College football rivalry week always causes high tensions but rarely is there the controversy and chaos flag planting caused this year. Flag planting is when a team places their college flag on the home field of their opponent after the game, commonly at midfield on their logo. This act of pride has quickly made a strong comeback in college football as a show of dominance that has caused major stir-ups post-game.
This recovered trend in college football has appeared in 4 recent major games. First of which, Michigan’s last-minute win over Ohio State led to a Michigan player attempting to plant a Michigan flag at midfield, right on the Buckeyes logo. After Ohio State player Jack Sawyer grabbed the flag and threw it away, a full brawl broke out between almost all the players. Breaking up a mass of college football players is not an easy task, it took security several minutes to mediate the fighting even going so far as using pepper spray. Safe to say, each team got fined $100k for their roles in this show of violence.
But a last-minute win is not the only reason for this fighting, even when the Florida Gators defeated the Florida State Seminoles 31-11, the Florida defensive end, George Gumbs Jr, placed their team’s flag on the logo of Florida State. Not soon after the Seminole players ran to the flag and caused another big fight to ensue. A team has a right to celebrate a big win, but some may say they went too far. This show of excessive pride shows no sportsmanship between the rivals.
Next, these North Carolina rivals never disappoint and this year NC State defeated the University of North Carolina (UNC) for the fourth time in a row. It’s certain that NC State also celebrated their win by placing their flag on the UNC home field and this caused a massive scuffle on the field. After the fight was intervened by security, NC State player, DK Kaufman, ran around the field with the flag, almost as a victory lap. He was seen on screen jumping, skipping, and cheering around the field for several minutes. NC State fans joined along in this show of Wolfpack pride.
One final scuffle was in the game against Arizona State vs Arizona. The Sun Devils pulled out a massive win 49-7, and in their show of school pride, they used a trident instead of a flag. Even though a massive fight did not break out, this is still another example of what some would call an “unsportsmanlike celebration”.
So is this an act of unsportsmanlike conduct or just a harmless show of pride? Although many would argue that starting fights post-game is unnecessary and dangerous. But, Green Level football coach, Ben Woolf, says otherwise.
“I think it can be unsportsmanlike but it also brings a competitive rivalry edge to it, like now guys are getting more proud about being at your school and defending your school,” says Woolf
“Maybe it helps to decrease the amount of players in the transfer portal because they want to stay with their school now after disrespect from another school. They will want to come back and play against that team the next year. Sometimes a little rivalry and a little bad sportsmanship leads to better competition and more loyalty to the school you’re at.”
Woolf brings attention to the positive side of this show of violence in games, it shows that players are passionate and proud of their school. If each team is committed and dedicated to their team, it undoubtedly brings greater competition to each game.
It’s important to mention that even though this brings a greater competitive fire to the sport, it is a slippery slope and it needs to be managed and handled safely. These fights got so out of control that security had to deploy pepper spray to alleviate it. There’s no doubt that things could go wrong, and teams need to be aware that there may be consequences such as fines or injuries.
The athletic director at Green Level, Colin Fegeley, has something to say about the excessive violence.
“I think it is unsportsmanlike, I think that the opposing team’s very angry or violent reaction to it is sometimes a bit over the top. Planting a flag at midfield is not to be an overly offensive action, the major problem is how the other team replies but I do think with that happening typically on the visiting field, that’s the flash point. Whereas planting a flag on your field would be much safer, but when you’re at someone else’s stadium I do find it as an unsportsmanlike action.”
There is something to be said about the intent of the winning team when they place their flag on the home field of their opponent. Inevitably, the other team will not be okay with the disrespect. But, it is on them to handle it in a more graceful manner to avoid excessive conflict.
Fegeley says, “Although I do think that the grieved party, the losing team, doesn’t need to react in such a wild way. I would encourage them to use that as fuel for next year to then say ‘We won’t ever let that happen again.’”
Overall, college football is gaining a competitive fire, but it may come at a cost. It’s important to not let the fighting get too out of hand to ensure the safety of players and the image of college football. Whether you think this is an act of unsportsmanlike conduct or just an act of pride, it is a conversation that players, coaches, and viewers need to discuss and consider a solution.
