Fittingly, the end of Dylan Sumner-Gardner‘s Boise State career didn’t come of his own volition.
Bryan Harsin confirmed late this past week that Sumner-Gardner is no longer a part of his Broncos football team. According to the Idaho Press-Tribune, the defensive back had previously been ruled academically ineligible for Boise’s Cactus Bowl matchup with Baylor; a team spokesperson subsequently said in a statement that “a violation of team rules” was the last straw and triggered the dismissal.
Sumner-Gardner (pictured, left) began the 2016 season serving a four-game suspension for “failing to meet NCAA football academic eligibility requirements.” He added another one-game suspension later on in the year for violating unspecified team rules. When he was on the field, he was one of the Broncos’ starting safeties.
After playing in 13 games as a true freshman in 2014, Sumner-Gardner started the first four games in 2015 before going down with a season-ending ankle injury. In November of last year he was arrested on a misdemeanor drug charge, then didn’t travel to BSU’s Poinsettia Bowl win over Northern Illinois in late December because of what was described as an unspecified violation of team rules. His status for the upcoming season had been a question mark throughout this past offseason.
Sumner-Gardner was a four-star 2014 prospect who was the Broncos’ highest-rated recruit in that class.
