While sports games tend to get folks’ emotions riled up, a recent match between two historically Black universities (HBCUs) had folks outraged during the Thanksgiving holiday. It started off as the 101st Turkey Day Classic between Tuskegee University and Alabama State University…but when ASU’s band took to the field, one white football player did the unthinkable.
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By halftime, the Alabama State hornets were up by 17 points. ASU’s marching band were set to perform on the field, but as they began, a player on Tuskegee’s team started kicking a football right over the mostly Black band. If that wasn’t interruption enough, the Tuskegee kicker walked through the opposing band’s formation to retrieve the ball multiple times.
He was quickly identified as Lorcan Ryans, a junior from Limerick, Ireland, according to reports. Maybe Ryans was upset that he team was losing severely, but he continued to kick the football directly at the band, with one band member being hit at least once. He even pushed a band member to the ground as both teams watched in horror.
The whole ordeal was captured on video and posted to TikTok. It has over four million views on the app. Outside of the blatant disrespect to ASU, Ryans flipped his middle finger up at crowd members calling him out. But while he was able to return to the game as normal, folks online weren’t letting him slide.
“This was absolutely disgusting on behalf of Tuskegee,” wrote Andrea Tarai, who posted video online. “HBCU’s are a supposed to be a space for us!”
“This was malicious,” @teejx3 said. “Yall don’t see the middle finger before he kicked????”
Many folks were shocked that the kicker was able to walk away completely unscathed. “Y’all don’t fight enough for me,” said @twin16677.
The vice president and director of athletics at ASU, Jason Cable, condemned Ryans actions and demanded he be held accountable. “The incident involving a member of the Tuskegee football team pushing a member of the Mighty Marching Hornets at the conclusion of halftime was both unacceptable and unwarranted,” Cable wrote in a statement. “It in no way reflects the spirit of healthy rivalry or the character of either historic institution.”
He went on to say Tuskegee University Vice President Reginald Ruffin reached out to assure the community “that appropriate actions will be taken.” Still, Black folks online didn’t think the statement was justice enough.
“Scholarship needs to be snatched and expelled,” another TikTok user, @letloslive, commented.
Ruffin eventually released his own statement. “Tuskegee University promotes integrity, sound judgement and respect,” he said. “While our rivalry is built on healthy, spirited competition, it must always be conducted with dignity. This incident fell outside those expectations, and our disciplinary response will reflect that.”
Still, folks weren’t having it. “That kra…kicker needs to go. Hard STOP. Effective Immediately,” @gr8L8i said on X. “Such an embarrassment. Why is he even there anyway?”
“Chile I have the upmost respect for Alabama State’s band because it would of been a brawl if it was another school in the SWAC,” @beehhiivveee tweeted.
There’s no word on exactly what punishment Ryans will or has faced in the aftermath of the incident. In the end, his disruption didn’t help Tuskegee pull out a win against Alabama State. ASU won 58 – 21.
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