OXNARD, Calif. - The Dallas Cowboys (news) cut quarterback Quincy Carter, owner Jerry Jones said Wednesday.
Jones confirmed the third-year player's release to a group of reporters at training camp. Team officials declined to comment until an afternoon briefing by coach Bill Parcells.
The team's Web site on Wednesday cited witnesses saying Carter was taken by car from the team hotel parking lot before practice.
Carter's agent, Eugene Parker, did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
Carter, who started all 16 games last season, came to camp expecting to be the starter again. The other quarterbacks in camp are 40-year-old Vinny Testaverde, who is reuniting with Parcells, rookie Drew Henson and unproven second-year player Tony Romo.
The Cowboys drafted Carter in the second round out of Georgia in 2001. He was named the starter to replace Troy Aikman during his first training camp, but he struggled and only started the first eight games. He went 3-5, completing 90 of 176 passes for 1072 yards, five TDs and seven interceptions.
The next year he was the starter out of camp again, leading Dallas to a 3-4 record before losing the job to Chad Hutchinson.
Last season, the Cowboys went 10-6 with Carter starting and got back in the playoffs in Parcells' first year in Dallas. He threw for 3,302 yards, but had 21 interceptions and 17 touchdowns. He was intercepted at least twice six times.
Quarterback Quincy Carter is expected to be released by the Dallas Cowboys Wednesday after testing positive for a banned substance, league sources told FOX NFL Sunday insider John Czarnecki.
Two sources told Czarnecki that the banned substance was cocaine. Team owner Jerry Jones and coach Bill Parcells declined to elaborate on the reason behind Carter's release. Said Jones: "It was not a difficult decision for me."
Parcells, asked about Carter's release at a regularly scheduled news conference Wednesday at the team's training camp headquarters in Oxnard, Ca., said: "I'm saddened by this. I've got 18 months invested in this process, too. But we're going on."
Carter entered the league in the NFL substance abuse program and this is his second positive test, which by NFL rules would warrant a four-game fine — not a suspension.
Parcells said offseason acquisition Vinny Testaverde, 40, will replace Carter as the Cowboys' starting quarterback. "Right now, that's the most experienced player that we have, and I'm confident in that player," he said.
Carter's agent, Eugene Parker, did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
"We're shocked, just like everybody else," safety Roy Williams said. "We're mind-boggled like everyone else is."
Carter, who started all 16 games last season, came to camp expecting to be the starter again. The other quarterbacks besides Testaverde are rookie Drew Henson and unproven second-year player Tony Romo.
The Cowboys drafted Carter in the second round out of Georgia in 2001. He was named the starter to replace Troy Aikman during his first training camp, but he struggled and only started the first eight games. He went 3-5, completing 90 of 176 passes for 1072 yards, five TDs and seven interceptions.
The next year he was the starter out of camp again, leading Dallas to a 3-4 record before losing the job to Chad Hutchinson.
Last season, the Cowboys went 10-6 with Carter starting and got back in the playoffs in Parcells' first year in Dallas. He threw for 3,302 yards, but had 21 interceptions and 17 touchdowns. He was intercepted at least twice in six games.
This move comes on the heels of reviews claiming that Henson has been the best quarterback in camp thus far.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Delta
I will be glad to see Vinnie get another chance. Once a junkie its very tough for these over paid Tough Guys to keep clean.
.
aka deltacent aka deltater
Life may not be the party I had hoped for.......
But while I'm here I might just as well listen to the music and dance..
08-04-2004 06:59 PM
