Texas AD Chris Del Conte releases statement on ‘inappropriate celebrations’ vs. Tennessee

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The weekly edition of The Forty Acres Insider released by Texas Longhorns athletics director Chris Del Conte is almost always a positive, celebratory place to highlight the accomplishments across an athletics department that has won three straight Directors’ Cups and five of the last six under Del Conte’s leadership.

Almost always.

And that’s what made the statement released by Del Conte on Tuesday less than two full sentences into the Insider all the more unusual in addressing the “inappropriate celebrations” by Longhorns players in Saturday’s win over the Volunteers in Knoxville:

We can all agree it was a heck of a game and an incredible performance on the field, but I also know we had some major issues to address with inappropriate celebrations from our players. I’m not happy about that, I know none of us are, and it was embarrassing to our proud and widely respected football team, athletics program and university. It certainly raised very warranted concerns that many of you shared with me, drew a lot of attention, and I understand why. Rest assured, Coach Sark has addressed both situations with the players individually and with the team, and he discussed them after the game and again in Monday’s press conference. As he said, it is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. The message is clear — the players conduct did not reflect the values of Texas Athletics or our university and cannot happen again. I also want to add my apology to our Longhorn community and everyone who expects better from Texas. We should represent this university with class, dignity and respect at all times, and in those moments, we fell short. I do recognize that these are young men who made mistakes, and this is a meaningful learning experience. They have owned their mistakes, and those actions are not reflective of who they are. They are good people who made poor choices — they know it, we know it, and they, along with our entire team, will grow from this. What matters now is that they do just that and that our entire team understands the responsibility that comes with representing The University of Texas. We are proud of the team and what it accomplished Saturday and thus far this season, and we will continue to hold ourselves to the standard that all of you rightly expect from Texas. Thank you for your passion, your candor and your unwavering support of our Longhorns.

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