Football

Syracuse football DE’s Amir Ealey and Qaadir Sheppard dismissed from team for violation of team rules

Syracuse sophomore defensive ends Amir Ealey and Qaadir Sheppard have been dismissed from the team, SU Athletics announced on Thursday.

Ealey and Sheppard were suspended indefinitely, reportedly for violating two drug tests each. A third violation would result in an automatic dismissal, according to Syracuse.com.

“All that stuff’s tied in with our policies and we’re not going to comment on any of that stuff,” head coach Dino Babers said on Wednesday before the news broke.

Sheppard played in nine games as a freshman in 2015 recording one tackle and one interception. Ealey played in seven games mostly on special teams and recorded one tackle.

The Orange has just two scholarship defensive ends on its roster entering the spring — Jake Pickard and Kenny Carter — neither of whom have played in a game.



SU also brings in three defensive ends — Jaquwan Nelson, Kendall Coleman and Josh Black — in its 2016 recruiting class.

“I can tell you this … that we need every able capable man that can play,” Babers said on Wednesday. “We’re even looking for more players. We may put an ad out in the school newspaper, see what we can get out of the fraternities.”





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