Man alleges Vols players attacked him

Eric Russell, 20, says he was attacked and beaten by a group of Tennessee football players, including sophomore defensive tackle Montori Hughes and senior receiver Denarius Moore, early last Friday morning at Bar Knoxville, a nightspot near campus. A bar-clearing brawl ensued, leading to one Tennessee player being dismissed, two others being suspended and an off-duty Knoxville Police Department officer being knocked unconscious and sent to the hospital.

"If not for my friends jumping in, I would be dead or brain-dead," Russell told ESPN.com. "It was obvious that they weren't going to stop."

Russell, both of his eyes blackened and his left one swollen shut, was taken to the hospital by one of his friends and treated. He said he had a baseball-sized knot on the back of his head "where six or seven football players were punching and kicking me."

He broke his nose, suffered bruises on his chest and required nine stitches above his left eye. His forearms were bruised from "trying to fend off kicks and punches" while he lay on the ground.

"One of them was holding my head up, and they were punching me in my face while I was on the ground and stomping on my chest," Russell said. "Finally, my friends were able to help get them off me, and the bouncers started dragging them outside."

Russell said Hughes and Moore were the only two players he could identify for sure and that Hughes started the whole thing by pushing him and then punching him in the chest after Russell inadvertently bumped into Hughes on his way back from the bathroom.

The 6-foot-4, 312-pound Hughes, who has not been questioned by police or charged with any crimes in connection with the brawl, has adamantly disputed Russell's version of the story. He told Tennessee coach Derek Dooley that the 5-8, 215-pound Russell hit him from behind after they bumped into each other earlier in the night and had words.

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Meanwhile, GoVolsXtra is reporting that according to a Knoxville police incident report released today, that senior defensive tackle Chase Nelson was also involved in the incident. However, according to someone inside the UT Athletic Department, a recent internal investigation revealed Nelson wasn't even at the establishment the night that the brawl took place.

Nelson, a Tulsa, OK native, has not taken part in any team activities since the spring semester while he served an academic suspension.