Syracuse Football: Ben Barrett No Longer On Team

I hope Ben Barrett emails Dan Lyons to apologize to him. Dan slaved over Ben's Get To Know Your Orange Man profile for weeks, barely sleeping. And now it turns out...all for naught. The freshman, who did not accompany the team to Fort Drum last week, has left the program (via Syracuse.com):

"Ben came in to speak to me. He has other interests that he’s pursuing. We’re going to do whatever we can to help him," SU head coach Doug Marrone said after practice this morning.

"If Ben would like to continue to play, we’d love to welcome him back," Marrone said.

Barrett was a CBA guy with two-star ratings from Rivals and Scout. When he committed, he told reporters "Ever since I was little my dream was to play in the Carrier Dome." Ben's Dad, J. Patrick Barrett, is a Syracuse University trustee.

Who knows the reasons for his leaving so we shall wish him well, especially since it sounds like he's still going to attend SU, and all move forward.