Four TCU football players arrested, dismissed
TCU's football program was rocked Wednesday morning when four players were arrested as part of a campus-wide sting of suspected drug dealers.
In all, 17 students were arrested and charged with selling prescription and illegal drugs to undercover officers during a six-month investigation, according to Fort Worth police.
Each of the four football players arrested started at least one game last season, according to TCU's official statistics.
• Junior linebacker Tanner Brock of Copperas Cove, Texas, started the 2011 season opener at Baylor but missed the rest of the season after reaggravating an ankle injury. Brock earned various All-America honors after leading the Horned Frogs in tackles during TCU's 13-0 campaign in 2010.
• Junior safety Devin Johnson, of Oklahoma City, started the last eight games of the 2011 season.
• Junior defensive tackle D.J. Yendry of Edna, Texas, started all but one game last season.
• Sophomore offensive lineman Tyler Horn of McGregor, Texas, started one game.
All four players have been dismissed from the program.
"As I heard the news this morning, I was first shocked, then hurt and now I'm mad," TCU coach Gary Patterson said in a statement. "There are days people want to be a head football coach, but today is not one of those days."
"There's no doubt all arrested today are drug dealers," said TCU police chief Steven McGee, whose department worked in coordination with Fort Worth police. "These students engaged in hand-to-hand delivery with undercover officers."
As recently as 2010, TCU and Oklahoma were lauded in a Sports Illustrated story for being the only Top 25 programs to conduct criminal background checks for recruits. The Horned Frogs were also noted as the only Top 25 program to have no players with police records.
"We have an excellent athletics program at TCU and an indicator of that excellence is the fact that we will not tolerate criminal conduct among our student-athletes," TCU athletic director Chris Del Conte said in a statement.
"Our student-athletes are a microcosm of society and unfortunately that means some of our players reflect a culture that glorifies drugs and drug use. That mind-set is not reflected by TCU nor will it be allowed within athletics."
The arrests come as TCU is set to join the Big 12 in July, a milestone achievement for the private school, which was left behind when the conference was originally expanded.
"We have programs in place that teach student-athletes about what they should and shouldn't do and how to be successful in life," Patterson said. "I talk to them about how to be students and upstanding men that uphold the TCU name and its traditions.
"At the end of the day, though, sometimes young people make poor choices. The Horned Frogs are bigger and stronger than those involved."
Follow Keith Whitmire on Twitter: @Keith_Whitmire