MU teammates defend suspended Mauk

In this Sept. 26, 2015, file photo, Missouri quarterback Maty Mauk warms up before an NCAA college football game against Kentucky, in Lexington, Ky. Mauk has been suspended indefinitely. Athletic director Mack Rhodes and coach Barry Odom announced the punishment on Monday night, Jan. 25, 2016, after a brief video was posted to Twitter. It shows a person appearing to snort a white, powder-like substance and the accompanying tweet mentions Mauk by name, but there was no confirmation from Missouri that the video shows the quarterback.
In this Sept. 26, 2015, file photo, Missouri quarterback Maty Mauk warms up before an NCAA college football game against Kentucky, in Lexington, Ky. Mauk has been suspended indefinitely. Athletic director Mack Rhodes and coach Barry Odom announced the punishment on Monday night, Jan. 25, 2016, after a brief video was posted to Twitter. It shows a person appearing to snort a white, powder-like substance and the accompanying tweet mentions Mauk by name, but there was no confirmation from Missouri that the video shows the quarterback.

The latest Maty Mauk controversy was sparked by a video on Twitter and on Twitter much of the Mauk drama remains.

Some of the Missouri quarterback's teammates commented Tuesday on Twitter, mainly in support of the rising senior. Mauk was indefinitely suspended late Monday after a video appearing to show Mauk snorting a line of cocaine was posted to Twitter.

Linebacker Michael Scherer posted a message Tuesday morning saying, "Honestly he's been much better so it sucks that this got out" before deleting it, claiming it was meant to be a text message.

He followed it up with a series of tweets: "But now since I did that I will say yes the video is very old, yes Maty has been doing everything he can to be a better person and ... Yes you should look at yourself in the mirror before pointing out someone else's problems. No one is perfect. Everyone makes mistakes."

Scherer also clarified that he did not take the video.

The Kansas City Star reported Mauk's father, Mike Mauk, said the video was old. Receiver Keyon Dilosa said on Twitter the video was from two years ago.

"Everyone has made a mistake before somebody just felt like it'd be cool to ruin his life.... He's been clean," Dilosa tweeted.

Dilosa also tweeted a screenshot of a longer statement.

"I just want to start by saying that what was done in the video is not right by any means, but the fact that it was brought up years later should raise questions," it read. "Maty made a mistake and everyone has made mistakes in their lives he's still growing just like each of us this team and on this campus. One thing about being a Missouri Tiger and being Mizzou made is defending and protecting your family, the Mizzou family we spend almost every hour of the day together.

"Maty learned his lesson and has been clean for a while now. Being a collegiate football players means that you are in the public eye always, people want you to be the bad guy and it just so happened that someone had that video from years ago and could release it at any moment and potentially ruin one of my family members lives. I feel that's unfair and we don't need to jump to conclusion and look at the situations from both sides. Not every football player is a bad guy and I know for a fact that Maty Mauk isn't one."

Defensive tackle Harold Brantley, who suffered season-ending injuries in a car accident last summer, also spoke out in support of Mauk. Brantley tweeted a statement - with the caption "If you speak ill of Matty Mauk don't speak to me." - in which he makes reference to his accident and alludes to Mauk's "emotional pain." Mike Mauk was diagnosed with cancer prior to the 2015 season and Maty Mauk's teammates said it had been affecting him.

"The only meaning things have are what we give them, and we're all using some substance to accomplish something," Brantley's statement read. "Coffee to wake up.. Zzquill to go to sleep.. Every situation is a matter of personal perspective. I was in a car accident this past Father's Day that left me crippled emotionally and physically. I was given morphine, percocet, and OxyContin throughout the recovery process. But Anyone who uses these substances w/o a prescription would be considered to have a problem. Although we try to measure emotional and physical pain on a scale of 1-10 to determine if use be acceptable or not. Can somebody ask why? .. Or care why? Don't speak on a situation you know nothing about.. You seem ignorant As well as the fact that a trending video that lasts a month in the news world of "college football' will impact the rest of his life.."

Receiver Jake Brents also tweeted out his support for Mauk, saying "Maty is my guy. Always has been. Love him like a brother."

Mauk has not sent a tweet of his own since August, but he retweeted fans' messages of support Tuesday. Missouri has not issued a public statement regarding Mauk, and it remains to be seen whether he will return to the team.