ECU Star Receiver Jamar Bryant Suspended Indefinitely

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Posted: 6:12 PM Oct 8, 2008
Last Updated: 9:54 AM Oct 9, 2008

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GREENVILLE, N.C. - East Carolina junior wide receiver Jamar Bryant has been suspended indefinitely for a violation of team policy according to an announcement from head football coach Skip Holtz Wednesday afternoon.

Bryant, whose 18-game consecutive start streak will come to an end when East Carolina (3-2) faces Virginia (2-3) in Charlottesville Saturday, is currently the Pirates' second-leading receiver this season with 19 catches for 216 yards and three touchdowns. After a pair of four-catch efforts against Virginia Tech and West Virginia, he recorded back-to-back season-high five-reception totals against Tulane and N.C. State. Bryant scored on his only catch against Houston - a 12-yarder on Sept. 27 - which extended his reception streak to 19 straight games.

"Jamar Bryant has been suspended indefinitely for a violation of team policy," Holtz said. The fourth-year ECU coach did not address specifics of the suspension, but added "there is an expectation of conduct associated with being a member of the Pirate football program."

As a sophomore in 2007, Bryant led the team in receptions (48), receiving yards (704) and was the unit co-leader in receiving touchdowns with six. His catch total was the sixth-highest in school single-season history while his yardage clip ranked 10th all-time. He opened his Pirate career with 11 receptions for 108 yards in 10 games as a freshman in 2006.

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Posted by: deadfish Location: nc on Oct 26, 2008 at 08:06 PM
corey dawkins: Have you ever heard of strict? What does "strick" mean? Their is a possessive noun NOT to be confused with there.That will be [their] last... It definitely sounds better if you phrase it as long as there is NOT any drugs use. BTW I don't agree with your team discipline concept. If you supervise with a bad boy don't do that again style you'll never be a good leader, period.

Posted by: corey dawkins Location: hamlet nc on Oct 25, 2008 at 08:50 PM
Those team rules should not be as strick on seniors.That will be there last year in college,so they are suppose to enjoy it,as long as there is no drugs involved

Posted by: Dave Location: Greenville on Oct 13, 2008 at 03:38 PM
Poor Big T, he can't cope with ECU losing 3 soon to be 4 straight games. deadfish and I are the voices of REASON on this board.

Posted by: Big T Location: greenville on Oct 13, 2008 at 08:52 AM
I support a ship Dave's %@# back to PA effort. Before some ECU fanactic (not fan) introduces Dave to instant dentistry. Dave and deadfish both rag on ECU. I can deal with deadfish as he does it based on fact. Dave is a.......vacuum! He hates everything about where he is, except the money. I am guessing that is why he is here. PA has already thrown him away. We poor dumb rednecks are just so slow we haven't figured out we need to throw him away too. If I hated where I was as bad as he does I'd leave. Wow I am slow, i just read a post below! I am so sorry Dave, I didn't realize you were "whipped".

Posted by: Dave Location: Greenville on Oct 12, 2008 at 11:32 AM
Mr. Barry is probably very sad because ECU is now 3-3 and will be playing in the DAVID Sun Flower Seeds Bowl on December 17th against Winthrop.

Posted by: Bill Location: Greenville on Oct 12, 2008 at 03:33 AM
Dave... if you would spend as much time in your life taking time to meet and enjoy the wonderful people in and around ECU/Greenville as you do on this website bashing them, you might one day be able to look back and realize that this was indeed a special place in your life. Good luck on finishing your degree and in getting a job in PA.

Posted by: deadfish Location: nc on Oct 11, 2008 at 05:24 PM
Barry: If you read my posts I am a fair blogger. Regarding I am NOT defending Dave. i said before and I say it again Dave is a big boy able to fight his own battles. I did NOT assume anything regarding Bryant. The coach suspension speaks for itself and that's what I said. Bryant didn't get suspended for throwing a kiss at a cheer leading girl. Did he(!)? Rest my case... I am NOT "preoccupied"with rivals. Rivals.com is a reliable CFB recruiting information source. Obviously you have an issue with them and I leave it that. I repeat it is a good and reliable source of information that you can access at any time. NOT every CFB fan has time or access to ESPNU to gather recruiting information. I have never heard any local station announcing any recruiting information and yes that includes ECU... So you tell me Mr. Barry? Thank you

Posted by: Barry Location: Greenville on Oct 11, 2008 at 12:06 PM
Keep spinnin' Dave. "My wife made me do it", defense, LOL! Your wife having family here dictates YOUR (and her) geographical choice, seriously?! Dave, I know Pa..., best wishes.

Posted by: Dave Location: Greenville on Oct 11, 2008 at 11:08 AM
Barry I was in the Air Force and my wife has family down here. THAT is the only reason why I am finishing my degree ECU. Once I'm done with that, it's on to PA to use my little ECU degree and get a job. Hopefully, businesses in PA have heard of ECU.

Posted by: Barry Location: Greenville on Oct 11, 2008 at 10:37 AM
deadfish: Fair enough. Thanks for answering for Dave. I suspect you are older and more mature than he. Dave, for his part, will likely be back, answering in his soon to be patented ill conceived/dismissive manner. deadfish: you are correct in your point that often where a person receives their initial, undergraduate education is where loyalties might be strongest. That's OK. Your own analogy to Marine and Guard days is a good one. My main point with our friend Dave though, has less to do with athletic loyalties and more with his repeated swiping at ECU in general, and with the apparent online chip about his online shoulders in which he does so. I must say, now that I have, in my mind anyways, ID'd his modus operandi, it is getting old. Where I take issue with you deadfish is in your seeming preoccupation with rivals. They're a for profit group, so implicit is bias toward "high profile" schools= $. You give them more credit than I. Re: Bryant, you assume too much; likely NCAA dictate.

Posted by: deadfish Location: nc on Oct 11, 2008 at 06:03 AM
Barry: You got some points. I have a similar situation. The explanation is this. I was a Marine during my first ten years in the military. The last 14 with the NC National Guard. I am a Marine at heart. I can't say too many nice things about the "Guard" even though my ID card says US Army... As a matter of fact I have a friend who went to school at Louisville, got his Masters at USC and his PHD at Stanford. He's a Trojan all the way! Seriously Mr. Bryant had to do something pretty bad to a point that Mr. Holtz had to suspend him. IMHO it seems that any coach would have done the same thing. Finally ECU fans here is the link so you can monitor ECU's 2009 recruiting progress: http://rivals100.rivals.com/teamrank.asp?SID=880 Good luck Pirates, you need it badly! Stay tuned!

Posted by: Barry Location: Greenville on Oct 10, 2008 at 10:54 PM
Dave: Not so sure about the price comment if you are a citizen of Pa. and pay out of state tuition. There are many state schools all over the country, including Pa. that are competitive price-wise. But, what of your pride then, does that have a price? You belittle ECU repeatedly, yet patronize it and accept post baccalaureate education through ECU? What of your diploma post graduation? Will you cover the "East Carolina University" with tape and write over it, in inimitable Dave handwriting, "Pennsylania State University"? I assume that you are a young graduate student; for you lack respect for your very own decision making abilities (yup, it was YOU Dave that CHOSE to attend ECU). Your sheen of superiority has been exposed. I suspect that was part of your decision making to come here though, you assumed superordinate intellect based on some ill conceived regional haughtiness. Wrong. Good night Dave.

Posted by: Dave Location: Greenville on Oct 10, 2008 at 10:12 PM
Yes Barry I am in Grad school at ECU. It is MUCH cheaper to go there than most other schools.

Posted by: Va Pirate on Oct 10, 2008 at 02:35 PM
To Chris, I understand what your saying, but when you are out in public or doing bad in school, or doing drugs, or just going to the grocery store, you are representing the football team whether you like it or not. Take it or leave it. Thats the way life works. In some jobs, you get a dwi, they fire you whether you drive for the co. or not. Its almost like guilt by association. He did something that warranted his release from the football team... They just arent telling everyone what it is... But you can be held accountable for your actions even though you are not playing on the field. Thats kind of what happened to Vick in a way...

Posted by: WayToGo Location: Pirateville on Oct 10, 2008 at 02:06 PM
Well, we have have been in the Pirate Nation know how the stories go -- as soon as we come out of the gate winning things start to go the other way for us. Sad to look on ESPN mobile and this is the only story they have about the Pirates. Oh, and how we lost to Houston and NCSU. Thanks for the support ESPN -- to keep up the readership you have to cover the soapopera-ish stuff (you think) people like to read!

Posted by: Barry Location: Greenville on Oct 10, 2008 at 01:10 PM
Dave: Graduate school I presume? Why at ECU- given your oft repeated vilification of the school? Do you hate yourself as well?

Posted by: Jim Location: New Bern on Oct 10, 2008 at 01:05 PM
Deadfish, ECU fans are very aware of Butch Davis. By the way, his record is 0-3 against ECU

Posted by: Dave Location: Greenville on Oct 10, 2008 at 12:13 PM
Barry as a matter of fact, I am an ECU student! Imagine that...

Posted by: Dwayne Location: Greenville on Oct 10, 2008 at 10:28 AM
To everyone drooling for the gossip. Think of the last major infraction/mistake/violation of the law you committed. Now, place it in the newspaper for everyone to read and judge. Now, go excel. Not so fun when you are the one under the microscope. It's not our business to know everything about Coach Holt's decisions.

Posted by: GJ Location: Winterville on Oct 10, 2008 at 09:32 AM
it doesn't matter what he did. But it must have been serious for the coach to suspend him. People need to be held accountable for their actions. Good job, coach in shaping your team and instilling good values in them. Go Pirates!!

Posted by: The Pirate Lady Location: Grimesland on Oct 10, 2008 at 09:06 AM
Deadfish: It does. Please let me know what you find out.

Posted by: Chris Location: Greenville on Oct 10, 2008 at 07:19 AM
How do you get suspended off the football team for something that happened off the football field. You don't get rid of your stars when you are trying to win. That is a recipe for losing , which ECU only needed that last ingredient. So go ahead you lovable loser,keep up the good work.

Posted by: deadfish Location: nc on Oct 10, 2008 at 01:59 AM
The Pirate Lady: I hate break the bad news to you. I am not subscribed to rivals. I don't know about his interest or visits to other schools. My guess is that Butch Davis(UNC HC) was the best seller of all the coaches that interviewed him I would [NOT] dare to speculate of him and Mr. Holtz if at ALL there was any contact between them. However if you guys insist Mr. Holtz at least should explain IMHO one way or the other. I hope you ECU fans agree with me that it is a fair question. I will research if it is unethical for him to address that since strict NCAA recruiting rules have to be followed. ECU fans that are NOT familiar with UNC HC Butch Davis let me give you a couple of points. He was Miami( the "U") HC before he went to become the NFL Cleveland Browns HC. I believe he won at least one NC there. The point that I'm making is that he is a very experienced CFB coach and knows recruiting like the best of the best, no pun intended. TPL I hope I have answered your questions. Later!

Posted by: The Pirate Lady Location: Grimesland on Oct 9, 2008 at 09:19 PM
My mistake DF, that article was on Terry Humphrey.

Posted by: The Pirate Lady Location: Grimesland on Oct 9, 2008 at 09:18 PM
DF: Okay, I checked out rivals and I see where has made a solid commit to UNC. Now, I don't suscribe to rivals, so help me out; looks like his other choices were State, ECU, VT, Clemson and Florida. Of course I can't read the full article on him without suscribing, so does you know the other school he was strongly interested in, other than UNC? After seeing that, that does raise the question with me also if ECU spoke to him, b/c it looks like he was a little interested in us.

Posted by: Barry Location: Greenville on Oct 9, 2008 at 07:45 PM
Dave: Do you work at ECU and receive compensation from the University? I think thay you may, and this raises some very serious questions. Thank you.

Posted by: Cactus Location: Strabane, NC on Oct 9, 2008 at 06:58 PM
Heck, what the h*** did he do, how can one be held accountable without people knowing what happen, why say anything at all, just keep it close to the vest. Now what the hell did he do????? Or it called protection.

Posted by: deadfish Location: nc on Oct 9, 2008 at 04:08 PM
The Pirate Lady: Hello lady. You know I have a lot of respect for you. Let me address/explain the Donte Moss reference. It gives me the opportunity to inform other Pirate fans about him. You must admit it hurts that they learn about him from an USC Trojan fan. So I urge ECU fans to visit rivals.com and monitor ECU 2009 recruiting progress. The information is easily accessible and FREE! That is what computers are for, please? Wake-up ECU fans... amazed: I brought-up the salary issue simply to point out that it is part of Mr. Holtz job therefore the VBush compliment IMHO is NOT warranted.

Posted by: Golden One Location: OK on Oct 9, 2008 at 01:12 PM
GO Tulsa WIN CUSA!!

Posted by: Barry Location: Greenville on Oct 9, 2008 at 12:54 PM
Context here people: NCAA rules often dictate the terms of a punishment. Do NOT leap to the conclusion that the rules are being enforced differently purely based on coaching staff decision. If you don't like how punishments are doled out at colleges, and think it is unfair, I advise you to look toward the NCAA. I agree that there might be disparity, but you are pointing the finger in the wrong direction here. Dave, you just can't help but gloat, huh? Good thing there is never any player issues at PSU, right? Oops, PSU suspended 6 players alone in the off-season. But, you are just talking win probability, correct? You don't take other shots at ECU, now do you? By the way, do you work at ECU per chance?

Posted by: jojo Location: greenville on Oct 9, 2008 at 12:07 PM
LAST YEAR ROB CASS ON DWI ONLY MISSED A FEW GAMES. WHAT DID BRYANT DO THAT WAS SO BAD TO BE INDEFINITLY SUPENDED??? WAY DO THE RULES SEEM DIFFERENT??

Posted by: Sandy Location: New Bern on Oct 9, 2008 at 12:02 PM
Good job Skip way to stick to you values now lets go up UVA and whoop some Sorebacks's butt GO PIRTEAS!!!

Posted by: Concerned Location: Greenville, NC on Oct 9, 2008 at 11:14 AM
What is the violation?

Posted by: amazed Location: greenville on Oct 9, 2008 at 09:48 AM
I'm always amazed at how readers turn this into a forum for anything but the topic. It is inane to compare what the Pirate club and University pay the coach vs. the medical School. The medical school budget is not being discussed here and the salaries of a medical school physician and an ECU coach are not comparable and come from completely different sources. The topic concerns the affect on the team of one immature self centered student not the salaries of two completely different professionals!!!!!

Posted by: Wilma Location: Battle Creek, Michigan on Oct 9, 2008 at 09:27 AM
Good to see Skip stand by his values and the team's rules. Nobody is above the rules on the ECU program.......I wish I could say the same for the rest of the criminals in this town.

Posted by: Pirate Fan Location: VA on Oct 9, 2008 at 09:24 AM
In life people dont always get second chances. You should think before you act/speak. There are not always times to makeup for it. This kid might have kissed an NFL career bon voyage due to this incident... On reflector another comment said that it was due to a drug test......???

Posted by: Dwayne Location: Greenville on Oct 9, 2008 at 08:38 AM
Glad to see this. Discipline off the field helps discipline on the field. It's good to see a coach attempting to make young men into life achievers rather than just athletes that produce on the field. If Mr. Bryant is the caliber man that his athleticism indicates, he'll be back. Go Pirates! Win CUSA.

Posted by: The Pirate Lady Location: Grimesland on Oct 9, 2008 at 08:25 AM
Hello everyone! Deadfish: are you bringing up that Donte Moss thing again? As I told you on another post, I'm sure ECU did try to recruit him, but if we're looking at him, and UNC or Duke or whoever is also looking at him, who do you think he'll go to? As for the situation with Jamar Bryant..this couldn't come at a worse time for us, but hopefully we are able to do something to lessen the impact of his suspension from the team. I heard on the radio this morning that Alex Taylor would be getting more playing time now. I met him, he seems to be a dedicated player, (not to mention very nice!)so maybe he'll step up and do a good job. I honestly don't know alot about his stats, but at this point, we need more of these players to step up and act like they want to play.

Posted by: VBush Location: MHCY on Oct 9, 2008 at 03:58 AM
Deadfish, Yes, I am commending the coach for doing his job. It seems refreshing for someone to actually be held accountable for their actions these days. Obviously he is a valuable player and the coach still isn't going to use him. I hope he applies his disciplinary practices evenly across the board. Apparently he doesn't overlook a players bad behavior because he thinks he has to have him on the field to win. It may be the first time this Bryant character has ever had to answer for his actions. So I will commend him for doing his job 'deadfish' as there are far too many instances these days where it doesn't happen and no one says anything about it. Is he over paid? Absolutely! Is that the issue in this story? NO.

Posted by: deadfish Location: nc on Oct 9, 2008 at 03:23 AM
ECU fans: I sincerely apologize for incorrectly stating that Mr. Skip Holtz is ECU's highest paid employee. I won't do it again, thank you. BTW what I am about to say is NOT an excuse. My point is/was that VBush was unnecessarily complimenting Mr. Holtz for doing his job. I was emphasizing that he gets paid handsomely and that is part of his job. ECUFAN WHY Mr. Holtz hasn't done a better recruiting job? Do you know if DE Donte Moss the prospect from Jacksonville, NC was at least interviewed? May I remind you that he is the #12 player in the nation according to rivals.com. Furthermore ESPNU had a great report about him. Based on your comment ECUFAN how close is Mr. Bryant to be kicked-out of the team/school? Finally did you mean device instead of divice? Is 93P hiding? ALL of a sudden he has hibernated! I think Dave is correct ECU is about to be 3-3...

Posted by: Dave Location: Greenville on Oct 9, 2008 at 01:09 AM
Can you say 3-3 Pirate Nation? AAARGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

Posted by: ECUFAN Location: Greenville on Oct 8, 2008 at 10:10 PM
He might not be the highest paid by the College but a big chunk of his money comes from Pirate Club so after that he is the Highest Paid. And there is only one at Health Science making $990K and he developed a life saving heart surgery divice. Oh and Bryant deserves what he got. If you know him you will say it and know that he has been getting in trouble with the college since he got here.

Posted by: Jim Location: Newport on Oct 8, 2008 at 09:35 PM
Well just do what Bobby Bowden does and just make him run the dadgum stadium seats.

Posted by: HB Location: Greenville on Oct 8, 2008 at 09:32 PM
deadfish: Coach Holtz is not the highest paid employee, not by far. He is not even the highest paid head coach. There are staff members in Health Sciences making over $990,000 a year.

Posted by: deadfish Location: nc on Oct 8, 2008 at 09:12 PM
Moderator: Please don't insult our intelligence. I did NOT attend #206 academically rated ECU BUT I can READ, Sir/Mame, thank you. VBush: There isn't any need to compliment him for doing his job. He is ECU highest paid employee with a HIGH SIX figure salary.

Posted by: Moderator Location: WITN on Oct 8, 2008 at 07:58 PM
According to Coach Holtz, violation of team policy.

Posted by: wondering on Oct 8, 2008 at 07:48 PM
what did he do?

Posted by: VBush Location: MHCY on Oct 8, 2008 at 07:30 PM
Wow, someone is actually making the team members accountable for their actions. I am impressed! Kudos to Coach Holtz.

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