Maryland punter Matthew Barber was allegedly assaulted by teammate Wade Lees at the end of practice Tuesday.
There are conflicting reports over what initiated the altercation between Terrapin teammates, but Barber told the Baltimore Sun he was attacked because he spoke out against fired coach D.J. Durkin. (RELATED:
The Baltimore Sun reported the following Thursday night:
Toward the end of the practice, Barber said, Lees attacked him, attempting to punch him in the face. While the two teammates were fighting, others intervened, trying to break up the fight and grabbed Barber’s arms behind his back, he said. That allowed Lees to punch Barber repeatedly in the face, leaving him with a black eye, needing multiple stitches on his forehead and a dislocated shoulder, Barber said.
“My jersey was bloody,” Barber said. “I had blood all over my hands.”
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Several other Maryland players posted on Twitter that they back up Lees’ account.
Oseh Saine, a defensive lineman, wrote that Barber is “lying out his mouth, this altercation had nothing to do with the coach Durkin situation… . There were many witnesses and wade has the total support of everyone here.”
You can read Lees denial on Twitter below.
My Statement!! pic.twitter.com/0chnHYwuaO
— Wade Lees (@WL_88) November 1, 2018
Another player on the Terrapins, kicker Mike Shinsky, referred to Barber as a “pathological liar” on Twitter.
Matt Barber is a pathological liar. He has tried to fight multiple players on the team, has taken pictures of teammates changing, has spit on multiple teammates, and he and his father even blackmailed UMD coach’s with fake allegations. These can be verified by multiple witnesses
— mike shinsky (@MikeShinsky) November 1, 2018
What an absolute disaster of a situation over in College Park. First, you have a player die, then the head coach gets placed on administrative leave, gets reinstated, gets fired and one player allegedly assaults another. It’s an absolute crisis over there at Maryland.
Maryland fires head coach DJ Durkin one day after university officials announced he’d be coming back, per @RickMaese pic.twitter.com/40rzxhzrxa
— Bleacher Report CFB (@BR_CFB) October 31, 2018
I have no idea what is going to happen at Maryland, or what the resolution to all this chaos is. I don’t have a clue. What I do know for sure is that I don’t remember the last time I saw a program have so much negative PR in such a short time span. There’s programs that get negativity when they get caught breaking the rules, but this is just on a totally different level.
As Darren Rovell appeared to float, is there a chance Maryland doesn’t take the field this weekend?
Any offshore sports book offering a prop on whether Maryland takes the field Saturday?
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) November 1, 2018
Something tells me this situation is only going to get worse before it gets better. What an absolute disaster on all levels.
