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SPORT CHECK: MSU players to be sentenced

STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

Two former Mississippi State football players will be sentenced Tuesday for firing guns on campus in March.

Michael Brown, 21, of College Park, Ga., and Quinton Wesley, 21, of Atlanta, both pleaded guilty on Friday.

Each man admitted to firing a gun outside their residence hall March 27 after what they described as a dispute between football players and others at an off-campus location. The altercation then moved onto campus.

"We all just panicked," Brown told the court last week. "I made a mistake, sir. I'm very sorry for what I did."

Attorneys for both men asked for parole. They could be sentenced to up to three years for having a gun on a college campus.

"There is a reason that this is a felony," Assistant District Attorney Frank Clark told the court. "And I think that reason, is so that a bunch of kids being stupid don't fire guns between dorms, which is what happened here."

The two former players asked for leniency.

"I did make a terrible decision," said Wesley. "I didn't use the brain God gave me. I used what the devil gave me."

The two were kicked off the team and dismissed from the university soon after the their arrests.

Brown was Mississippi State's best offensive lineman and key to the Bulldogs' punishing running game last season. The 6-foot-3, 300-pound player started 18 of 19 games he's been eligible for since transferring from Florida and was featured on the cover of Mississippi State's spring media guide.

He was an honorable mention pick on The Associated Press' All-Southeastern Conference team after last season.

Wesley, a 6-4, 315-pound sophomore backup left defensive tackle, played in 21 games with one start. He had 19 tackles and one forced fumble.

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