Kinsey: Kansas QB booted off team

By Ric Anderson, The Capital-Journal, Dec 19, 2001

LAWRENCE --- Mario Kinsey's troubled career as a Kansas quarterback went up in smoke Tuesday, the same day he became a convicted thief.

Kinsey, a redshirt freshman who started seven games this fall after beginning the season under suspension, spent the morning in a Douglas County courtroom facing charges that he stole a 22-year-old KU student's unattended purse and used her credit cards to purchase gasoline and a pizza.

Hours after Kinsey made a plea bargain in the case, KU officials announced he'd been dismissed from the team.

"We were dealing with violations of athletic department policy --- of our code of conduct," said Richard Konzem, KU associate athletics director. "Several years ago, we put together a comprehensive code of conduct policy. You don't want to have to deal with it very often, but it is in place and it is comprehensive."

The code contains penalties for violating drug laws, repeatedly getting into legal trouble and breaking team rules --- all of which Kinsey has either done or been accused of doing.