Feb. 11, 2009
ATLANTA – More than seven months after initially being suspended from the Georgia Tech football team, Jerrard Tarrant has been reinstated after all criminal charges against him were dropped.
Georgia Tech head coach Paul Johnson indefinitely suspended Tarrant in June, 2008, after Tarrant was charged with rape. Tarrant was not allowed to participate in any football-related function, practice or game during the suspension, losing a year of eligibility. He has three years of football eligibility remaining.
Although Tarrant was suspended from the football team, he has remained a student at Georgia Tech while the charges were pending.
“After learning that all charges against Jerrard Tarrant have been dropped, he has been fully reinstated to the Georgia Tech football program,” Johnson said. “It is unfortunate that Jerrard lost a year of eligibility in the process, but the charges against him were something that we took very seriously.”
Tarrant redshirted the 2007 football season at Georgia Tech. In spring practice last March and April, Tarrant emerged as a leading candidate to start in the Yellow Jacket secondary.
Tarrant, who will be a redshirt sophomore in 2009, begins practicing when the Yellow Jackets open spring drills March 23.
