If Jadeveon Clowney's new agent, Bus Cook, is telling him to just pay a $355 speeding ticket and move on as one of the top prospects in the 2014 NFL Draft, the South Carolina star defensive end isn't listening.
According to wistv.com, the star junior has asked for a jury trial in the case of a speeding ticket he received last month for driving 110 mph in a 70 mph zone.
The evidence doesn't figure to bode well for Clowney. Police released a dashboard video of the stop, and the officer who ticketed Clowney reached speeds of up to 142 mph to approach Clowney's Chrysler 300, a clear-enough indication that Clowney's speed was far in excess of the posted limit. And it certainly wouldn't appear that Clowney learned his lesson, because a couple of weeks later, Clowney received another ticket for driving 84 mph in a 55 mph zone.
Of course, in a few months, $355 will look more like $3.55 to Clowney. But that, apparently, isn't the point to him. And while the police may have all the evidence needed to prove the case, Clowney would have one thing going for him in a jury trial: fans. After all, it would be mighty unlikely for a local jury in Columbia, S.C., not to be chock full of Gamecocks fans, and who among them wouldn't want to send Clowney off to the NFL with a community reprieve for a lead foot?
Clowney declared his intention to enter the NFL draft early immediately after the Gamecocks' Capital One Bowl win over Wisconsin. He is considered a first-round draft pick and could be among the very first players chosen.
First, however, he's got a traffic ticket to fight.
Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter *@ChaseGoodbread.*