Former Tennessee player Drae Bowles said in an affidavit obtained in the Title IX lawsuit against the University of Tennessee that Vols coach Butch Jones called him a “traitor to the team” for helping a woman who accused two Tennessee football players of rape, according to a report from The Tennessean.
Per the affidavit, Bowles, who has since transferred to Chattanooga, was called into a meeting with Jones after a fight with teammate Curt Maggit (which was allegedly in retribution for helping the victim) and in that meeting he “broke down and cried.”
Bowles was later called back to Jones’ office, where the coach apologized for the comment.
Tennessee is in the midst of this federal lawsuit after multiple women have come forward and said that the university does not take sexual assault allegations involving its athletes, namely football players, seriously at all. Even former Vol and future Hall of Famer Peyton Manning has been named in the lawsuit, so this is quite serious.
Jones himself recently responded to allegations against the university by holding a pep rally of sorts with other Tennessee coaches in which all of them defended the culture of the university, but this affidavit changes everything, particularly in that Bowles alleges that Maggit confronted him and “asked accusing questions” before the confrontation turned physical.
And all because Bowles helped a young woman call 911 and seek medical treatment after allegedly being raped by former Vols Michael Williams and A.J. Johnson. The victim, known in the lawsuit as Jane Doe IV, did nothing but speak highly of Bowles in the lawsuit.
“Drae Bowles had acted with the utmost kindness and strength of character toward Jane Doe IV, her friends and Jane Doe V,” the plaintiffs claim in their updated lawsuit. “For his kindness and courage he was beaten up, called a traitor by his head football coach and ostracized from the team by Coach Jones and other players.”
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