Nebraska Football: Ernest Suttles and Thomas Brown Dismissed From Team

Nebraska Cornhuskers head coach Bo Pelini has dismissed two freshman defenders after an alleged altercation with another sophomore defender at a party last week.

As reported by Eric Olson of the Associated Press (h/t Yahoo! Sports), freshman defensive end Ernest Suttles was ticketed for misdemeanor assault for hitting redshirt sophomore linebacker David Santos in the head with a bottle at a party last week.

On Thursday, the Nebraska athletic department released a statement confirming the dismissal of Suttles and redshirt freshman linebacker Thomas Brown, as published by HuskersOnline.com: 

"

We are aware of an incident involving student-athletes which occurred off campus over the weekend. We are working with the University's Dean of Students in gathering further details. We will continue to review the incident. Further, Head Football Coach Bo Pelini has announced that Ernest Suttles and Thomas Brown are no longer members of the football program.

"

The only question remaining is about the involvement of Brown in the altercation, as Olson's report stated that there was no record of his involvement, according to Lincoln Police Capt. Danny Reitan.

Rumors of the incident surfaced earlier this week from John Ackeren on HuskerCorner.com, which reported that the fight occurred at the home of Santos during the sophomore linebacker's 21st birthday party last Friday night. 

According to Ackeren's sources, Brown and Suttles were involved in the fight and that defensive back Jonathan Rose may have been involved as well. 

Jeff Mason of 247Sports tweeted that Santos was struck with the bottle while attempting to kick Brown and Suttles out of the party and that Santos' wound required stitches:

According to the AP report, Suttles was ticketed Wednesday.

Suttles, a 247Sports composite 3-star recruit, only enrolled at Nebraska on June 10 after choosing the Huskers over Iowa State, Missouri and others.

Brown spent the 2012 season as a redshirt and was expected to compete for playing time in the linebacker corps in 2013.

While many of the story's details aren't officially confirmed, it is clear that this is the type of incident that would surely create unwanted turmoil in a locker room.

Pelini did the right thing by cutting those issues off at the source.