Parker Dismissed From FSU Seminoles

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Published on Monday, 02 February 2009

Written by Associated Press

Preston Parker's troubled football career at Florida State is over after his second arrest in less than a year.

Coach Bobby Bowden announced the junior receiver was dismissed from the team Monday in a one-sentence statement released by the school. Parker, who met with Bowden before the announcement, will remain in school on scholarship.

The 21-year-old Parker, from Delray Beach, was arrested and charged with driving under the influence after Tallahassee police found him asleep in his running car early Saturday.

The police report said Parker admitted he had been drinking and smoking marijuana. It was the third time Parker has been arrested since 2006.

Parker was suspended for the first two games of the 2008 season after being arrested last April in Palm Beach County on weapons and drug charges. One of the charges was a felony that was later reduced as part of an agreement on a guilty plea by Parker. He was sentenced to 50 hours of community service, a year's probation and weekly drug testing.

Parker was also arrested in 2006 after police said he tried to steal a DVD from Best Buy. The charge was dismissed after he entered a diversionary program and paid $200 in court costs.

Parker's dismissal comes two days before national signing day, when major college football programs such as Florida State unveil their latest recruiting classes.

Florida State is also expecting to hear from the NCAA on sanctions for an academic cheating scandal that resulted in the suspension of more than five dozen athletes, including some football players, at the school for some games.

Parker, who also played some at running back and returning kicks, caught 104 passes for 1,189 yards and five touchdowns in three seasons.

Parker's dismissal, combined with Greg Carr's departure after four productive seasons at Florida State, means the Seminoles will be relying heavily on underclassmen at wide receiver next season.

Taiwan Easterling and Bert Reed combined for 53 catches good for 617 yards and four touchdowns as freshmen last season. Reed, however, was suspended three times last season and arrested once for his role in a campus brawl in November that resulted in five receivers, including Easterling, being suspended for one game.

Parker was freed Sunday from the Leon County Jail on $500 bail.

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