3 players off the Auburn roster

By Andrew Gribble
Auburn University Beat Reporter
Published: June 25, 2009

The message boards have certainly been abuzz over the past 48 hours about possible player attrition on the Auburn football team. A bunch of names have been tossed out there, but there hasn’t been much clarity until now.

We have three right now that are for sure off the team and will not return.

- Redshirt freshman defensive lineman JoMarcus Savage
- Sophomore linebacker Christian Thompson
- Redshirt freshman safety/linebacker Marcus Jemison

As far as we know, wide receiver Philip Pierre-Louis and defensive end Cam Henderson—two redshirt freshmen who have been mentioned elsewhere as off the team—are still in good standing and ON the Auburn roster.

The Tigers did not lose any proven regulars – or even potential starters – among the group, but their departures will certainly affect depth at positions that were already short on bodies.

Jemison, a redshirt freshman from McCalla, Ala., missed all of the 2008 season after suffering a broken leg and dislocated ankle in a fall practice scrum. He said this spring he contemplated quitting the team once or twice because of the circumstances, which were amplified when his mother, who is afflicted with cancer, came down with a bad case of pneumonia.

“I was down for a long time,” Jemison said in April. “Probably about two months before I actually came back to my normal self.”

Because of depth concerns, Jemison was moved from safety to linebacker this spring, but was still considered to be a second- or third-teamer.

Savage, a Huntsville native, had shoulder surgery in September and did not see the field in 2008. He nursed that shoulder throughout spring practice and was considered to be low on the depth chart.

Thompson, from St. Thomas-Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., played sparingly in 2008 as a true freshman, recording one tackle. He received plenty of action this spring, though, with starters Zac Etheridge and Mike McNeil nursing injuries for the majority of camp.

Safeties coach Tommy Thigpen said Thompson was probably the “best tackler” among his safeties.

Auburn is now without five players from the 2008 class. Junior-college transfer Raven Gray left for Delta State in January while cornerback Ryan Williams left for Copiah-Lincoln Community College in Wesson, Miss. shortly after Chizik was hired.

Linebacker Tray Blackmon and wide receiver Chris Slaughter also left the team in January.