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Texas Longhorn cut because of slur towards Barack Obama
Backup center Buck Burnette has apologized to his now former teammates for posting an inflammatory text message regarding President-elect Barack Obama on his Facebook account.
“The football team really was his family, and he feels like he let his family down,” said Grady Burnette, Buck’s father. “He is overwhelmed with the support he’s received from his teammates and is sorry if he caused any of them pain. He feels bad because he knows that he caused a distraction to the team. He really wanted to let coach (Mack) Brown and everybody else know how sorry he is. He can’t apologize enough. “
Burnette was dismissed from the team Wednesday after coach Mack Brown became aware of what the backup offensive lineman had posted.
Burnette’s father said: “We, as a family, fully understand the decision Mack Brown made. We feel that he had to make it and it was the right decision. This is not about Buck. It’s about the University of Texas. Buck knew that he was representing the university and, as such, they had to let him go. He was always proud to be a part of the team and he’s really hurting right now. We’re all hurting right now as a family.
According to those who saw the Facebook page, Burnette updated his Facebook status shortly after Obama was elected president Tuesday night and wrote that hunters should now gather because of who would be in the White House. One of the people who claimed to have seen Burnette’s original post said it also included a racial slur. Others saw what Burnette wrote and posted comments on other sites, encouraging their friends to shut down his page.
Burnette’s page has since been deleted from Facebook.
However, screen grabs show that he had updated his status to an apology. The screen grab also showed that he had 255 unread emails.
Burnette wrote: “Clearly I was in the wrong for what I did and I apologize for being a sore loser.”
He offered another apology. It said: “Clearly I have made a mistake and apologized for it and will pay for it. I received it as a text message from an acquaintance and immaturely put it up on facebook in the light of the election. Im not racist and apologize for offending you. I grew up on a ranch in a small town where that was a real thing and I need to grow up. I sincerely am sorry for being ignorant in thinking that it would be ok to write that publicly and apologize to you in particular. I have to be more mature than to put the reputation of my team at stake and to spread that kind of hate which I dont even believe in. Once again, I sincerely apologize.”
His Facebook page listed his political views as “very conservative.”
Wimberley’s Weldon Nelms coached Burnette in high school. He said: “It’s just one of those things where I think he was caught up in the moment. It probably was him and a couple of his buddies and they thought it was funny.
“I know the kid, and I believe in my gut that he’s not prejudice, he’s not a bigot or a racist. At least I hope that’s the case. He certainly has never done anything to make me believe that. He always got along with everybody.”
Source:statesman.com
“The football team really was his family, and he feels like he let his family down,” said Grady Burnette, Buck’s father. “He is overwhelmed with the support he’s received from his teammates and is sorry if he caused any of them pain. He feels bad because he knows that he caused a distraction to the team. He really wanted to let coach (Mack) Brown and everybody else know how sorry he is. He can’t apologize enough. “
Burnette was dismissed from the team Wednesday after coach Mack Brown became aware of what the backup offensive lineman had posted.
Burnette’s father said: “We, as a family, fully understand the decision Mack Brown made. We feel that he had to make it and it was the right decision. This is not about Buck. It’s about the University of Texas. Buck knew that he was representing the university and, as such, they had to let him go. He was always proud to be a part of the team and he’s really hurting right now. We’re all hurting right now as a family.
According to those who saw the Facebook page, Burnette updated his Facebook status shortly after Obama was elected president Tuesday night and wrote that hunters should now gather because of who would be in the White House. One of the people who claimed to have seen Burnette’s original post said it also included a racial slur. Others saw what Burnette wrote and posted comments on other sites, encouraging their friends to shut down his page.
Burnette’s page has since been deleted from Facebook.
However, screen grabs show that he had updated his status to an apology. The screen grab also showed that he had 255 unread emails.
Burnette wrote: “Clearly I was in the wrong for what I did and I apologize for being a sore loser.”
He offered another apology. It said: “Clearly I have made a mistake and apologized for it and will pay for it. I received it as a text message from an acquaintance and immaturely put it up on facebook in the light of the election. Im not racist and apologize for offending you. I grew up on a ranch in a small town where that was a real thing and I need to grow up. I sincerely am sorry for being ignorant in thinking that it would be ok to write that publicly and apologize to you in particular. I have to be more mature than to put the reputation of my team at stake and to spread that kind of hate which I dont even believe in. Once again, I sincerely apologize.”
His Facebook page listed his political views as “very conservative.”
Wimberley’s Weldon Nelms coached Burnette in high school. He said: “It’s just one of those things where I think he was caught up in the moment. It probably was him and a couple of his buddies and they thought it was funny.
“I know the kid, and I believe in my gut that he’s not prejudice, he’s not a bigot or a racist. At least I hope that’s the case. He certainly has never done anything to make me believe that. He always got along with everybody.”
Source:statesman.com