By Diamond Leung
DAILY BRUIN SENIOR STAFF
Audie Attar, who was dismissed from the UCLA football team last
month for his participation in an off-campus fight, will transfer
to Idaho State. The fifth-year senior linebacker will be eligible
to play for the Division I-AA Bengals this season.
“I did want to continue my education at UCLA, but I also
wanted the chance to play football at the next level,” he
said.
The Iraqi-born Attar was a valuable special teamer who would
have been the leading candidate to start at the weakside for UCLA
this season. He felt that head coach Bob Toledo’s decision,
coming after a season in which two top Bruin players ““
tailback DeShaun Foster and quarterback Cory Paus ““ sat out
due to rules violations, was premature.
“I was treated differently,” Attar said. “I
think (Toledo) is trying to send a message (to the rest of the
team), but it’s unfortunate that it had to be me (to get
kicked off the team). That just sucks because I’ve given so
much to the program for four years.”
Attar declined to go into the specifics of the altercation, but
he did say that he was verbally provoked and physically assaulted.
No charges have been filed.
The decision to end Attar’s UCLA career, indicated Toledo,
was based on a previous incident. Attar had fought with a former
UCLA baseball player and was suspended for the 1999 season
opener.
Toledo said that Attar would be allowed to remain on
scholarship, and Attar will apparently take up the offer. After
spending the football season at Idaho State, he hopes to return in
January to UCLA to finish his degree, as he only has two quarters
of coursework left.
“I value the degree, I love UCLA, and I’ll be a
Bruin forever,” Attar said.