Missouri football players defend Maty Mauk amid video controversy

Missouri Quarterback Maty Mauk Faces Indefinite Suspension

COLUMBIA A day after Missouri redshirt junior quarterback Maty Mauk was suspended indefinitely by the Missouri athletics department, members of the Missouri football team and Mauks father have come to his defense.

It started with redshirt junior linebacker Michael Scherer, who gave his support via Twitter around 10 a.m. Tuesday.

"Maty has been doing everything he can to be a better person," Scherer said. "No one is perfect. Everyone makes mistakes."

Redshirt freshman wide receiver Kenyon Dilosa and redshirt junior defensive lineman Harold Brantley were among a number of other players who tweeted. The other players were in agreement that the video, which appears to show Mauk snorting a white substance, is old and that Mauk has been working to improve himself.

This is the third time in the past six months the Ohio native has been suspended fromthe team.

Mauks father, Mike Mauk, said Tuesday that he did not know how old the video was, but said his son has been "absolutely" clean since he was reinstated from his second suspension in December.

"I don"t really think there"s anything he"s going to say about it until we take care of things that we need to inside," Mike Mauk said.

Former Missouri offensive lineman Connor McGovern told SECCountry.com, a blog that works in conjunction with the Atlanta-Journal Constitution, that Mauks suspension is due to "bad luck." McGovern played with Mauk at Missouri for three seasons. He and former Missouri center Evan Boehm are in Mobile, Alabama, for the Senior Bowl.

"Hes got some things to fix that are bigger than football," McGovern said. "He doesnt make the best decisions all the time, but nobody does. He just happens to be a quarterback that makes some poor decisions and seems to get caught whenever he makes a bad decision. Theres a lot of people here, Im sure, that have made poor decisions. They just didnt get caught doing it."

The Missouri athletics department has yet to address Mauks status with the team since announcing the suspension Monday via a joint statement from Athletics Director Mack Rhoades and football coach Barry Odom. Mauk is listed as a student in the Missouri student directory, but the MU Registrars Office said Tuesday it cannot divulge information on whether or not a student is still enrolled at MU.

Source: http://www.columbiamissourian.com/sports/mizzou_football/missouri-football-players-defend-maty-mauk-amid-video-controversy/article_91868fc4-c488-11e5-9f3e-b73098ade08d.html