Miami-FIU brawl
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The Miami-FIU brawl, a bench-clearing brawl between two college football teams, is one of the largest brawls in the history of collegiate sports.
It occurred on October 14, 2006 in a college football game between the University of Miami Hurricanes and the Florida International University Golden Panthers at the Orange Bowl stadium in Miami, Florida.
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[edit] Background
FIU and the University of Miami are only nine miles (15 km) apart. FIU is a public university located in western Miami, while the University of Miami is a private university in the suburb of Coral Gables (though it plays its home games at the Orange Bowl). The 2006 game was supposed to be the first in the "City Line Series," an annual series between the two Miami-area schools.
The great majority of Miami's and FIU's players are from the South Florida metropolitan area, and grew up with the Hurricanes as their local and favorite team. Miami, of the Atlantic Coast Conference, was heavily favored. FIU, which plays in the Sun Belt Conference, was in only its fifth season of football, and had won only 15 games in that stretch.
During the first half and the first few minutes of the third quarter, players from both teams were frequently engaged in trash-talk. Additionally, during the first quarter, FIU wide receiver Chandler Williams dove helmet-first into prone Miami player Kenny Phillips after Miami intercepted a pass. These incidents helped set the stage for the brawl.
[edit] The brawl
With 9 minutes left in the 3rd quarter, Miami H-back James Bryant caught a 5-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Kyle Wright, making the score 13-0 Miami. Bryant pointed at the FIU bench and made a mocking bow to the FIU cheering section. Bryant was penalized 15 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Immediately after Miami's successful extra point attempt, FIU's Chris Smith wrestled Miami holder Matt Perrelli to the ground and punched him. While Perrelli was still on the ground, FIU's Marshall McDuffie, Jr. kicked Perrelli in the helmet. Miami's Derrick Morse jumped on top of McDuffie. Both benches emptied, triggering a five-minute melee.
The fracas got so intense that Miami-Dade police had to be called onto the field to help restore order.
Among the more notable incidents in the fight:
- Morse lifted an FIU player completely off the ground and slammed him to the grass.
- Miami safety Anthony Reddick charged across the field, helmet raised over his head, and slammed it into an FIU player.
- Miami safety Brandon Meriweather used his cleats to stomp FIU players.
- An FIU player swung a crutch at a Miami player.
It took the officials 20 minutes to sort out the penalties. Ultimately, 13 players were handed 15-yard penalties for fighting and ejected from the game (8 from FIU and 5 from Miami). Although the penalties for fighting offset each other, Miami was forced to kick off from its own 10-yard line due to the original unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against Bryant (which was penalized at half the distance to the goal).
Former Miami wide receiver Lamar Thomas, who was broadcasting the game for Comcast Sports Southeast, made several controversial comments during the scuffle. Among them:
- "Now, that's what I'm talking about! You come into our house, you should get your behind kicked. You don't come into the OB (Orange Bowl) playing that stuff. You're across the ocean over there. You're across the city. You can't come over to our place talking noise like that. You'll get your butt beat. I was about to go down the elevator to get in that thing."
- "I say, why don't they just meet outside in the tunnel after the ball game and get it on some more? You don't come into the OB, baby. We've had a down couple years but you don't come in here talking smack. Not in our house."[1]
[edit] Aftermath
The incident won almost instant condemnation from all sides. FIU coach Don Strock said he was "embarrassed" for what happened, and said that he would impose sanctions even more severe than any imposed by the Sun Belt Conference. Miami's Larry Coker, already under fire, was "shocked and angered" by the brawl.[2]
The next day, 31 players from both colleges —13 from Miami and 18 from FIU—were handed one-game suspensions.[3]
- For Miami: cornerback Carlos Armour, offensive tackle Chris Barney, H-back James Bryant, offensive tackle Tyrone Byrd, tight end DajLeon Farr, wide receiver Ryan Hill, cornerback Bruce Johnson, running back Charlie Jones, safety Brandon Meriweather, punter Brian Monroe, offensive guard Derrick Morse, cornerback Randy Phillips and safety Anthony Reddick
- For FIU: cornerback Marshall McDuffie, Jr., cornerback Chris Smith, offensive lineman Michael Alls, linebacker Mannie Wellington, linebacker Michael Dominguez, linebacker Scott Bryant, defensive lineman Roland Clarke, fullback John Ellis, defensive back Cory Fleming, defensive lineman Reginald Jones, defensive back Robert Mitchell, linebacker Quentin Newman, defensive lineman Luis Pena, defensive end Jarvis Penerton, running back Julian Reams, defensive back Lionell Singleton, tight end Samuel Smith and wide receiver Chandler Williams
In both schools' cases, the suspensions were not staggered, which is surprising given the large number of players involved. Morse, Barney, Jones, Armour, Johnson, Samuel Smith, Chris Smith, McDuffie, Singleton, Ellis, Williams, Wellington and Penerton already faced one-game suspensions under NCAA regulations since they had been ejected. In addition, Coker had suspended Bryant, Merriweather and Reddick indefinitely earlier in the day after initially announcing that he wouldn't suspend anyone.
The next day, Miami announced that Reddick would be suspended indefinitely, and that the other players would have to complete community service and sit out the next game, against Duke University. The school also enacted a "zero tolerance" policy for future incidents. Any Hurricane involved in a fight will be suspended for the remainder of his or her team's season, and could face permanent banishment from the team. However, university president Donna Shalala announced that the other 12 players would not face additional suspensions. She also said that Coker would not be fired.
On the same day, FIU kicked Smith and McDuffie off the football team (though it allowed them to keep their scholarships), and suspended the remaining players indefinitely. It also placed the players on probation for the remainder of the year. The players will have to complete 10 hours of anger management counseling and 50 hours of community service.
Thomas was fired by CSS, and the network edited out his comments when it rebroadcasted the game on October 18. Later in the day, he told ESPN Radio's Dan Patrick that he'd gotten carried away in the moment.
Some critics thought Miami's sanctions were far too lenient. For example, ESPN Radio's Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic thought that they should be suspended even longer than one game, and even suggested that Coker should be fired. ESPN.com's Gene Wojciechowski called the one-game suspensions "a soothing caress and manicure" and called for Miami to wipe the game from its records.
Larry Coker also came under fire for some of his comments after the incident. "I think that it will affect the image of our program greatly, but in a positive way," he said. "I think that when they see the video and they see how it was handled they will be impressed with our players."[4] Additionally, he was quoted in the Miami Herald as saying "I think you've got a lot of players from their team frustrated because they're not here, and maybe weren't recruited."[5] His handling of the incident contributed to speculation that he wouldn't return in 2007, Shalala's vote of confidence notwithstanding.[6] Coker was in fact fired at the end of the season.
[edit] Media coverage
Unlike the Pacers-Pistons brawl in the National Basketball Association two years earlier, reaction on major television networks was muted at first. On the night of the incident, ESPN did not air the brawl on SportsCenter until about 40 minutes into the show, after highlights of game 1 of the World Series and other college football games. However, as the days progressed, coverage picked up. Among the media mentions was one on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric.
The incident, combined with other past antics of the Miami football team, led critics to label the University of Miami "Thug U".
[edit] Who was at fault?
On the surface, the FIU players triggered the brawl. However, the national media largely pointed blame towards Miami, as this was the latest in a disturbing series of incidents for Miami in the months prior:
- At the 2005 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, which the Hurricanes lost 40-3 to LSU, players from both teams fought in the tunnels leading to the Georgia Dome field after the game. Two Miami players were knocked unconscious.[7]
- On September 16, 2006, before a nationally televised game at Louisville, the Miami team gathered on the Louisville athletic logo painted on the FieldTurf at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium and stomped on it.[8] This was seen as a major show of disrespect to Louisville. The Cardinals ended up winning the game 31-7. Afterward, some Miami players chided their teammates. A similar show of disrespect to their opponents' logo was carried out earlier in the season in a loss to Florida State University, and other schools had previously stomped on the Louisville logo in the past (usually with the same results).
- A Miami player, Willie Cooper, was shot outside his home shortly before training camp began in what players contend was a robbery attempt. Teammate Brandon Meriweather, who was legally carrying a weapon after obtaining a concealed carry permit, returned fire.[9]
- Wide receiver Ryan Moore, who was suspended for the Peach Bowl for violating team rules, was then suspended again for other infractions; the reasons for his suspension were not disclosed. Miami also suspended three other starters for the season's first (and biggest) game against Florida State for missing study hall.[10][11]
However, FIU had its own history of off-field problems:
- Several players had been arrested for theft and vandalism.[12]
- Three players, Everett Baker, Randy Arnold and Diamos Demerritt, were arrested and charged with armed robbery of two FIU students. Charges included two counts of armed robbery, two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a weapon on school grounds and carrying a concealed weapon. Two of the culprits are still considered "at large" and thought to be on the football team as well. [13]
[edit] References
- ^ Announcer Lamar Thomas is fired for comments made about the brawl
- ^ Recap of the events including the coaches reactions
- ^ 31 Players were suspended for their involvement
- ^ Detroit News: Monday Morning Quarterback
- ^ Costa, Brian. Suspensions handed down for fracas. Miami Herald 2006-10-16. Last accessed 2006-11-16.
- ^ Bianchi, Mike. To rebuild image, 'Thug U' needs new leadership. Orlando Sentinel 2006-11-10. Last accessed 2006-11-16.
- ^ (10) LSU 40, (9) Miami (FL) 3
- ^ Miami, FIU have 31 players suspended for role in brawl
- ^ UM Linebacker Shot In The Buttocks
- ^ Ryan Moore suspension extended
- ^ Coker keeping Miami on track
- ^ FIU players arrested for theft and vandalism
- ^ 3 FIU players jailed after attempted robbery
[edit] See also
- South Carolina-Clemson brawl, a similar bench-clearing incident in 2004
