FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) – Former TCU quarterback Casey Pachall has completed substance abuse rehabilitation and returned to the team.
Coach Gary Patterson says Pachall took part in team meetings Sunday and he looks great. School resumes today.
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Patterson on Oct. 9 announced Pachall was leaving TCU for treatment. The junior starter days earlier was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving. Pachall in early 2012 admitted to police that he smoked marijuana and failed a team-administered drug test.
Patterson said the door would be open for Pachall to return following rehab. Stan Pachall says his son. who will be a senior in 2013, finished outpatient treatment Thursday.
According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Patterson said Pachall “did everything we wanted him to do” to be able to rejoin the team, is expected to have a chance to get his starting job back that Trevone Boykin filled but has not “lifted weights or thorwn a ball in several months.”.
“He looks great,” Patterson told the Star-Telegram. “It’s like he looked when he was a freshman. Right now, we feel really good about this. It’s never going to be 100 percent perfect but there is a chance we did the right thing and made a difference. You’ve got to understand, everybody is going to be watching on this.”
Pachall threw for 948 yards with 10 touchdowns and one interception in TCU’s first four games last season. The Horned Frogs finished 7-6.
Michigan State defeated TCU 17-16 in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl.
Stan Pachall would not comment directly on his son returning to play, but by email told the Star-Telegram: “Some people are just haters and want to see people fail. To the haters, I hope that they never have anyone close to them that suffers from addiction of any substance. And to the people that support and have prayed for Casey’s recovery – thank you.”
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