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Reason for Denzil Ware suspension from Music City Bowl finally revealed

Another unnamed UK player was also involved in the issue.

Kentucky v South Carolina Photo by Mary Ann Chastain/Getty Images

After almost a year since the incident, Kentucky Wildcats fans finally know why Denzil Ware was suspended for the 2017 Music City Bowl.

As you’ll recall, Ware transferred to Jacksonville State of the FCS for his redshirt senior season after three seasons pairing up with Josh Allen at Kentucky as the “Biltz Bros”.

Before leaving Kentucky, Ware was set to help the Wildcats try to take down Northwestern in the 2017 Music City Bowl.

However, he was suspended without any exact reasoning being provided to the public. Making the issue even stranger was Ware was allowed to practice with the team leading up the bowl, which suggested it wasn’t a team discipline issue.

Almost a full year later, the NCCA released the records regarding the suspension.

Ware was caught accepting $1,628 in benefits from who was an agent according to the NCCA.

According to the report obtained by the Courier-Journal, Ware made contact with an agent named Jordan Reid as a junior in high school after his verbal commitment to Kentucky.

The two stopped talks but were found to have interacted again in the spring of 2017 before Ware’s junior season at Kentucky.

Reid provided Ware with one $50 payment and several $100 payments which came to a grand total of about $850 dollars.

Additionally, the report state’s Ware and an unnamed teammate attended a concert in Cincinnati, Ohio organized by a member of Reid’s group and were provided with free transportation, entertainment, food, and other benefits.

Ware’s teammate received $396.20 in benefits but was not suspended from Kentucky’s bowl game.

According to the Courier-Journal, the unnamed teammate matches the description of former Kentucky receiver Garrett Johnson who started every game in 2017 besides the bowl game. Ware and Johnson posted a picture of themselves together in Cincinnati in June of 2017, around the time the report states Ware and a teammate were at the concert.