old miss cleaning house

smazza · October 24, 2006

Ole Miss dismisses Pack, suspends four other players for violation of team rules

Posted 10/24/2006 10:14 AM ET E-mail | Save | Print | Subscribe to stories like this

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) Ã¢â‚¬â€ Four University of Mississippi players have been suspended indefinitely and third-leading tackler Garry Pack dismissed for an undisclosed violation of team rules, coach Ed Orgeron said in a statement.

The statement was released by the university Monday night.

A university spokesman said Tuesday that Orgeron, in his second season at Ole Miss, was not available to comment on the announcement. Ole Miss is 2-6 overall this season and 1-4 in the Southeastern Conference.

Pack, a 6-foot-1, 220-pound linebacker from Hattiesburg, started seven games this season at linebacker and was third on the team in tackles with 48. He is a junior.

The suspended players are sophomore defensive end LaMark Armour of Nashville, sophomore defensive linemen Hayward Howard of New Orleans., and sophomore linebackers LeRon King of Miami and Robert Russell of New Orleans.

Orgeron said fullback Quentin Taylor, a sophomore from Apopka, Fla., has quit the team.

Dorthy Taylor, Quentin Taylor's grandmother, told The Clarion-Ledger newspaper that Orgeron had contacted her last week saying that her grandson was among several players who were caught smoking marijuana.

"I don't really know what happened," Dorthy Taylor told the newspaper. "But coach talked to me the other day and he was telling me about some of the boys had been smoking pot. I think (Taylor) was there with them or he was there when they got caught or something.

"He said he had been there about five minutes."

Taylor played weakside linebacker for the Rebels during the first four games of the season but was moved to fullback three weeks ago, playing the past two games on the offense.

"He told me he was going to be punished or something went wrong," Dorthy Taylor said. "He didn't sound good."

The Rebels are at home Saturday to take on No. 7 Auburn.