Sexton incident has Seminole nation in shock
Florida State quarterback Wyatt Sexton has been suspended indefinitely following a bizarre incident Monday that involved Tallahassee police and ended with Sexton being admitted to a local hospital.
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Sexton, expected to be FSU's starting quarterback this fall, is the son of long-time FSU assistant coach Billy Sexton.
According to police reports, a Tallahassee woman called police after seeing Sexton "causing a disturbance" in the middle of the street in a residential neighborhood. Another witness, a lawn service worker, tried talking to Sexton but Sexton ran up the street and jumped on the trunk of a parked car.
The lawn worker told police that he thought Sexton was "on something."
When officers arrived, Sexton was seen doing push-ups in the middle of the street. Sexton then told officers that he was "God."
At that point, officers used pepper spray and
handcuffs to restrain him. He was taken to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, where he remained as of Tuesday evening.
In his incident report, TPD officer Robert Todd wrote that Sexton, "appeared to be under the influence of some unknown narcotic or alcohol. He was hot and sweaty and was talking very irrationally."
No charges were filed in the incident.
FSU football coach Bobby Bowden was unavailable for comment Tuesday. Rob Wilson, FSU's assistant director of athletics for media and public relations, said in a released statement that Bowden would not comment publicly on the situation at this time.
"Most of us have known Wyatt since he was born and our concern is for him right now," Wilson said. "He had been suspended from the football team for a violation of team rules two weeks ago. Coach Bowden is aware of Wyatt's situation and would prefer not to comment at this time other than to express his support of Wyatt, Billy, Joy and the entire Sexton family."
Sexton had missed several voluntary workouts in recent weeks, which had raised concerns for his well-being.
Senior center David Castillo said he and teammates had visited Sexton recently, but he added that he was unaware that Sexton was suspended on June 3 for a violation of team rules.
"We just knew he was not coming to workouts and we tried to encourage him to come out," Castillo said. "He wasn't the only one not coming out. It's voluntary and if a player chooses to not come out then that's their thing."
With Sexton's future on the team uncertain, Castillo said he is confident that redshirt freshmen Xavier Lee and Drew Weatherford can handle the quarterback job if needed.
"We don't know if Wyatt will be ready or what the deal is - that's for the administration and for the coaches to figure out," Castillo said. "But we're very confident in both Xavier and Drew. So whichever of those three quarterbacks goes on the field with us against Miami, we're going to be ready."
Castillo said players are not allowed to visit Sexton in the hospital "for a specified amount of time."
"His health is the most important thing right now, not this football team," Castillo said. "We just hope he deals with the issues he's dealing with and get back out here as soon as possible.
"Everybody is feeling the same thing -- they're concerned. It would be selfish to just be concerned about this football team. He's part of this family. He's a brother to us. And with Coach Sexton being one of our coaches, we're very concerned for their family."
Weatherford and Lee both said they were hopeful that Sexton would soon return to the team.
"Personally, I love Wyatt and his family and I wish the best for him," Weatherford said. "I just want to get him back as soon as possible."