The University of Texas Longhorns football team will head into their game Saturday against the University of Kansas Jayhawks with one less player. UT-Austin Football Head Coach Strong announced this week that he has dismissed a ninth player, Kennedy Estelle, from the Longhorns for not following the team's core values. Strong told reporters he was disappointed for having to dismiss another player, but says players have to follow the rules.
Strong did not specify what the player did to be kicked off the team, but said something had "popped up" during a meeting with the player which lead to an immediate dismissal.
Estelle was originally suspended earlier this month. And both he and Strong had hoped he would be rejoining practice this week.
Strong’s ‘tough love’ seems to have caught the eye of the NFL and NFL Player's Association. Sources reported to Horns Digest that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith may meet with Strong this weekend to go over the coach's core values. Although an athletic department spokesperson told the Austin American-Statesman there is no meeting scheduled.
