I have always taken pride in representing myself and this university in a positive manner and unfortunately, I did not live up to those standards on this occasion," he said. "I realize I cannot make another mistake of this or any other nature."
No disciplinary action has been taken against Joe Surratt, a senior.
Hayes is facing misdemeanor charges of assault on an officer, resisting arrest without violence and disorderly conduct.
Surratt was charged with a felony count of battery on an officer. University officials said his status will be determined as his case moves through the legal process. The school's disciplinary policy prohibits students from participating in athletics while under a felony charge.
The policy, though, permits Hayes to play because the charges against him are misdemeanors. That gave Bowden authority to discipline Hayes, after review by athletic director Dave Hart.
Police said they used a Taser to subdue Hayes early Friday outside a bar near the Florida State campus. Officers said Hayes became aggressive when they confronted him after he had been screaming profanities. Surratt then struck an officer as they tried to arrest Hayes, police said.
Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press
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