Robert Nkemdiche was at the center of attention Sunday and Monday after a photo of him hitting a bong surfaced on the internet, leading Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze to address it during his Monday press conference.
According to FOX Sports’ Clay Travis, the photo was first posted to Tennessee fan site Volquest.com by someone who said they received the photo from a friend in August. The photo was taken with Snapchat, which is a social media service where media shared gets deleted after a certain amount of time. Though it is frowned upon, some people screenshot Snapchats, allowing them to capture what was shared before it is deleted.
The fan said they were holding onto the photo and planned to release it when Tennessee played Ole Miss, which is on Saturday.
Freeze was asked about the photo on Monday and addressed it.
“I’m very aware of the picture and also when it was taken and where it was taken,” coach Hugh Freeze said. “We test our entire team on our drug-testing policy at the beginning of the season and then we have our follow-up tests throughout the course of the year. I’m super confident we handled each one the same and we enforce our policy very consistently.
Ole Miss’ drug policy does not call for an automatic suspension for a first failed drug test, according to the Clarion-Ledger. Nkemdiche has played in every game this season, meaning one of three things: he never tested positive; this was his first failed test; or he’s failed multiple tests and has received special treatment. We’re guessing it’s one of the first two.
In August, Nkemdiche discussed the pitfalls of being a celebrity athlete in a small town.
“We have to really watch our surroundings and know what is going on around us,” Nkemdiche said. “If we want to have some fun, we have to know where we can have fun at. We just can’t freelance and be like, ‘Oh we can do whatever we want.'”
Maybe he knew he had been burned by the photo and this was him lamenting his lack of freedom
For those saying the photo is fake, Freeze sure seemed to indicate he was disappointed with it, which suggests the photo is real.
