Eastern Michigan has ‘strongly’ condemned the brawl which followed defeat by South Alabama – after one of its players sucker punched a rival in the back of the head.
‘We are deeply upset and embarrassed,’ the school said. ‘What happened was completely unacceptable.’
South Alabama trounced the visitors 59-10 to win the 68 Ventures Bowl but the team’s celebrations were cut short when one of its players was attacked from behind.
South Alamaba players and staff were facing the marching band in the stands, and singing the school’s anthem when Eastern Michigan player Korey Hernandez rushed across the field and punched South Alabama’s Jamarrien Burt.
Moments later, players from both teams were involved in a fight. On Sunday, Eastern Michigan apologized for the ‘completely unacceptable’ conduct.
Eastern Michigan has ‘strongly’ condemned the brawl following the loss to South Alabama
Eastern Michigan’s Korey Hernandez rushed over to punch South Alabama’s Jamarrien Burt
Punches were thrown as players from both teams became involved in the violence in Alabama
‘We strongly condemn the actions of some of the student-athletes on the EMU football team in the ugly incident that took place following last night’s 68 Ventures Bowl,’ EMU athletic director Scott Wetherbee said in a statement.
‘We apologize to the Eastern Michigan University community and to the South Alabama team and their fans.’
Wetherbee revealed that both he and EMU coach Chris Creighton have apologized to their counterparts at South Alabama, while the school has spoken to conference Mid-American Conference commissioner Jon Steinbrecher and are ‘committed to working jointly to investigate the incident.’
Some staff members attempted to end the violence as punches were thrown and South Alabama players piled on to an Eastern Michigan rival who was on the floor.
The footage, which appeared on social media, showed the fracas after the end of the game
Fracas continued to break out even after it seemed that tensions had begun to cool. Towards the end of the clip, which appeared on social media, one South Alabama player tackled an opponent to the floor.
According to reports, the violence came after tempers had flared during the game, with at least one major altercation coming on the South Alabama sideline.
Burt’s older brother, fellow defensive back Brian Dillard, was said to be among those who jumped in to defend him before both teams were sent to their locker rooms.
Afterwards, Eastern Michigan coach Chris Creighton said: ‘We had a really good, long talk in the locker room afterwards.
‘We want to be first-class all the time, no matter the circumstances, no matter what the scoreboard is, no matter what other factors, people, whatever are involved. And anything short of being first-class is not living up to the standard that we have in Eastern Michigan football.
‘I think that our guys care a lot about performing well. I’m sure we were embarrassed by how we played and it probably didn’t take too much to get our guys into a place that we hope that they never get.’
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