Following arrests, Ledbetter realized it was time to mature and focus on football

Jonathan Ledbetter is only 19 years old. He has since learned youth isn’t an excuse for the behavior that landed him in trouble a year ago.

Ledbetter was arrested twice for alcohol-related offenses during the 2016 calendar year. His first was for underage possession of alcohol and fraudulent identification, which was later dropped due to police mishandling of the situation. The second, a DUI where he was found asleep at the steering wheel of his vehicle, stuck and was serious enough for Georgia to consider whether he had an alcohol problem.

Ledbetter doesn’t believe he has an addiction. But he’s thankful Georgia treated his two arrests, which occurred in a span of four months, as if he had one.

“I feel like it was a mistake but I liked how they handled it, just to ensure,” Ledbetter said. “You never know. From my coaches’ perspective, from UGA’s perspective, they don’t know. They don’t know my background, they don’t know my history or where I’m from. They recruited me but they don’t know the roots. So I feel like that’s a good thing to have in place to figure out. I’ve definitely moved past that.”

Ledbetter was a young freshman when he arrived to campus two years ago. He didn’t turn 18 until after his first regular season with Georgia began and won’t turn 20 until Sept. 12.

Ledbetter’s second arrest served as a wake-up call. As a public figure playing for a major college football program, he said he couldn’t afford any future issues with the law.

“I tried to use (age) as that when I first got here,” Ledbetter said. “That’s not the case. I just need to be more mature. If I'm going to play this position and play football as man, then I need to be a man outside of football.”

Through the ordeal, Ledbetter said head coach Kirby Smart consistently stayed in his corner.

A year ago at SEC Media Days, Smart said Ledbetter would receive treatment and counseling since his alcohol-related arrests came closely together.

“Even when I wasn’t playing, he wanted me around and he wanted me to be a part of the team because that’s just the kind of person he is,” Ledbetter said. “That’s the kind of coach he is. I appreciate that. When you’re in a tight situation it’s hard to call on people. I didn’t have to call on him, he called on me. He brought me to the table with what I need to do. We talked it out and it was great for me.”

After serving a six-game suspension, Ledbetter finished the 2016 football season with 24 tackles and a sack. At Saturday’s annual G-Day spring game, Ledbetter tallied four tackles and a sack.

Since the offseason began, Ledbetter transformed his body into a leaner frame with bigger upper arms. Ledbetter said he still weighs around 275 or 280 frames but has managed to look different in doing so. In return, he is getting the results he wants on the football field.

“Heavy hands, explosion – that’s what you really need out of a D-lineman,” Ledbetter said. “You want that explosion, especially out of a pass rush. Get off the ball, be able to shed blocks and play at a four, five, or six technique. You just need to have that upper body strength to push a big man off of you.”

This story was originally published April 22, 2017 at 6:33 PM with the headline "Following arrests, Ledbetter realized it was time to mature and focus on football ."