Dorial Green-Beckham dismissed from Missouri football program
Missouri star receiver Dorial Green-Beckham has been dismissed from the Tigers football program.
Head coach Gary Pinkel and athletic director Mike Alden announced the decision in a release Friday.
“This decision was made with the best interests of all involved in mind,” Pinkel said in the statement. “Dorial’s priority going forward needs to be focusing on getting the help he needs. As we have all along, we will continue to do everything we can to assist Dorial and his family. We care deeply about Dorial and his well-being, but hopefully he can benefit from a fresh start.”
The school initially announced Monday that Green-Beckham would be suspended from the program indefinitely for a violation of team policies. On Tuesday, reports emerged that Green-Beckham was involved in a “physical altercation” early Sunday morning. Columbia Police announced Thursday that Green-Beckham would not be arrested for the incident, but the details from incident report that emerged were ugly.
“We have a high standard of conduct for our student-athletes,” Alden said. “Though we provide the resources and mentoring to all of our student-athletes, we are also responsible to the community at large and to the ideals and values of the University of Missouri. We have determined that this was a necessary step for our football team, athletic department, the University and our community.”
According to the incident report, Green-Beckham was looking for his girlfriend when he forced his way into an apartment, pushed the female tenant and caused “her to fall down at least four stairs,” which caused an injury to the woman’s hand. She told police that she did not want to press charges because “she was afraid of the media and community backlash.”
This is the third time Green-Beckham has run into trouble since arriving at Missouri. A marijuana possession charge in 2012 led to a one-game suspension. That charge that was dropped after he pled guilty to a reduced charge of trespassing.
He also was arrested on Jan. 10 for being a passenger in a car that was found to have a pound of marijuana. He was never charged in that case after police determined the drugs did not belong to him.
Green-Beckham released a statement earlier Friday saying that he took “responsibility for his conduct and mistakes” and that he would seek counseling.
The 6-foot-6, 225-pound Green-Beckham was the No. 1 overall recruit in the class of 2012 and caught 87 passes for 1,278 yards and 17 touchdowns in his two seasons at Missouri.
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