Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images
The hits keep on coming for USC.
A day after Trojans star cornerback Josh Shaw was suspended indefinitely for making up a heroic pool rescue story to explain an injury, senior running back Anthony Brown quit the team while accusing head coach Steve Sarkisian of being a racist.
'Sark treated me like a slave in his Office...Can't play for a racist MAN!!!!!' Brown wrote on Instagram Thursday before deleting the post.
A similar message was written on Brown's Facebook page and also deleted.
Brown, listed sixth on the Trojans' running back depth chart after making the move from cornerback, had spent most of training camp sidelined with a hyperextended elbow. He gave no examples of Sarkisian's alleged racist behavior toward him.
The accusations didn't sit well with Sarkisian, who called them 'ridiculous.'
'As far as what [BROWN]said... I think it's ridiculous,' Sarkisian told ESPN Los Angeles. 'Any of you guys that know me and if you ask anybody in our building, any of our players -- feel free to -- that's about the furthest thing from the truth. Quite honestly, I'm shocked.'
Despite only starting six games in his three years at USC, Brown had a legitimate shot at contributing to the team this season, according to Sarkisian.
'He unfortunately got injured in training camp and was working his way back and decided he didn't want to play anymore. It's a bit unfortunate because we could have used him. We think he could have helped us.'
It's been a trying week for Sarkisian and the USC football program, which has already had to deal with the fallout from Shaw's embarrassing confession.
The senior CB and team captain claimed he'd injured both ankles after jumping from a second-story balcony to rescue his drowning seven-year-old nephew in a pool below. Holes quickly began to appear in his story, and Shaw finally came clean Wednesday by admitting it was a complete fabrication.
Sarkisian is doing his best to move on from both setbacks.
'I've got over 100 guys in that locker room that are more important or just as important than these two isolated incidents,' he said. 'I owe it to those guys to do the best job that I can do to prepare our staff and to prepare them to play a great football game on Saturday, and that's what my focus is on.'
Entities 0 Name: Sarkisian Count: 6 1 Name: Brown Count: 5 2 Name: USC Count: 3 3 Name: Shaw Count: 2 4 Name: Trojans Count: 2 5 Name: Josh Shaw Count: 1 6 Name: Otto Greule Count: 1 7 Name: CB Count: 1 8 Name: ESPN Los Angeles Count: 1 9 Name: Anthony Brown Count: 1 10 Name: Steve Sarkisian Count: 1 Related 0 Url: http://ift.tt/1zMitz4 Title: USC coach Steve Sarkisian says Josh Shaw could ultimately be reinstated Description: LOS ANGELES - USC coach Steve Sarkisian, a day after indefinitely suspending cornerback and team captain Josh Shaw, said Thursday that Shaw still hasn't explained how he was injured but noted that the senior could ultimately be reinstated to the team.
