King discusses arrest and suspension

Caleb King, in his first public comments since his arrest and suspension, said Monday that his failure to appear on a speeding ticket charge was a “miscommunication.”

But the Georgia tailback also said he understood why head coach Mark Richt came down harshly, handing down a two-game suspension. He was the 11th player to be arrested this year.

“It was bad timing,” King said. “Getting in trouble, getting in the newspaper for everything that’s been happening. And then, not having the year we wanted to have wasn’t helping. I wasn’t mad at the decision.”

King didn’t speak to the media last week, but chose to come up Monday. He was stopped for speeding in Walton County in May, then missed a court date in August. A bench warrant for failing to appear was discovered when King showed up to pick up the car of his brother, who was being arrested on a separate charge.

King said he thought someone else, whom he declined to name, had paid the ticket.

“It was pretty much miscommunication,” King said. “And unfortunately I had to get in trouble for it.”

In his return from suspension, King finished as Georgia’s leading rusher in the overtime loss to Florida. He had started to separate himself from Washaun Ealey before his suspension, and now is probably back in a committee.

“It was very hard," King said of having to miss the two games. "The first game, because I was on the sideline watching, that was probably the hardest."