Two Football Players to Sit Out Season Opener

Two Harvard football players have been suspended for the Crimson’s season-opener next fall against Holy Cross for their involvement in a fight in front of Currier House last weekend.

Danny P. Lane ’07 and James R. Velissaris ’07 will sit out the inaugural game of the 2006 season, slated to be played September 16 against the Crusaders at Harvard Stadium.

The suspensions stemmed from an April 29 altercation which followed the team’s annual barbecue in Currier. A physical exchange took place involving members of the team after a Quad shuttle bus driver refused a student entry to the bus. The altercation resulted in no arrests at the time, but Harvard football head coach Tim Murphy said the shuttle driver instigated the situation.

“Despite what was initially reported in The Crimson over the weekend, there was no ‘brawl,’ and the physical confrontation was initiated by the shuttle bus driver and not a Harvard athlete,” Murphy said.

The Crimson originally reported the incident on Monday, but the suspensions were handed out during the week to the players.

The driver in question has not been identified, and despite Murphy’s claim that he initiated the confrontation, it is the players who have been disciplined.

“Two of our athletes used poor judgment, behaved irresponsibly, and will be held accountable for their actions,” Murphy said.

Lane, at tight end who saw action in just one game last year, and Velissaris, a defensive back who played in all but one contest in 2005, issued a joint statement via e-mail explaining the altercation.

“We both feel bad that this incident ever took place. The physical altercation was initiated by the bus driver, and was a result of a verbal dispute that took place while [James] was trying to board the bus,” Velissaris wrote in an e-mail.

“The shuttle bus driver ran out of the bus in response to a comment I made while walking away from the bus, and proceeded to punch me in the chin while I was holding a table.”

Lane further elaborated the sequence of events in his e-mail.

“I intervened (pushed the driver) in James’ defense in order to cease any further attack from taking place,” Lane wrote in his e-mail. “Again, we are both sorry for our part in this incident and how much negative attention it has brought upon our football team.”

The suspensions are the first since Russell G. Schober ’08 and Desmond J. Bryant ’08 were told that they would sit out the 2005 season for violating team rules last year. The two eventually returned for the Crimson’s final two games of the season.

According to Murphy, the first-hand accounts of the most recent incident were enough to force the players to sit for a game.

“This has been corroborated by students on the bus who were non-athletes,” he said, referring to unconfirmed reports that cited the driver as the instigator. “Despite that, we were at fault.”

—Staff writer Malcom A. Glenn can be reached at mglenn@fas.harvard.edu.