I read the rumor earlier today, but could not quite believe that three Tennessee freshmen arrested early this morning on armed robbery charges were actually wearing Tennessee gear in the process of alleged robbery. Via video by improbably on-the-spot Knoxville news station WVLT, however, we may now confirm that yes, yes they were.

Or at least one of them was -- that would be Mike Edwards, the first player you see on the following video, a little over four minutes in. Following Edwards is the players' female driver, 22-year-old Marie Montmarquet (who was also charged with pot possession in addition to three counts of armed robbery), followed by wide receiver Nu'Keese Richardson, identifiable by dreds; Janzen Jackson, also arrested, isn't shown, unless one of the heads in the back of the patrol cars is his:

There is nothing funny about armed robbery, but among the many quirky elements of the story -- besides the fact that the alleged assailants reportedly used a pellet gun, apparently failed to take any money or anything else of value from their victims and attempted to escape in a Prius -- is the fact that the gas station where the incident took place is owned by former UT lineman Jim Haslam, chairman of Knoxville-based Pilot Travel Centers LLC and benefactor of the single largest donation in the history of the University of Tennessee. Talk about biting the hand that feeds.

The Knoxville News-Sentinel (home of the ironic headline of the year) says the players must go; go-to ol blog Rocky Top Talk has had a slightly less moralistic thread running throughout the day. Yeah, it's a tragedy in the lives of three young, talented men with promising futures, but it's not such a bad day to be running a Tennessee Web site.

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Hat tip: CFT.