OU football loses 2011 TE Dan Tapko after his decision to leave the team

After a report from a local Kansas City sports channel breaking the news of 2011 signee Dan Tapko's rumored decision to leave the Oklahoma football team, the story has been confirmed today by the guys over at SoonerScoop ($).  Tapko's decision was believed to be due primarily to his difficulty to recover 100% from a serious knee injury he suffered in high school.  However after speaking with SoonerScoop, he stated that his knee had nothing to do with his decision.

"It was a tough decision and it was made for medical and personal reasons that would have made my life really difficult trying to go to school and play football," wrote Tapko.

"I want to clear up that it was not the knee. My knee is 100% good to go."

Thinking about his long term health, he has chosen to leave the team and instead focus on his studies.  No word on whether he will stay on medical scholarship at OU or return to a school closer to his Kansas City home.  However if he does decide to transfer from OU, it sounds as if there will be no hard feelings.

"I'm very thankful for the opportunity to play at OU and I can tell you right now I'm going to be OU's number one fan no matter where I go to college next year. It's been fun."

Disappointing result for a talented young man and a player I know plenty of Sooner fans were excited to see in the crimson and cream.  Sorry to see you go Mr. Tapko, but best of luck in all your future endeavors.  

UPDATE:  I also just wanted to add that after Tapko's decision to leave the team, this puts OU at 84 players on scholarship (85 is the max for anyone who didn't already know).  So what that likely means is they just added another potential spot in the 2012 class.  Which was originally expected to be as small as 12-13, but could now be as high as 16-17.