6 Football Players Won't Report To Camp As Probe Widens: Rutgers

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — Six Rutgers University football players will not be reporting to pre-season camp, as an investigation involving possible credit card fraud continues.

The Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office also told Patch that it is assisting Rutgers campus police as they conduct the probe into a possible credit card fraud by a ring of players on the football team.

Prosecutor Andrew Carey's office is providing legal guidance to Rutgers police, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor told Patch on Thursday.

A Rutgers football media spokesman confirmed that the following six players will not be showing up for preseason practice: Redshirt junior linebacker/safety Malik Dixon, senior defensive back Kobe Marfo, sophomore defensive end C.J. Onyechi, redshirt freshman cornerback Edwin Lopez, redshirt freshman defensive back Naijee Jones and redshirt freshman linebacker Syhiem Simmons.

Rutgers head coach Chris Ash told NJ.com those players are part of an ongoing investigation and he couldn’t make any comments beyond that.

Patch already reported that two other players, sophomore linebacker Brendan DeVara and junior defensive back K.J. Gray, were already kicked off the team.

DeVara and Gray both released simultaneous statements on their Twitter accounts saying they have been released from their Rutgers scholarships and are free to transfer to other schools.

This is hardly the first scandal for the Rutgers football program: In 2015, up to eight players on the team were charged with assault, robbery and drug dealing. All were kicked off the team and head coach Kyle Flood was fired that same year.

Past Patch reporting: Several Rutgers Players Face Fake Credit Card Probe: Report

Two Players Kicked Off Rutgers Football Team

Photo credit: Shutterstock / David Lee