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Florida State wide receiver Rod Owens faces a DUI charge after Tallahassee police pulled him over early Sunday on a routine traffic stop.
Florida State suspended the receiver the indefinitely on Monday.
Hours after FSU officials announced the suspension, another receiver's career at Florida State took a turn for the worse as the NCAA denied Corey Surrency, 24, another year of eligibility.
Before enrolling in El Camino Community College, where Surrency played for two seasons, he played with the Florida Kings, a recreational football team that helps athletes with troubled pasts earn a chance to play in college. In doing so, Surrency unknowingly violated an NCAA rule that prohibits athletes from playing an organized sport after their 21st birthday and before they enroll in college. Florida State plans to appeal the decision, which could take three to five weeks. Meanwhile, an otherwise successful spring game on Saturday was marred Sunday morning by the news of Owens' arrest.
David McCranie, a spokesperson for the Tallahassee Police Department, said Owens was arrested around 4:30 a.m. when officer Aaron Scott spotted a white 2008 Nissan Altima on West Tennessee Street without its headlights on. Scott noticed Owens "appeared to be impaired," developed probable cause and took him to the Leon County Jail, McCranie said.
Owens provided a breath sample at that time and "blew a .155, which is almost double the legal limit," McCranie said. Owens was held for eight hours and released on $500 bond, according to the state's attorney's office. Owens will be arraigned May 28.
The incident occurred after Owens caught three passes in Florida State's annual Garnet and Gold spring game. University officials didn't have any immediate comment and athletics director Randy Spetman was out of town.
"We're suspending Rod Owens, indefinitely, beginning [Monday] until the matter has been resolved," coach Bobby Bowden said in a statement released by the school.
Owens' arrest is the latest in a long line of offenses for the Seminoles' already-depleted receiving corps.
• Former Florida State receiver Preston Parker was dismissed from the team earlier this year after his third arrest since 2006.
• Five receivers were involved in a fight outside the student union last fall.
• Bert Reed was suspended for missing class and ultimately was suspended three times in a one-month period.
• Surrency was suspended twice last year.
The Seminoles are thin at receiver; two starters from a year ago, Parker and Greg Carr, are no longer with the team, and Taiwan Easterling is sidelined this spring with a ruptured Achilles.
Of the 174 passes caught by FSU receivers last year, players responsible for 121 of those receptions have not been on the field this spring. Aside from Reed's 23 catches, not a single receiver on the spring roster caught more than 20 passes last season and only Owens caught more than 10.
Florida State suspended the receiver the indefinitely on Monday.
Hours after FSU officials announced the suspension, another receiver's career at Florida State took a turn for the worse as the NCAA denied Corey Surrency, 24, another year of eligibility.
Before enrolling in El Camino Community College, where Surrency played for two seasons, he played with the Florida Kings, a recreational football team that helps athletes with troubled pasts earn a chance to play in college. In doing so, Surrency unknowingly violated an NCAA rule that prohibits athletes from playing an organized sport after their 21st birthday and before they enroll in college. Florida State plans to appeal the decision, which could take three to five weeks. Meanwhile, an otherwise successful spring game on Saturday was marred Sunday morning by the news of Owens' arrest.
David McCranie, a spokesperson for the Tallahassee Police Department, said Owens was arrested around 4:30 a.m. when officer Aaron Scott spotted a white 2008 Nissan Altima on West Tennessee Street without its headlights on. Scott noticed Owens "appeared to be impaired," developed probable cause and took him to the Leon County Jail, McCranie said.
Owens provided a breath sample at that time and "blew a .155, which is almost double the legal limit," McCranie said. Owens was held for eight hours and released on $500 bond, according to the state's attorney's office. Owens will be arraigned May 28.
The incident occurred after Owens caught three passes in Florida State's annual Garnet and Gold spring game. University officials didn't have any immediate comment and athletics director Randy Spetman was out of town.
"We're suspending Rod Owens, indefinitely, beginning [Monday] until the matter has been resolved," coach Bobby Bowden said in a statement released by the school.
Owens' arrest is the latest in a long line of offenses for the Seminoles' already-depleted receiving corps.
• Former Florida State receiver Preston Parker was dismissed from the team earlier this year after his third arrest since 2006.
• Five receivers were involved in a fight outside the student union last fall.
• Bert Reed was suspended for missing class and ultimately was suspended three times in a one-month period.
• Surrency was suspended twice last year.
The Seminoles are thin at receiver; two starters from a year ago, Parker and Greg Carr, are no longer with the team, and Taiwan Easterling is sidelined this spring with a ruptured Achilles.
Of the 174 passes caught by FSU receivers last year, players responsible for 121 of those receptions have not been on the field this spring. Aside from Reed's 23 catches, not a single receiver on the spring roster caught more than 20 passes last season and only Owens caught more than 10.
