Let’s be honest, football is a physical sport where tempers can sometimes flare, and things can get out of hand really quickly.
But what happened as halftime ended this past weekend between the Grambling State and Bethune-Cookman football teams was something beyond that. It was an all-out melee between the two programs; fists flew all over the field, and an assistant coach from Bethune-Cookman was swung at, as coaches and game officials tried to calm the situation. It was just an awful scene that put those two schools and the SWAC in a horrific light.
Each time you see a replay of the brawl, it gets worse.
What makes this so troubling is that it didn’t start as a result of a cheap shot during the game. However, what prompted this intense altercation was that, coming out of the tunnel at halftime at Eddie G. Robinson Memorial Stadium, some Bethune-Cookman players were blocking the path of the Tigers, which, according to Tigers’ coach Mickey Joseph, was unacceptable and needed to be met with force.
“We’re not gonna tolerate disrespect here at Grambling. You won’t disrespect us. We’re gonna meet disrespect with disrespect,” Joseph explained in the postgame press conference after his team won, 31-23.
If there was anything more disappointing than the fight that took place on the field, resulting in nine immediate rejections, it was Joseph’s words. That’s not the messaging you want to send to young men who are still trying to harness their emotions. Their coach told them that violence is the answer. And if we are keeping it real, in the climate we exist in, that’s not the message a leader should be sending to young Black men he is responsible for.
Joseph, having a couple of days to deal with the heat from his bosses, rolled back his comments during the Weekly SWAC Media Call on Nov. 10.
“The disrespect comment that I made was never meant to condone violence or unsportsmanlike behavior,” Joseph said during his opening statement, refusing to take questions about the incident beyond that. “The moment doesn’t reflect who we are at Grambling and we take full accountability for maintaining the integrity of the game. We remain committed to learning from this incident and moving forward in the right spirit.
“Remember that cool heads prevail and that calm is a superpower.”
Unfortunately, Joseph didn’t have this understanding 48 hours earlier.
He gets it now. Maybe that’s because he had wind of the punishment the SWAC office was about to hand down to both programs later that day.
The conference handed down a penalty that will undoubtedly hurt both programs as they wind down to the final two games of the regular season. A total of 27 players have been suspended. The Grambling State Tigers will have 18 players sit out a game, while the Wildcats will lose the services of nine players. Three of the student-athletes will serve two-game suspensions, effectively ending their seasons due to the severity of their actions.
The schools both took a financial hit, too. Grambling has to pay a $40,000 fine, while Bethune-Cookman will pay $25,000 for failing to keep their student-athletes under control.
“We’re extremely disappointed by the events that transpired during halftime of the Bethune-Cookman at Grambling State football game,” SWAC Commissioner Charles McClelland said in a statement. “Acts of that nature have zero place in the Southwestern Athletic Conference and intercollegiate athletics.
“I’ve got to learn that. I have to learn it. I love our kids, I love my boys, I love my staff, I love Grambling. I’ve got to understand. God is still working on me.”
Grambling State coach Mickey Joseph on calm being a superpower
“The conference office has and will continue to enforce a zero-tolerance policy for all acts deemed to be unsportsmanlike and contrary to the high standard of good sportsmanship we expect from all individuals associated with the athletics programs within our league.”
Last year, both Prairie View and Florida A&M were fined $25,000 each for a fight that broke out, and most believe that is a big reason why PV parted ways with head coach Bubba McDowell after last season.
I’m not saying that either Joseph or Bethune-Cookman coach Raymond Woodie should lose their jobs, but a pretty good coach is sitting at home right now because of a similar infraction.
I asked Woodie if he thought there was anything he and his staff could have done to prevent this year’s fight. Making sure the path was clear for the opposing team to enter and ensuring his players kept their emotions intact were the kind of responses I was hoping for.
But that’s not quite what I got.
“At the end of the day, one of my coaches got swung on,” he said. “I don’t know how you can prevent that part of it, but I do know that he was being a pro and trying to make sure things were copasetic.”
