Paul Finebaum issues strong call to action for Mel Tucker, Michigan State after fight with Michigan

An unfortunate scene struck in the land of college football on Saturday night. In the aftermath of Michigan‘s victory over Michigan State in Ann Arbor, Spartans players “jumped” a lone Wolverines player in the tunnel as the team’s headed to their respective locker rooms. Now, ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum has sent a strong call to action to Mel Tucker and Michigan State.

Finebaum joined ESPN’s Matt Barrie to recap all of Week 9’s action on Sunday. There, he called for every player involved in the fight to be dismissed from the program by Tucker and Michigan State. And he isn’t quite sure how a decision hasn’t already been made.

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“Yeah, I don’t know why we’re still waiting for a decision here,” Finebaum said. “There’s no way these guys should remain on the football team. I mean it’s simply outrageous behavior. It borders on criminal behavior. Again, I’m just saying what it looks like without knowing everything about it. But I mean I have a lot of respect for Mel Tucker. If he doesn’t kick these guys off the team, then I don’t know how he’s going to be able to face the music.”

Finebaum went on to say that no words or apology can do enough to make this situation right. Even if the players have a path back into the Michigan State program, Finebaum thinks that each of their seasons should be immediately over.

“Again, I don’t know what goes into this. To let them play again this year would be unconscionable,” Finebaum. “Whether they have a path back — and you’re talking about a lot of players. The culpability might be different for every one. But I’m just saying, it’s such a bad look. There’s no word salad that you can offer to defend their behavior.”

Tucker’s statement after Michigan State’s loss, fight

After the incident on Saturday night, Tucker did issue a statement and said that Michigan State will fully cooperate in the ensuing investigation.

“As Spartans our program has a responsibility to uphold the highest level of sportsmanship,” tweeted Tucker. “While emotions were very high at the conclusion of our rivalry game at Michigan Stadium, there is no excuse for behavior that puts our team or our opponents at risk.

“In complete cooperation with law enforcement, the Big Ten Conference and MSU and UM leadership, we will evaluate the events in Ann Arbor and take swift and appropriate action.”

Things got heated on the field after the final whistle blew, and that carried over into the tunnel at Michigan Stadium. It was truly a scary incident, as Jim Harbaugh said after the game that the fight was more of an “assault” and that one player suffered a potentially significant injury as a result.