Sports Page Atlanta

Only days after being arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol, hit-and-run, having an open container, and marijuana possession, and less than two weeks after being hired as Georgia Tech’s Assistant Director of Player Personnel, ex-Yellow Jacket quarterback, Joe Hamilton offered his resignation to the Georgia Tech athletic department.

Hamilton, the one-time Heisman Trophy runner-up, was pulled over shortly after midnight by a Georgia Tech police officer because his black Ford Expedition matched the description of a car that had been involved in a hit-and-run collision nearby.

Officers smelled alcohol on Hamilton’s breath, and asked him if he had been drinking and involved in an accident. Hamilton admitted that he had a few beers and that he hit another motorist from behind, according to the report.

Hamilton failed a series of field sobriety tests, including walking in a straight line and standing on one leg, the report states.

“He was unsteady on his feet while doing the exercise, and he was losing his balance during the evaluation,” an officer wrote of Hamilton trying to walk in a straight line.

Hamilton also agreed to take a breath test that measured his blood-alcohol content. In two attempts, he recorded levels of 0.193 and 0.199, the document said, more than twice the state’s legal limit of 0.08.

In Hamilton’s car, police found an open bottle of Heineken beer on the floor board behind a passenger seat and a marijuana cigarette in the ash tray, the report said.

The hit-and-run collision, meanwhile, occurred at Williams Street and North Avenue. The other motorist, Charles Curry Jr. of Decatur, told police he was stopped at a red light on Williams when another motorist rear-ended him.

After receiving Hamilton’s resignation, the Georgia Tech athletic department released a press statement saying,

“Today, I sadly accepted Joe’s resignation,” Georgia Tech head football coach Paul Johnson said. “I know he has great love and concern for this program and always will. Both athletic director Dan Radakovich and I made it clear to Joe that we would offer any support he requires in the coming weeks and into the future. Joe will always be a part of the Yellow Jacket family.”