South Carolina Football: QB Stephen Garcia Dismissed from Football Team

This time it's for real.

Stephen Garcia has been dismissed from the South Carolina football team today. Garcia violated the terms of his agreement that he had with the university as part of his reinstatement to the football team.

Rumors swirled last week that Garcia had left the team, but he returned from his grandfather's funeral on Friday and was on the sidelines at Williams-Brice against Kentucky.

The universities athletic director Eric Hyman had this to say about Garcia's dismissal:

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“Being a student-athlete at the University of South Carolina is a privilege, not a right, and we remind all of our student-athletes that there are consequences for their actions. For Stephen to return to and remain with the football squad this fall, we agreed on several established guidelines. Unfortunately, he has not been able to abide by those guidelines and has therefore forfeited his position on the roster. We wish him the best of luck as he moves forward in life.”

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Coach Steve Spurrier also released a statement as well and said this in regards to Garcia:

“We are all saddened that this has occurred. We all feel like we’ve given Stephen numerous opportunities to be a student-athlete here at South Carolina. Obviously, he has chosen not to follow the guidelines of his reinstatement contract. We wish him the best.”

This is a tough blow for this football team, as having a quality backup like Stephen Garcia in the mix would certainly ease the fears if Connor Shaw were to get injured or play poorly.

It's obviously been a long road for Stephen Garcia during his times at South Carolina but this saga has finally come to an end.