Michigan State Tunnel Behavior In Big House Absolutely Dispicable

I’m sure by now you’ve either seen or heard what transpired postgame Saturday night in Ann Arbor.

To be honest I’m still stunned at what I witnessed on social media. It was difficult to say the least watching video from what happened immediately following Michigan’s win over arch-rival Michigan State.

Players viciously attacking other players. A head coach taking a swipe at a fan.

Really?

To say this despicable behavior has no place in collegiate athletics is an understatement.

There’s absolutely no place at any level of athletics for such unsportsmanlike conduct.

In the late hours of Saturday night and on Sunday, videos emerged and were posted on social media showing what went on.

A Michigan player – Gemon Green – was punched and another one – Ja’Den McBurrows – was attacked when he tried to help his teammate.

On video you can clearly see McBurrows being punched and kicked by multiple Spartan players. They pulled him out of the tunnel and into a hallway where they continued the assault.

It was so bad that one Michigan State player took off his helmet and started swinging it violently in the direction of a Michigan player’s head. The Michigan player did not have his helmet on so it could be argued the Spartan player was using his helmet as a deadly weapon.

Both Michigan players suffered injuries.

On Sunday, Michigan State suspended four players and two days later, the Spartans suspended another four.

Michigan State did not announce how long any of the suspensions will be.

“The student-athlete suspensions will remain in place until the investigations are completed,” Michigan State said in a statement.

Suspensions, however, are not enough, not even close.

These players need to be dismissed from the team and prosecuted to the highest extend of the law.

The Big Ten Conference, and Michigan State in particular – who lets be honest has had trouble keeping its athletic department out of the headlines for all the wrong reasons recently (google Larry Nassar) – needs to make a statement … a strong one, too.

These players actively participated in gang violence against their opponent.

This out-of-control behavior should not and cannot be tolerated.

I will say this, when your head coach is walking off the field and into the tunnel and takes a swipe at a fan reaching over the railing, some disciplinary action needs to be forthcoming, not to mention some anger management classes.

“I can’t imagine that this will not result in criminal charges,” said Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh at his weekly teleconference on Monday. “The videos are bad. It’s clear what transpired. It seems very open and shut.”

Since the incident, there has been reporting on a variety of related subjects.

Some reports have mentioned that schools shouldn’t have just one tunnel in their stadiums.

There’s a lot of truth to this.

I actually attended the infamous Notre Dame-Miami (Fla.) game in 1988 in South Bend where the two teams got into a pregame shoving match in the tunnel. My seats were right above the tunnel so we saw everything. To be honest, it was a lot of jawing and pushing and shoving and I’m pretty sure no punches were thrown.

In 2017, Notre Dame Stadium added a second small tunnel for just the opposition to enter and exit the field.

For the record, this is the second time this season there have been issues been teams in Michigan Stadium’s tunnel. Penn State coach James Franklin complained about the confines of the tunnel. Michigan players said Nittany Lion players threw peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at them as the teams headed back to their locker rooms at halftime of their game. The two teams traded verbal jabs at one another as they walked up the tunnel at halftime.

“… All they gotta do is walk into their locker room,” said Harbaugh after the Penn State game. “They completely stopped. They weren’t letting us get up the tunnel.”

Franklin added, “The one tunnel is a problem.”We’re not the first team to get into a jawing match in the tunnel.”

Yes, some say Michigan Stadium’s tunnel is not large enough for two teams to enter and exit the field of play at the same time.

Save that kind of talk. It is not massive by any means, but a situation like the one that took place on Saturday night could’ve been avoided by having game management allow one team up the tunnel at a time. It’s not rocket science.

I’ve been in Michigan Stadium’s tunnel at least a half dozen times and never did Michigan and the Purdue teams I was covering ever even trash talk with each other.

Players should never fear for their safety exiting the field and going to their respective dressing rooms.

“I don’t buy any excuse that is going to be laid off on the rivalry, the tunnel or anything else that somebody could possibly blame,” Harbaugh said. “These are the actions of these individuals and they need to be accountable for them.”

I couldn’t agree more Coach.

Now it’s time for the Big Ten to take severe action against Michigan State’s football program and make those individuals that took part in the assault and battery of Michigan players pay big time. 

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