Tommy Rees puts the ‘Fight’ in ‘Fighting Irish’

Unfortunately for Tommy, the police chase better than Stanford

When young men and women go off to college, one of the leading vices they will undoubtedly encounter is the easy access to alcohol, even if one is not of the legal drinking age of 21. Shocking, I know. When young people do decide to drink, they often become paranoid about getting caught, especially if they’re forced to walk anywhere after leaving a party where they have been drinking. They know they could get in trouble and campus police make a living off writing up minors for drinking. So in the event that the police show up to a party, or pull over to talk to them while they’re walking home, it’s a high-stress situation for everybody, and it’s important to control that stress and act appropriately in order to avoid making the situation worse. Notre Dame quarterback Tommy Rees made it worse.

From ESPN.com:

 Police say Notre Dame quarterback Tommy Rees knocked the wind out of an officer who chased him down after an off-campus house party early Thursday and was pepper-sprayed while being arrested.

South Bend police Capt. Phil Trent says Rees was among about five people who jumped a backyard fence and ran after officers arrived at the party.

Trent says when the officer caught up with Rees, the 19-year-old raised his knee into the officer and they both fell in a scuffle.

Trent says Rees registered 0.11 percent on a blood-alcohol test.

Young people of America: Don’t run from the police. If you do run from the police, don’t assualt the police when they inevitably catch you. If you do assualt the police when they catch you, prepare yourself for the sweet stinging embrace of pepper spray or 10,000 volts from a taser if you’re lucky. In short, Rees did just about everything incorrectly in his encounter with police.

For Rees, this little stunt will not do him many favors going into next season. Attending a school like Notre Dame, who undoubtedly has a very strict code of conduct policy, he’ll have to worry about whether or not he’s allowed on campus next year before he thinks about where he lands on the depth chart. While Rees is the returning starter from last season, where he threw for 2,871 yards and 20 touchdowns, but has been thrust into an open competition by coach Brian Kelley with other quarterbacks Andrew Hendrix, Everett Golson, and Gunner Kiel who enrolled at Notre Dame in January. Golson may be his biggest competition after an impressive two touchdown, no turnover performance in the spring game, but the one stat that all the other QBs have over Rees that could make the difference: zero police assualts.