Alabama Dismisses Football Players After Campus Robbery Arrests

Four University of Alabama football players have been dismissed from the team after being arrested on charges of robbery and fraudulent use of a credit card earlier this month, the school said.

Running back Brent Calloway, defensive back Eddie Williams, defensive lineman Dennis Pettway and linebacker Tyler Hayes “are no longer associated with the football program,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said yesterday in an e-mailed statement from the school.

All four players were freshman members of the Crimson Tide’s national championship team this past season. The players were arrested by university police after two separate robberies on the Tuscaloosa campus on Feb. 11.

“Their actions do not reflect the spirit and character that we want our organization to reflect,” Saban said. “Some people learn by words, some people learn by consequences, some people can’t learn.”

Hayes, Pettway and Williams were charged with second-degree robbery. Williams and Calloway were charged with fraudulent use of a credit card.

Attorneys for Pettway, Williams and Calloway didn’t return phone messages left yesterday at their offices seeking comment. No attorney for Hayes was listed in a report on Al.com.

Pettway, Williams and Calloway, all 20, applied for youthful offender status in Tuscaloosa County District Court and requested preliminary hearings, Al.com reported. Under Alabama law, defendants younger than 21 can seek youthful offender status, capping the maximum sentence and keeping records private.

Alabama defeated the University of Notre Dame 42-14 in January to win its third Bowl Championship Series title in a four-year span.

To contact the reporter on this story: Michael Buteau in Atlanta at mbuteau@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Sillup at msillup@bloomberg.net