Monday, after surveillance video of Florida State quarterback De'Andre Johnson punching a woman at a Tallahassee bar was released by the state of Florida's attorney's office, Seminoles head coach Jimbo Fisher made the announcement through a statement saying that Johnson has been dismissed from the football team effective immediately.
Johnson was indefinitely suspended from the team on June 25th following initial reports of an incident that occurred off campus and resulted in a criminal charge. His suspension was for a violation of athletic department policy after an incident resulted in a misdemeanor battery charge for punching a female student at a bar. He turned himself in last Tuesday and was released on $500 bond amid accusations that he did strike a student.
The video shows Johnson and a woman shoving each other and then escalating when the woman punched him with Johnson retaliating with a strike to the face and then is shown exiting the screen. The woman suffered bruising near her left eye, swelling of the left cheek and upper lip, and a small cut near the bridge of her nose, according to court records.
The now-dismissed quarterback was a three-star prospect ranked in the top 15 of dual threat quarterbacks in the country coming out of high school and was named Mr. Football in the state of Florida in 2014. He enrolled at FSU in January and has been committed to the Seminoles since 2012. He was showing good signs in spring practice, even throwing two touchdowns in Florida State's spring game.
The Johnson family hired prominent Florida defense attorney Jose Baez and he released a statement on the behalf of his client, De'Andre Johnson.
"While it is clear from the video that De'Andre Johnson was not the initial aggressor, his family wants to take the lead in helping him learn and grow from this experience," the statement read. "He is currently participating in community service, and faith-based programs focused on battered women, substance abuse, and the empowerment of children."
It continued saying, "De'Andre is extremely embarrassed by this situation and would like to express his heartfelt apologies to everyone, including those who were directly affected, Coach Fisher and his teammates, the entire Florida State University community, as well as his family and friends," Baez concluded.