CFB insider weighs in on Kirby Smart's deleted birthday wishes for Rara Thomas amid arrest

Georgia Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart has had to deal with a spate of arrests of prospects from his team ever since the beginning of 2023. The Bulldogs have had 26 arrests in 19 months related to driving offenses and domestic disturbances, with the last one coming from wide receiver Rara Thomas.

Thomas was arrested on Friday morning on charges of cruelty to children and misdemeanor battery according to Athens-Clarke County jail records. It was the second time that the wide receiver had been arrested after a 2023 felony charge of false imprisonment and a misdemeanor count of family violence battery which was dropped.

Kirby Smart showed his displeasure with Thomas by deleting a happy birthday tweet directed at the prospect from his official account a few minutes after it went up.

The charismatic Bulldogs coach routinely wishes his players and staff members a happy birthday on his X account, as reported by college football insider, Action Network analyst Brett McMurphy:

"Kirby’s account @KirbySmartUGA deleted Happy Birthday to RaRa Thomas about 10 minutes after posting. He must not want Thomas, arrested Friday for cruelty to children-family violence (2nd degree felony) & 2 misdemeanor counts of battery-family violence, to have a Happy Birthday"

Kirby Smart disappointed in arrested players

In January 2023, the Georgia Bulldogs were still celebrating their second consecutive national championship win when tragedy struck. Recruiting officer Chandler LeCroy and prospect Devin Willock were killed in a car crash after a high-speed race to celebrate the win.

Since then, the arrests of Georgia players have piled up to include Bo Hughley, Demello Jones, Savoie White, Smael Mondon and highly-rated running back Trevor Etienne.

During the SEC media days, coach Kirby Smart highlighted his frustration at his player's indiscipline off the gridiron during the past year.

“The incidents that we’ve had off the field are not something that we condone,” Smart said. “It’s very unfortunate, disappointing I guess is the best word. I always talk about processes and outcomes. I talked about that with wins and losses that we try not to base things on the outcomes with wins and losses. In this situation, the outcomes are very disappointing.”

Smart revealed that the players who were charged would not get away scot-free and that there would be consequences for them.

“We’ll have suspensions coming out of some of these,” Smart said. “I think everybody wants to know, what game and are they suspended? ... As far as I know, there’s not one team in the country that’s ever suspended a player for traffic violations. That’s what Marcus Rosemy got suspended for (last year)."

The Georgia Bulldogs and coach Kirby Smart will start the new season as favorites for the SEC (Southeastern Conference) and the national championship but their campaign will always be shrouded under a cloud of controversy.