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Former Sandy Creek football player arrested on gun charges at Duke |
2010-01-19 |
By Trey Alverson |
Former Sandy Creek football star Brandon Putnam has been dismissed from the Duke University football team and is facing felony gun charges after an on-campus incident early Sunday morning.
According to Duke Campus Police, Putnam and teammates John Drew and Kyle Griswould were arrested at 3 a.m. Sunday after gunshots were fired into the air from a vehicle near the Jarvis residence hall on Duke’s east campus. The vehicle belonged to one of the three players, but police did not say who owns the car. No injuries were reported.
Putnam, Drew and Griswould have each been charged with felonious possession and discharge of a weapon and will not be permitted to return to campus until the charges are resolved.
Duke University head football coach David Cutcliffe announced Sunday that all three have been dismissed from the team.
“These types of offenses are going to be associated with dismissal from our team,� Cutcliffe said. “While these three young men did not meet the expectations of those in our program, our prayers are with them and their families during this difficult time. We’ll continue to move forward, and we are excited about the direction of Duke football.�
Putnam was an All-Region defensive standout at Sandy Creek. Noted equally for his stellar work on the gridiron and the classroom, he inked a scholarship to play for the Blue Devils on National Signing Day last February. Putnam red-shirted this fall as a freshman.
Both Griswould and Drew also played high school football in Georgia. Drew was a standout lineman for Northside, Columbus. As a true freshman, Drew played in all 12 Duke games last fall with one starting assignment and finished the year with 34 tackles, 4.0 tackles for loss, 0.5 quarterback sack, two pass breakups, one caused fumble and one fumble recovery.
Griswould, a running back from Shaw High School in Columbus, sat out his freshman year.
Sandy Creek Head Coach Chip Walker declined to comment Monday about Putnam’s arrest. Walker said he would need to “learn a little bit more about what happened� before he could issue a statement.
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