Marvin Austin is happy to get back on the football field.

[cowboyjoe]

UNC's Austin happy to get back on field
Submitted by jpg on 01/18/2011 - 15:12
Tags: ACC Now | Marvin Austin | North Carolina
ORLANDO, Fla. – Sweating through a football uniform after his first practice in more than four months, Marvin Austin smiled today.

You couldn’t wipe the grin – or the sweat – off of the former North Carolina defensive tackle’s face after a late morning workout for this Saturday’s East-West Shrine Game, an annual college football exhibition game.

“I’m just happy to be playing football again,” Austin said in his first interview since July.

One of the central figures in the NCAA’s investigation of UNC’s football program, Austin has been relegated to a spectator’s role since the end of August. Projected before last season as a second-round NFL draft pick, he was pulled from practice before the Tar Heels’ Sept. 4 opener against LSU.

Austin was suspended by UNC for the first five games before he was kicked off the team on Oct. 11, when he and teammates Greg Little and Robert Quinn were ruled in violation of NCAA rules governing agent benefits, preferential treatment and ethical conduct.

Austin declined to talk about the investigation.

“I’m not ready to talk about the past,” Austin said.



Read more: http://blogs.newsobserver.com/accnow...#ixzz1BaWzZX80