Head coaches at multiple universities are calling out their football players after several post-game brawls broke out over the weekend over flag planting. In most instances, the winning team partook in planting their flag on their opponents’ logo as a sign of victory. In football, flag planting is considered disrespectful in football.
Michigan University and Ohio State University
Michigan won 13-10 before one of the players planted their banner on Ohio State’s logo at Ohio Stadium, according to CNN. This resulted in pushing, shoving and punches thrown between players on both teams. Ohio State University Police deployed on the scene said one of their officers was injured during the incident. Michigan and Ohio State were each fined $100k by the Big Ten Conference.
“For such a great game, you hate to see stuff like that after the game. Bad for the sport. Bad for college football,” Michigan running back Kalel Mullings said. “At the end of the day, some people got to learn how to lose. You can’t be fighting this stuff just because you lost the game […] classless in my opinion. People got to be better.”
Florida State University and Florida University
Florida defeated Florida State 31-11 before a flag was planted on the field. This resulted in a brawl between players. Florida State head coach Mike Norvell grabbed the flag and later apologized for the incident.
“Obviously, what happened there at the end of the game is not who we want to be as a program,” he said, according to ESPN. “It’s embarrassing to me, and it’s a distraction from a really well-played football game. I want to apologize on behalf of the entire organization just in terms of how we represented the university there.”
North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina
A similar incident happened after North Carolina State defeated UNC with a final score of 35-30. An attempt to plant a flag resulted in on-field confrontations between players, who had to be separated.
“I don’t know what happened in the end,” UNC head coach Mack Brown said, according to CNN. “Somebody said they tried to plant their flag on our field. I had said two years ago that was disrespectful.”
Arizona State University and the University of Arizona
Arizona State won 49-7 before a flag was planted on Arizona’s logo. Players were seen scuffling on the field over it but no fight broke out. Some players had to be separated.
Howard University and North Carolina Central University
In a game played ahead of Thanksgiving weekend, 36 players at Howard and NCCU were suspended after partaking in a post-game brawl. NCCU won 26-3 and it remains unclear how the fight broke out. As Blavity reported, an assistant coach for NCCU was also suspended.
