Starting QB Johnson kicked off football team
Al Muskewitz
Issue date: 2/21/08 Section: Sports
The Jacksonville State football team is preparing to play the 2008 season with two true freshmen quarterbacks after coach Jack Crowe dismissed rising senior starter Cedric Johnson for a continual violation of team rules.
Senior defensive end Aaron Jones also was dismissed for violating team rules.
Crowe confirmed the moves Monday, three days before the Gamecocks are set to open spring practice.
He did not disclose the specific details of the straw-breaking violations, but stressed they were team- and athletic department-related in nature and did not violate state or university code.
Crowe said the two players displayed a pattern of breaching accountability, a point of emphasis within the program this season.
"It's not the result from some shared event, but there is a similar history," Crowe said. "Their circumstances are not exactly the same, but the pattern has the same consistency. They have not been accountable to the rules and regulations of the football team or the athletic department."
Johnson came to JSU in December of 2006 as a junior college All-American to compete for the starting job with fifth-year senior Matt Hardin. He won the job prior to the Memphis game and the Gamecocks eventually geared their offensive style to accommodate the Americus, Ga., native's creative style of play.
He passed for 1,434 yards and six touchdowns and was the team's second-leading rusher with 437 yards and 10 touchdowns. He ran for four touchdowns and accounted for 233 yards of total offense in a 42-9 rout of Austin Peay televised by ESPN-U. His longest run of the game was featured as No. 5 on ESPN SportsCenter's Plays of the Day.
But he also was involved in at least two incidents that required Crowe's attention. In June, he was arrested on drug and weapons charges and kicked out of campus housing for the first semester. Later in the season his name was linked to another incident involving the misuse of a credit card that ultimately resulted in another player being dismissed from the team.
Senior defensive end Aaron Jones also was dismissed for violating team rules.
Crowe confirmed the moves Monday, three days before the Gamecocks are set to open spring practice.
He did not disclose the specific details of the straw-breaking violations, but stressed they were team- and athletic department-related in nature and did not violate state or university code.
Crowe said the two players displayed a pattern of breaching accountability, a point of emphasis within the program this season.
"It's not the result from some shared event, but there is a similar history," Crowe said. "Their circumstances are not exactly the same, but the pattern has the same consistency. They have not been accountable to the rules and regulations of the football team or the athletic department."
Johnson came to JSU in December of 2006 as a junior college All-American to compete for the starting job with fifth-year senior Matt Hardin. He won the job prior to the Memphis game and the Gamecocks eventually geared their offensive style to accommodate the Americus, Ga., native's creative style of play.
He passed for 1,434 yards and six touchdowns and was the team's second-leading rusher with 437 yards and 10 touchdowns. He ran for four touchdowns and accounted for 233 yards of total offense in a 42-9 rout of Austin Peay televised by ESPN-U. His longest run of the game was featured as No. 5 on ESPN SportsCenter's Plays of the Day.
But he also was involved in at least two incidents that required Crowe's attention. In June, he was arrested on drug and weapons charges and kicked out of campus housing for the first semester. Later in the season his name was linked to another incident involving the misuse of a credit card that ultimately resulted in another player being dismissed from the team.
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Willie Bean
posted 2/08/09 @ 2:21 AM CST
Johnson signed to Finland Maple League Team for 2009 season.
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