Arkansas fans have jumped to the defense of offensive tackle Fernando Carmona days after the Razorback junior disgustingly stomped on the ankle of an opponent during Friday’s bowl game.
Carmona’s name has been in the headlines for the better part of 72 hours after he used his right foot to stomp on Texas Tech player CJ Baskerville’s ankle.
Baskerville could be seen lying on the ground, seemingly still down after making a tackle last week in Memphis.
It’s at that moment that Carmona purposefully stomped on Baskerville’s ankle, pushing all of his weight down on to his opponent’s leg.
The act prompted furious backlash online with Baskerville and fans calling out Carmona for the disgusting act.
There has now been a push-back in favor of Carmona, made up of Arkansas’ fans, believing the act was unintentional or not as bad as everyone else has claimed.
Arkansas fans have jumped to the defense of Fernando Carmona after his disgusting stomp
On Friday, Carmona purposefully stomped on Baskerville’s ankle during the team’s bowl game
‘I don’t know about this… Carmona is stepping over a player then lands on the other players ankle and lifts up. And then Braylen (Russell) and a Tech player are laughing.. then the player with the injury gets up and starts walking again. I don’t know, if it was that big of a deal you’d think other Tech players would’ve jumped in to help out,’ one Razorback fan said.
‘Yeah see it looks like he was trying to use his right leg to clear people out and he stepped on the foot. If the tech players thought it was intentional during the game, they would’ve started shoving immediately. That’s what 99% of players do when they feel disrespected in a game.’
‘Not sure #55 can even see where his feet are landing,’ another Arkansas fan said on social media despite the video showing Carmona watching where his feet are being planted the entire time.
‘I’ma defend my dude to the fullest,’ user @RVZORBVCK said, showing his allegiance.
A collection of social-media messages of Arkansas fans defending the actions of Carmona
Carmona himself took to social media to apologize for the play, two days after it occurred.
The redshirt junior’s original post from after the game thanked his teammates and made no mention of the disgusting stomp.
‘I’d like to apologize for my actions last Friday night in the Liberty Bowl. I let my emotions get away from me. I have nothing but respect for Texas Tech and the game of football. I apologize to my team and coaches. I’m not that kind of player and will learn from this,’ Carmona said on X.
The Razorbacks have not put out an official statement on the matter, nor have officials from the Southeastern Conference or Liberty Bowl.
Baskerville himself posted two videos of the incident on X, writing alongside them: ‘There’s no denying that Arkansas played a great game last night, I am not taking that away from them.
‘But #55 Fernando Carmona blatantly stepping on my ankle and pressing down on it on purpose is straight up dirty.
‘Proceeds to say “got your b**** a***.” Do better @RazorbackFB.’
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