Wisconsin Badgers head football coach Paul Chryst announced Tuesday that the football program had dismissed freshman running back Loyal Crawford and suspended freshman running back Antwan Roberts.
247Sports’ Evan Flood first reported the news.
Wisconsin did not provide information about the length of Roberts’ suspension. According to a statement, “Wisconsin Athletics and the football program will have no further comment on the matters.”
Statement from UWPD
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Jeff Potrykus reported the following statement from the University of Wisconsin Police Department:
“On Sunday, August 22nd, UWPD was made aware of a physical altercation between two individuals in a residence hall that occurred the previous evening. Once we learned of the incident, our investigation revealed that at one point in the altercation, one of the individuals, Loyal Crawford, 18, armed himself with a knife. The altercation resulted in minor injuries — none of which involved the knife.
Crawford was cited for criminal disorderly conduct and disorderly conduct while armed, according to the UWPD statement.
Crawford tweeted and has since deleted that Roberts attacked him. One tweet read, “I was treated so unfairly in all of this. I want everyone to know that. They didn’t even want to hear my side. He literally broke into my dorm room and tried to jump me while I was sitting on the couch with my back turned to him he started it all.”
Both Crawford and Roberts came to Wisconsin as three-star recruits in this year’s class, according to 247Sports. Crawford came from Eau Claire Memorial and Roberts hails from Hendersonville, Tennessee.
Moving Forward
With Chez Mellusi and Jalen Berger projected to get a majority of the snaps at running back, neither back was likely to play an immediate role for the team.
As a result, Wisconsin currently lists eight running backs on its roster, including Roberts. Four of those backs come into the season as true freshmen, with Berger a redshirt freshman.
No 12. Wisconsin opens the season Saturday at home at 11 a.m. against No. 19 Penn State.
[pickup_prop id=”10898″]
Follow me on Twitter @JacobSwanson! Check out our merch page as well. Use promo code WISCO at checkout for $1 off! To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest in Wisconsin sports, click here!
