Year-round Health Means Winter Work

3 Arrested Following Drug Raids

Wednesday, January 21, 1998 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 1B 





Personal reasons, not scandal, driving ex-Dallas star from Florida school &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Rich Butcofski would like to make one thing unmistakably clear right from
the start: &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; His leaving Central Florida University is in no way connected to the
cellular phone scandal that has led to the departure of head football coach
Gene &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 McDowellSpeaking by regular telephone Tuesday afternoon, the Dallas High
School grad and standout football player defended his former college coach,
who is expected to sign a plea agreement soon with federal prosecutors for his
role in the cell phone fraud scam on the Orlando campus. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Coach McDowell, to my knowledge, didn't have anything to do with it," said
Butcofski, who spent his one and only season with the Golden Knights football
team on the sideline with a medical redshirt. The Kingston Township resident
said he's leaving the team for personal reasons, none of which have anything
to do with the current situation. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "From what I heard there was just a few players involved," explained
Butcofski, who added he didn't learn of the illegal phone use until word of
the investigation spread around campus. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I had nothing to do with it," he stressed. "I think it was really just bad
judgment on the part of a couple football players." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Clearly, it was more than that. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 According to an Associated Press report, McDowell confessed he was aware of
a raid of the Golden Knights' locker room by the federal agents before it
happened in October. Agents were looking for cellular phones and numbers. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Earlier in the season, federal agents set up surveillance outside the
team's locker room during a game against Samford. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 One player, ex-cornerback and wide receiver Patrick Brinson, pleaded guilty
to a single count of possessing 17 cellular telephones and phone numbers to
commit fraud. In the plea agreement, Brinson, a former AT&amp;T Wireless Services
technician, admitted he used his password to activate cellular telephone
account numbers and bypass the billing system. He is scheduled to be sentenced
in federal court in March, according to the AP story. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Eleven players were questioned during the investigation. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Butcofski, 21, said he was not among them. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The former All-State linebacker at Dallas had his own problems at Central
Florida, which finished 5-6 in 1997 in its second year in Division I-A. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Recruited from Nassau (Long Island) Junior College to be an immediate
starter on defense for the Golden Knights, Butcofski instantly got off on the
wrong foot with his new team. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The 6-foot-3, 230-pound athlete suffered a broken ankle while playing
basketball in the offseason. The injury kept him behind in his training and
placed the former Wyoming Valley Conference star directly behind the eight
ball for the start of preseason camp. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "It's a touchy issue; things never worked out for me," said Butcofski, who
is still Dallas' all-time leading tackler. "They had me right in the starting
lineup and I wasn't able to do anything because of the ankle. I looked
horrible in camp. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "It happens." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Butcofski, who led the Mountaineers to the 1993 Class AA state
championship, saw his relationship with the team's linebackers' coach
deteriorate to the point where he decided it was time to move on. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Personal Reasons, Not Scandal, Driving Ex-dallas Star From Florida School 
Rich Butcofski Would Like To Make One Thing Unmistakably Clear Right From The 
Start: 
His Leaving Central Florida University Is In No Way Connected To The Cellular 
Phone Scandal That Has Led To The Departure Of Head Football Coach Gene 
Mcdowell.