De'Veon Smith was expected to be one of the top running backs for the Pittsburgh Maulers and the USFL in general for the league's 2022 season. Instead, he isn't suiting up for any team at all.The Maulers released Smith quietly in early April and replaced him with former Michigan State and Tenne see running back Madre London.Why did Pittsburgh part with a player that was expected to be its lead rusher? During "United by Football," a documentary about the lead-up to the start of the USFL season Kamal Martin Jersey , it was revealed thatSmith's release stemmed from him requesting pizza at the team hotel instead of chicken salad."He cro sed the line," Maulers coach Kirby Wilson said. "So we had to deal with it."MORE: If you think that statement sounds like an overreaction, just wait until you see the way that the Maulers chose to "deal with it." As revealed in the documentary, Wilson and John Peterson, the USFL's Director of Football Operations, calledSmith into a hotel room for a meeting. At that meeting, Wilson told Smith that he was letting him go because of the incident, about which Wilson didn' Chuba Hubbard Jersey t go into detail. sportsvids99 (@sportsvids991) Smith, however, recounted what occurred in the interaction about his preference for pizza over chicken salad."I didn't say anything disrespectful," Smith said. "He said, 'Is that gonna be a problem?' I say yes. I walked away.I didn't think that was disrespectful."It's unclear exactly who is the "he" Smith is talking about, but Smith went on to explain that he doesn't eat chicken salad and was just trying to get another food option. He saw the pizza and asked about it. Then, he was Julian Stanford Jersey told he couldn't have any."He said, 'Is that gonna be a problem?' I said, 'Yes,'" Smith reiterated. "It's all I said. I didn't say no cu s word, no nothing. That's all I said, I promise you. No disrespect, but on my dad's life. I promise I didn't say nothing disrespectful besides, 'Yes.'"MORE: Smith's explanation didn't sway Wilson, who has a policy about being "disrespectful" to players, coaches and both USFL and hotel staff. He told Smith that matter was "done" and wished the running back "good luck." As such, the Maulers moved on from Smith.Smith's release was certainly bizarre, or "wild," Aaron Parker Jersey as Smith noted on Twitter after the segment first aired.WILD! De'Veon Smith (@i_BSmith4) The meeting between Wilson and Smith was extremely uncomfortable, as Wilson seemingly had no design of letting his running back defend himself. It even felt somewhat staged at times, but that may have just been due to the outlandish nature of Smith's release.On Monday evening, the Maulers released a statement to provide more context and indicated Smith had violated multiple team rules.Pittsburgh Maulers statement on DeVeon Smith being cut from the the team on United by Football. Pittsburgh Maulers (@USFLMaulers) Smith was one of the USFL's most recognizable names after he posted a good career at Michigan and starred in the 2020 reboot of the XFL, racking up a league-high 365 rushing yards before the XFL ceased operations. He was set to lead the likely ground-dominant Royce Freeman Jersey Maulers in 2022, but now that will fall on the shoulders of Garrett Groshek and London.MORE: Wilson isn't worried about losing Smith, however. He believes that parting with Smith was nece sary as he looks to build a culture with the Maulers."Someone's hurt feelings are a distant second to the greater good of the team," Wilson said. "And we've moved on and turned that page and I'm happy we did it."We'll see if Wilson feels the same way after their season opener against the Tampa Bay Bandits on Monday night.