UT player removed for racial slur

AUSTIN (AP/KXAN) - Buck Burnette was removed from the UT Longhorns for "unspecifiied reasons." The now former Texas backup lineman Buck Burnette apologized Thursday for posting a racial slur on his Facebook page about Barack Obama being elected president.

Burnette, a sophomore who played in seven games this season, left the No. 5 Longhorns on Wednesday. The team said Burnette violated team rules but would not elaborate.

His Facebook page had been deleted Thursday. But not before this statement appeared there:

• Clearly I have made a mistake and apologized for it and will pay for it. I received it as a text message from an acquaintance and immaturely put it up on facebook in the light of the election. Im not racist and apologize for offending you. I grew up on a ranch in a small town where that was a real thing and I need to grow up. I sincerely am sorry for being ignorant in thinking that it would be ok to write that publicly and apologize to you in particular. I have to be more mature than to put the reputation of my team at stake and to spread that kind of hate which I dont even believe in. Once again, I sincerely apologize.

In a statement sent to The Associated Press, Burnette said he "made a terrible decision" to post a text message he received about Obama's victory that contained a racial slur.

"That lack of judgment on my part has had devastating consequences," the statement read. "Those that know me understand that this is not a true reflection of my character. I sincerely apologize to everyone that I have offended. I have had the opportunity to apologize to my teammates and coaches and have received support from many of them in return."

Burnette started one game at center in 2007 as a redshirt freshman and was a high school star at Wimberley High School, near Austin.

According to those students that saw the posting it referred to gathering hunters now that Obama was in the White House. The Secret Service declined to comment, however they regularly investigate such perceived threats to the president or president-elect to determine credible risk or threats.