DeKALB | NIU head football coach Dave Doeren announced Wednesday that NIU linebacker Devon Butler had been released from the program, according to a press release.

“Devon has not lived up to the standards we set for members of the Northern Illinois football team,” Doeren said in a press release. “At this time, we feel it is in the best interest of both Devon and of our football program for him to make a fresh start at another institution.”

According to Doeren, Butler’s release is based on many factors and it is not based on any single action or incident.

Sunday morning, Butler was involved in a stabbing that took place at a party off-campus located on the 800 block of Regent Drive in DeKalb. He was treated at the hospital and released and was back working out with the team Monday morning.

Back on April 5, 2011, Butler was involved in another off-campus incident when he was shot at a party by Mark Orozco and Richard Van Arsdale III over a drug deal, that police say he was not a part of.

Butler was entering his junior redshirt season with the Huskies. He played in 24 games from 2009-2010 in which he recorded 95 tackles.