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On August 26, the Fort-Worth Star Telegram reported that TCU banned the paper from covering all Horned Frogs athletics. According to the Star-Telegram, TCU rescinded its credentials over its reporting on a locker room fight. TCU’s decision did not have the desired effect, as it did not intimidate the Star-Telegram out of reporting on the incident and its aftermath. “TCU wide receiver Dozie Ezukanma was in the hospital for three days with injuries including a brain bleed and a concussion after teammate Jacob Fields punched and kicked him in the head, according to an arrest warrant affidavit,” Shambhavi Rimal of the Star-Telegram reported Monday. Fields was dismissed from the team and has since been formally charged with aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury, as ESPN’s Mark Schlabach reported Sunday. According to Rimal’s new Star-Telegram report, Ezukanma told the TCU Police Department that he had become unconscious after Fields allegedly punched him. Eventually, Curtis Talley Jr., the football team’s assistant athletic trainer, drove Ezukanma to the Harris Hospital emergency room. “Ezukanma was given an urgent CT scan and the ER doctor read the results stating it was a brain bleed,” Rimal wrote. “He was then transferred to the ICU, where he received a second CT scan. The results indicated the hematoma had grown, so he was given blood pressure and pain control medications. Ezukanma was said to be in a stable condition after a third CT scan was conducted, Talley told police.” “TCU football player Dozie Ezukanma was not sent to the ER for nearly two hours after he was attacked by a teammate in the locker room and suffered a concussion and brain bleed, according to TCU police,” longtime Star-Telegram columnist Bud Kennedy posted on X. TCU focused on the star-telegram yet dropped the ball on their own players health 2 hours before he was sent er Where was the urgency for someone with a brain bleed and a concussion https://t.co/mTKzTy5Hin — Clarence Hill Jr (@clarencehilljr) August 31, 2026 Poor response by TCU athletics https://t.co/mTKzTy5Hin — Clarence Hill Jr (@clarencehilljr) August 31, 2026 But the star-telegram is the bad guy https://t.co/MkCwOr6V43 — Clarence Hill Jr (@clarencehilljr) August 31, 2026 “TCU focused on the Star-Telegram yet dropped the ball on their own players health,” Clarence Hill Jr., a Dallas Cowboys beat writer, posted on X. “2 hours before he was sent ER. Where was the urgency for someone with a brain bleed and a concussion[?]” The sports media world nearly universally criticized TCU for revoking the Star-Telegram‘s credentials. Hill Jr. and Shehan Jeyarajah, president of the Football Writers Association of America, also publicly supported Steven Johnson, the Star Telegram‘s TCU beat writer. As President of the Dallas-Fort Worth Association of Black Journalists and as a dues paying member of the Pro Football Writers of America and former local chapter president, I strongly condemn the actions of TCU and stand with Steven Johnson and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in… https://t.co/p4Iek5vxF9 — Clarence Hill Jr (@clarencehilljr) August 26, 2026 The Dallas-Fort Worth Association of Black Journalists Dallas-Fort Worth Association of Black Journalists (DFW/ABJ) strongly condemns Texas Christian University’s decision to revoke the media credentials of Fort Worth Star-Telegram reporter Steve Johnson.Johnson’s coverage of… https://t.co/hBZ3fKWtlS — Clarence Hill Jr (@clarencehilljr) August 26, 2026 As president of @TheFWAA, I strongly disagree with TCU’s decision to ban the Star-Telegram from coverage. Steven Johnson has covered TCU with class for years and his credential to cover the game in Ireland should be reinstated immediately.https://t.co/ZhDc4lIhXe pic.twitter.com/JH0P9knHKc — Shehan Jeyarajah (@ShehanJeyarajah) August 26, 2026 Star-Telegram sports editor Jim Barnes also stated Johnson has the paper’s “full support.” The Star-Telegram continues to cover TCU athletics, even without access.