[Lefty Noob]

Redshirt freshman Raymond Henderson, a defensive lineman, has been kicked off the Tennessee football team by coach Phillip Fulmer. According to a report from Rivals.com, "Henderson's punishment stems from a weekend incident in which he allegedly made inappropriate comments to a female minor. After looking into the incident, Fulmer decided to dismiss the Wisconsin native."

The kid was to play defensive tackle, and it says that this was his first incident of misconduct. However, it also came shortly after the team suspended fifth-year senior linebacker Marvin Mitchell for an altercation with police. What do you Volunteers fans this about these latest developement with your football program? Is Fulmer overreacting, or are these guys troublemakers who deserve to be booted from the squad?

[KENVOL]

We don't need trouble. We need to keep our eyes focused on the games ahead. Any distractions could be very costly during the season. Take the trash out.

[rmjvol]

The Vols have had a rash of problems the last few years and then nothing for most of a year. I suspect that it may be a calculated over-reaction although it's hard to tell without the details.

Either way, I'm sure that Coach Fulmer has told them that there are no 2nd chances if they screw up. I guarantee you that this kid was warned that getting in trouble could lead to getting kicked off the football team.

[MJHMarc]

I agree with rmjvol on this matter.

They are thinking of the future and want to make sure that there isn't any trouble during the season. They want to eliminate the troublemakers and eliminate any problems in the future.

[Gotham Dark Knight]

I live in Florida...we are under the assumption that it takes a full felony conviction with jail time to get kicked off the squad...our school mottos is...a bit like the Statue of Liberty...

"Give me your tried, your convicted, Your huddled masses yearning from the law to flee, The wretched refuse your jails want no more. Send these, the hopeless, tempermental to me, I'll look the other way, as they come through our door! "

[rmjvol]

Welcome Minnesota fans

I saw from our stats that there's a lot of interest in whether Henderson is transferring to MN so I thought I'd update this thread for you.

He was highly recruited out of HS so he's got talent. He was part of a killer D recruiting class for Tennessee and that may have indirectly contributed to the dismissal. Coming out of spring practice, he was not really mentioned when the coaches talked about DL rotation.

The incident that got him booted was something like this:

Raymond made some "inappropriate" comment to a woman and her adolescent daughter at a restaurant. I've seen a lot of speculation on the details but nothing more than speculation so I'll leave the details to your imagination.

Coach Fulmer said this was not his 1st bout of trouble with Henderson. But it didn't help that this incident was right after starting senior linebacker Marvin Mitchell was arrested and suspended from the Vols. If Mitchell had not just gotten in trouble, Henderson may not have been booted. But no way to know for sure. And it's probably an easier decision for Coach Fulmer to dismiss a guy who's still relatively new, has never played a down, and isn't expected to figure prominently into the rotation.

So sounds like you're getting a guy with talent that's pissed off his coach at the wrong time. Can't say whether he's a chronic troublemaker or not.

btw, if you're visiting our site for your 1st time, we're a relatively new community that talks about all sports & teams. We've got an active NASCAR forum and we've got some of the best baseball & football chat around. Hope you'll take a minute to register and chat sports with us.

Thanks, Ross

[rmjvol]

It's official. Henderson is transferring to Minnesota. He'll have 3 years of eligibility for the Gophers after sitting out this season.

Minnesota says they've "explored every avenue" to see if Henderson is going to be a troublemaker or whether he'll be a good fit for Gophers football.

Reading between the lines of the stories, I'm convinced that Henderson did, in fact, piss off Coach Fulmer at the wrong time. Fulmer and Minnesota coach Glen Mason are friends and they talked before the transfer happened. Having followed Fulmer since he was an assistant coach at UT, I don't think he's send a real bad apple to a friend's program.

I still don't think that Henderson has met the high expectations that surrounded him during recruiting. Had he stayed at UT, I bet he would not have seen significant playing time. otoh, sometimes a talented, underachieving player just needs a kick in the pants like this in order to really focus on getting better.

Good luck to Henderson & to Gopher football.