Stop it, OK!? Just stop!

Stop driving with suspended licenses, stop drinking and driving, stop getting kicked out of bars underage.

University football players need to realize that there is a strong spotlight pointed as squarely at them as an ACC police officer’s flashlight. Like it or not, by signing on as a Georgia Bulldog, everything they do is news in the sports world.

Now, bad apples of the football team, please make an effort to stop getting arrested.

Eight of you have seen the inside of a jail cell this year — it’s getting ridiculous.

If you are a football player, you have an incredible opportunity to represent your University and possibly make some big bucks in the future. (I mean, have you seen a journalist’s salary!?)

You have also garnered the admiration of thousands of kids across the state who aspire to be just like you.

Don’t throw it all away for that one drunken escapade downtown.

I’m not going to sit here and judge you. We’re all in college and we all appreciate the amazing nightlife Athens has to offer. Full disclosure: I’m headed to Pauley’s in a few minutes to work on my beer card.

Party all you want — just stop doing it underage or behind the wheel of a car. Remember that you represent your University, your teammates and your coaches both on the field and off. And when you screw up, everyone looks bad.

It’s time to realize you are not immune to getting arrested.

It’s time to realize the incredible opportunities offered to you by the University.

It’s time to stop disappointing the 10-year-old kid who wants to be just like you someday — minus, of course, the probation officer.

— Daniel Burnett for the editorial board