Michigan State suspends four following postgame tunnel incident
The fallout from Michigan State assaults on Michigan players Ja’Den McBurrows and Gemon Green following a 29-7 U-M win Saturday has begun. The Spartans have suspended four players — and there could be more coming — MSU head coach Mel Tucker said in a statement released Sunday night.
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“Michigan State University football core values include integrity, discipline, unselfishness, toughness, and accountability,” it read. “After reviewing the disturbing evidence collect to date of the altercations between Michigan State and University of Michigan student-athletes on October 29, 2022, we are suspending Tank Brown, Khary Crump, Angelo Grose, and Zion Young effective immediately.
“We are currently working with law enforcement, Michigan State and Michigan campus leadership, and the Big Ten Conference to further evaluate the events in Ann Arbor, including but not limited to, additional student-athlete participation in the altercations and contributing factors. The initial student-athlete suspensions will remain in place until the investigations are completed.”
He added a promise that he was committed to “fairness, transparency, and accountability.”
Michigan State athletic director Alan Haller also released a statement.
“… Based on the alarming evidence that Coach Mel Tucker and I have been provided involving a small number of our football student-athletes and University of Michigan student-athletes at Michigan Stadium, we are in alignment that it is necessary to take preliminary action and suspend four football student-athletes,” he wrote. “The behavior we reviewed was both uncharacteristic of our football program and unacceptable.”
He added he’d been in consistent contact with Michigan A.D. Warde Manuel and Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren, among others.
The incident occurred shortly after the game. Video showed several MSU players apparently pushing and kicking sophomore cornerback Ja’Den McBurrows while he tried to make his way up the tunnel.
“Two of our players were assaulted,” Michigan head coach Harbaugh confirmed in his postgame press conference. “I saw the one video, the 10 on 1. Pretty bad. I’m going to let our Athletic Director, Warde Manuel, address it with the authorities …
“Pretty open and shut. One of our players has a nasal injury — could be a broken nose. Just very unfortunate.”
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More than that, it might well be criminal. Other video showed at least one MSU player apparently beating Green with a helmet.
“I’ll let Warde address that. My perspective is I heard from two players when we got into the locker room … we started addressing it,” Harbaugh said. “Then the video surfaced.”
Manuel then came to the podium to address the media.
“What happened after the game is completely unacceptable. I’ve talked to the [Big Ten] commissioner [Kevin Warren],” Manuel said. “He is looking into it. The police are also looking into it because they’ve seen the video, so they’re addressing it.
“We will leave it in their hands. But this is not how we should interact after the game. This is not the way another team should grab a player and do what they did. It’s completely and utterly unacceptable. We will let the Big Ten and law enforcement handle it, but this is not what a rivalry should be about. It’s not how it should be remembered.”
Michigan led 13-7 at the break and, despite having to settle for 5 field goals, was never really threatened. The Spartans couldn’t get anything going on the ground and didn’t get a first down in the third quarter, and there was some pushing and shoving in the postgame after the final whistle, too.
Watch for more on these developments in the days to come …
