Fight after Armed Forces Bowl overshadows Mississippi State football's win over Tulsa
BY TYLER HORKA
CLARION LEDGER
Published: Sat, January 2, 2021 1:05 AM Updated: Sat, January 2, 2021 1:24 AM
FORT WORTH, Texas — A game intended to honor the men and women of the United States military service branches ended with a bad look by both teams.
Mississippi State and Tulsa got into a multi-player, sidelines-clearing fight after the Bulldogs defeated the Golden Hurricane 28-26 Thursdasy at Amon G. Carter Stadium.
Video shows Mississippi State wide receiver Malik Heath intentionally kicking Tulsa safety TieNeal Martin in the middle of the madness. Heath also threw punches during the fight.
In his on-field post-game interview with the ESPN broadcast crew, Mississippi State coach Mike Leach said "this is a football game so we're not going to be tearing cloth over this deal."
"Somebody went to a football game and somebody got hit," Leach said. "There's a point where I'm not going to lose my mind over it."
At least one player appeared injured in the fracas. Tulsa safety Kendarin Ray was helped off the field after the teams were separated.
"I'm not going to comment a lot about it," Tulsa coach Philip Montgomery said after the game, according to the Tulsa World. "The one thing I'll say is our program, our guys, we're a team that is going to stand up for each other and we're going to battle.
"We talk about faith, family, football and family's going to take care of family. We're a team that has battled all year long. We battled again today. From that standpoint our guys are going to continue to protect each other and we'll go from there."
Heath had three catches for 16 yards in Mississippi State's Armed Forces Bowl victory over Tulsa, but he appeared to be more proud of his involvement in the post-game brawl.
Heath was seen on video intentionally kicking a Tulsa player who was lying on the ground up around the face mask. Heath posted an Instagram video praising himself for the act and joking about it with his teammates in the locker room.
"MVP, MVP," Heath said while watching a video of the incident with his teammates. "Yo, come here (expletive). Get your little (expletive) down. Go back. Watch how I slam him there. Watch how I slam him there, come here. Go back. Watch how I slam him.
"Y'all, I go hard. Watch this. Watch this. Watch this, Malik. Boom. Get your (expletive expletive) down. (Expletive). Weak (expletive). Yeah, yeah, yeah."
Leach said he had not seen enough of the brawl to make decisions on potential disciplinary consequences he might have to enact for his players' involvement at the time of his post-game news conference.
Heath was charged with driving under the influence in August. Leach said there have not been discipline issues with his players for most of the season.
Leach said there was evident animosity between the two teams before the game kicked off. He said Tulsa players surrounded Mississippi State players on the field in warmups to get in their heads.
He suggested maybe the two sides should not have convened after the game at all.
"I always thought Major League Baseball had the best point of view on it," Leach said. "Anybody you like on the other team, you can go ahead and call them the next day or the next week or whatever. Major League Baseball just walks in their dugout. That's a pretty good way of going about things. Any time there are problems after a game, it's always in the handshake stuff."
BY TYLER HORKA
CLARION LEDGER
Published: Sat, January 2, 2021 1:05 AM Updated: Sat, January 2, 2021 1:24 AM
FORT WORTH, Texas — A game intended to honor the men and women of the United States military service branches ended with a bad look by both teams.
Mississippi State and Tulsa got into a multi-player, sidelines-clearing fight after the Bulldogs defeated the Golden Hurricane 28-26 Thursdasy at Amon G. Carter Stadium.
Video shows Mississippi State wide receiver Malik Heath intentionally kicking Tulsa safety TieNeal Martin in the middle of the madness. Heath also threw punches during the fight.
In his on-field post-game interview with the ESPN broadcast crew, Mississippi State coach Mike Leach said "this is a football game so we're not going to be tearing cloth over this deal."
"Somebody went to a football game and somebody got hit," Leach said. "There's a point where I'm not going to lose my mind over it."
At least one player appeared injured in the fracas. Tulsa safety Kendarin Ray was helped off the field after the teams were separated.
"I'm not going to comment a lot about it," Tulsa coach Philip Montgomery said after the game, according to the Tulsa World. "The one thing I'll say is our program, our guys, we're a team that is going to stand up for each other and we're going to battle.
"We talk about faith, family, football and family's going to take care of family. We're a team that has battled all year long. We battled again today. From that standpoint our guys are going to continue to protect each other and we'll go from there."
Heath had three catches for 16 yards in Mississippi State's Armed Forces Bowl victory over Tulsa, but he appeared to be more proud of his involvement in the post-game brawl.
Heath was seen on video intentionally kicking a Tulsa player who was lying on the ground up around the face mask. Heath posted an Instagram video praising himself for the act and joking about it with his teammates in the locker room.
"MVP, MVP," Heath said while watching a video of the incident with his teammates. "Yo, come here (expletive). Get your little (expletive) down. Go back. Watch how I slam him there. Watch how I slam him there, come here. Go back. Watch how I slam him.
"Y'all, I go hard. Watch this. Watch this. Watch this, Malik. Boom. Get your (expletive expletive) down. (Expletive). Weak (expletive). Yeah, yeah, yeah."
Leach said he had not seen enough of the brawl to make decisions on potential disciplinary consequences he might have to enact for his players' involvement at the time of his post-game news conference.
Heath was charged with driving under the influence in August. Leach said there have not been discipline issues with his players for most of the season.
Leach said there was evident animosity between the two teams before the game kicked off. He said Tulsa players surrounded Mississippi State players on the field in warmups to get in their heads.
He suggested maybe the two sides should not have convened after the game at all.
"I always thought Major League Baseball had the best point of view on it," Leach said. "Anybody you like on the other team, you can go ahead and call them the next day or the next week or whatever. Major League Baseball just walks in their dugout. That's a pretty good way of going about things. Any time there are problems after a game, it's always in the handshake stuff."
