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On Friday morning, George Sipple of the Detroit Free Press reported that Michigan State Spartans long snapper Matt Giampapa was leaving the team in order to be closer to his family in Jackson, Tennessee. Giampapa started 13 games last season as a freshmen but was suspended for the Outback Bowl after violating team rules.
It seems that Michigan State had some sense that this was going to happen. On April, 14 the team offered Taybor Pepper a late scholarship after he had previously accepted a preferred walk-on spot at Michigan. Pepper, a senior from Saline, is a 6-foot-4, 190-pound long snapper.
At the time, SB Nation's Chris Vannini was skeptical of the move. Here's what he said:
I have not seen anything official on that yet, but having two scholarship long snappers would seem a little strange, especially when they're one year apart. However, Giampapa was suspended for the Outback Bowl and MSU had long-snapping issues in the game (along with some great holding from Brad Sonntag). I was told Giampapa is still on the team.
Now, the move makes more sense.
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