Photo by Kim Klement—USA TODAY Sports
Natrez Patrick, a linebacker for the University of Georgia, was arrested on a charge of misdemeanor marijuana possession on December 3 in Barrow County, Georgia but, according to ESPN, the district attorney's office has dropped the charge. Most likely because the amount of marijuana initially found to be in Patrick's "possession" was absurdly small. Smaller than a penny small.
Patrick was a passenger in fellow teammate Jayson Stanley's car when they were pulled over for speeding just hours after UGA beat Auburn 28-7 in the SEC Championship in Atlanta. Officers then searched Stanley's car and discovered loose nuggets of marijuana in the passenger seat. According to Patrick's attorney William Healan, the weed was not his clients and he didn't even know it was there. he just sat on it.
Patrick, UGA's sixth-leading tackler, was already close to being dismissed from the team for two previous marijuana-related arrests—a third would warrant dismissal, per school policy—and had served a four game suspension in October for one arrest. The previous incident was in September of 2015, when Patrick served a one-game suspension.It's unclear whether or not Patrick will be available for No. 3 UGA's College Football Playoff semifinal against No. 2 Oklahoma on January 1."When you get into someone's car, you're not going to search it to see if there's marijuana in the car," Healan said. "My client didn't know the marijuana was there. If you're sitting on a little piece of marijuana that you didn't know was there, you're not knowingly in possession of it."