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99.9 The Fan

Cutcliffe tells The Fan his players' underage drinking was stupid

By Tim Hall

Jun 4, 2008

May 28 at nearly 2 a.m. Duke quarterback Thaddeus Lewis and cornerback Leon Wright received citations for underage drinking in Chapel Hill.

New Duke head coach David Cutcliffe initially declined to comment. But he had plenty to say Wednesday morning on 99.9 FM The Fan.

"It was stupidity," Cutcliffe said. "They know that's not going to be accepted. We can move forward without anybody in this program."

The coach did say the two 20-year-old players failed their Breathalyzer tests, but were not driving and were not above the legal limit had they been of age. Cutcliffe also explained how fiercely he will run his football program.

"If I have to get out there and patrol it myself, I'm going to," said Cutcliffe. "I told them (that) if I have to do that, there's going to be hell to pay."

Lewis is entering his junior year with the Blue Devils. He started the last 11 games of his freshman season and all 12 in his sophomore season.

Duke will open its season at home Aug. 30 against James Madison at 6 p.m.