East Valley running back Talley quits football

East Valley senior running back Adam Talley, arguably the top player in the Great Northern League, quit Thursday, saying he had to choose a job over football.

Since the start of the season, Talley had missed about two hours of practice each week because of a job.

“Coach (Adam) Fisher told me that if I changed my schedule to Mondays and Thursdays that would be fine,” Talley said. “Then he said that wouldn’t work, so I quit.”

Fisher confirmed that Talley quit Thursday.

“We would have liked to have him on the team, but he chose to not be part of the football program any longer today before practice,” Fisher said.

Talley’s mother, Teresa Moses, contacted the newspaper Thursday afternoon to make it clear why her son quit.

“He was forced to make this decision,” Moses said. “I didn’t want people to think he was off the team because he broke a rule. It’s head-scratching amazing.”

Talley rushed for 243 yards in EV’s 2-0 start. The Knights travel to Post Falls tonight.

“I did everything I could,” Talley said. “I’m pretty frustrated. Now I’ll just work and play soccer on the weekends with my club team.”

Fisher said that the players and parents have known since February the practice times and should have been able to work out any conflicts.

“It was detailed in our Aug. 14 player/parent meeting,” Fisher said. “All players have to abide by the rules. The other 53 players are following the rules. He’s a great kid. He’s very talented. But this is a team sport. This was his choice to do. We tried several avenues to lend a hand. I wish the outcome had been different.”