Miami-FIU brawl
Encyclopedia
The Florida International University – University of Miami was a bench-clearing brawl
that occurred on October 14, 2006 in a college football
game between the University of Miami Hurricanes
and the at the Orange Bowl stadium
in Miami, Florida
.
located in western Miami (playing at FIU Stadium
), while the University of Miami is a private university
in the suburb of Coral Gables
(which at the time played its home games at the Miami Orange Bowl
). The 2006 game was intended to be the first in the "City Line Series," an annual series between the two Miami-area schools.
At that time, most of Miami and FIU's players were from South Florida metropolitan area
, often having played alongside and against each other in high school. Miami was heavily favored over FIU, which was in its fifth season of football and in its second year in the Division I FBS.
and were increasingly physical. By the third quarter, officials had called seven penalties (six for FIU and one for Miami).
With 9 minutes left in the 3rd quarter, Miami H-back
James Bryant caught a 5-yard touchdown
pass from quarterback
Kyle Wright, making the score 13-0 Miami. After scoring, Bryant pointed towards Miami's West End zone. Bryant, who later transferred to the University of Louisville
, was called for unsportsmanlike conduct
.
During the ensuing PAT
attempt, FIU safety Chris Smith wrestled Miami holder Matt Perelli to the ground after the kick and appeared to punch him in the chin. FIU cornerback, Marshall McDuffie, Jr., kicked Perelli in the head. Miami players, including Calais Campbell, came to Perelli's defense, separating Miami and FIU players. FIU's Lionel Singleton punched Campbell in the back of the helmet, which was quickly followed by retaliation from both teams, escalating the fight to a bench-clearing brawl. Miami's Anthony Reddick
swung his helmet at FIU players and Miami's Brandon Meriweather
kicked an FIU player. FIU's A'Mod Ned, who was previously injured, came onto the field and swung at Miami players with his crutches. The fight lasted less than two minutes with Florida Highway Patrol
State Troopers and FIU Police coming onto the field to restore order.
Officials needed several minutes to sort out the penalties. Ultimately, 13 players were assessed 15-yard penalties for fighting and ejected from the game (eight from FIU and five from Miami). Although the unsportsmanlike conduct penalties for fighting offset each other, Miami was forced to kick off from its own 10-yard line due to the original penalty against Bryant (penalized at half the distance to the goal).
After the brawl while waiting for the game to resume the Miami team was seen huddled in a circle in the sidelines hopping up and down in what appeared to be a celebratory gesture. There were also several fights in the stands between UM and FIU fans which were stopped by local police.
Former Miami wide receiver
Lamar Thomas
, who was broadcasting the game for Comcast Sports Southeast (CSS), made several controversial comments during the scuffle, including:
said he was "embarrassed" for what happened, and said that he would impose sanctions even more severe than any imposed by the Sun Belt Conference
, the conference in which FIU plays. Miami head coach Larry Coker
said he was "shocked and angered" by the brawl but made no promises of further sanctions.
The next day, 31 players from both schools — 18 from FIU, 13 from Miami — were handed one-game suspensions by their schools and conferences.
In both schools' cases, the suspensions were not staggered, which was unusual considering the number of players involved. The ejected players (Chris Smith, McDuffie, Singleton, Ellis, Williams, Wellington and Penerton for FIU; Morse, Barney, Jones, Armour, Johnson and Samuel Smith for Miami) already faced minimum one-game suspensions under NCAA
regulations for ejections.
On Monday, Miami's coach suspended Bryant, Merriweather and Reddick indefinitely and announced that the other players would have to complete community service and sit out the next game, against Duke
. Miami, which already had a history of such incidents enacted a "zero tolerance" policy for future incidents: any Hurricane involved in a fight will be suspended for the remainder of the season, and could face permanent banishment from the team. The same day, FIU kicked Chris Smith and McDuffie off the team (though they were allowed to keep their scholarships
), and the remaining players were suspended from the team indefinitely. FIU also placed the suspended players on probation for the remainder of the year. In contrast, Miami president Donna Shalala
announced that the other 12 UM players would not face additional suspensions. She also said that Coker would not be fired.
ESPN.com's Gene Wojciechowski
called Miami's one-game suspensions "a soothing caress and manicure", suggested that Coker should be fired, and called for Miami to wipe the game from its records.
Lamar Thomas was fired by CSS, and the network edited out his comments when it rebroadcast the game on October 18. Later in the day, he told ESPN Radio
's Dan Patrick
that he had gotten carried away in the moment.
Coker also came under fire for some of his comments after the incident. "I think that it will affect the image of our program greatly, but in a positive way," he said. "I think that when they see the video and they see how it was handled they will be impressed with our players." Additionally, he was quoted in the Miami Herald as saying "I think you've got a lot of players from their team frustrated because they're not here, and maybe were not recruited." His handling of the incident contributed to speculation that he would not return in 2007, Shalala's vote of confidence notwithstanding.
Coker was in fact fired at the end of the season, while Strock resigned at the end of the season.
For FIU, which had been competitive up to this point in the season but had yet to win any games, the strict penalties and self imposed suspensions led to a winless 2006 season and a losing streak that would last 23 games. The damage to their lineup would keep them from winning another game until the end of the 2007 season when they won their last game against North Texas.
FIU and Miami played the following season, on September 15, 2007, without incident on the field as Miami won 23-9. FIU was coached by Mario Cristobal
, who was previously Miami's offensive line coach. Local police presence was intentionally heavier than normal for this game.
Bench-clearing brawl
A bench-clearing brawl, sometimes known as a basebrawl or a rhubarb, is a form of ritualistic fighting that occurs in sports, most notably baseball and ice hockey, in which every player on both teams leave their dugouts, bullpens, or benches and charge the playing area in order to fight one...
that occurred on October 14, 2006 in a college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
game between the University of Miami Hurricanes
2006 Miami Hurricanes football team
The 2006 Miami Hurricanes football team represented the University of Miami during the 2006 college football season. The team's head coach was Larry Coker.-Preseason:...
and the at the Orange Bowl stadium
Miami Orange Bowl
The Orange Bowl, formerly Burdine Stadium, was an outdoor athletic stadium in Miami, Florida, west of downtown in Little Havana. Considered a landmark, it was the home stadium for the Miami Hurricanes college football team...
in Miami, Florida
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
.
Background
The main campuses of Florida International University (FIU) and the University of Miami are only nine miles (15 km) apart. FIU is a public universityPublic university
A public university is a university that is predominantly funded by public means through a national or subnational government, as opposed to private universities. A national university may or may not be considered a public university, depending on regions...
located in western Miami (playing at FIU Stadium
FIU Stadium
FIU Stadium, popularly known as "The Cage", is the on-campus American football stadium of Florida International University in Miami, Florida, United States. It is the home field of the FIU Golden Panthers football team. The stadium opened in 1995, replacing nearby Tamiami Field, which was used for...
), while the University of Miami is a private university
Private university
Private universities are universities not operated by governments, although many receive public subsidies, especially in the form of tax breaks and public student loans and grants. Depending on their location, private universities may be subject to government regulation. Private universities are...
in the suburb of Coral Gables
Coral Gables, Florida
Coral Gables is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, southwest of Downtown Miami, in the United States. The city is home to the University of Miami....
(which at the time played its home games at the Miami Orange Bowl
Miami Orange Bowl
The Orange Bowl, formerly Burdine Stadium, was an outdoor athletic stadium in Miami, Florida, west of downtown in Little Havana. Considered a landmark, it was the home stadium for the Miami Hurricanes college football team...
). The 2006 game was intended to be the first in the "City Line Series," an annual series between the two Miami-area schools.
At that time, most of Miami and FIU's players were from South Florida metropolitan area
South Florida metropolitan area
The South Florida metropolitan area, also known as the Miami metropolitan area, and designated the Miami–Fort Lauderdale–Pompano Beach, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area by the U.S...
, often having played alongside and against each other in high school. Miami was heavily favored over FIU, which was in its fifth season of football and in its second year in the Division I FBS.
The brawl
Throughout the game, players from both teams engaged in trash-talkTrash-talk
Trash-talk is a form of boast or insult commonly heard in competitive situations , primarily in the US. It is often used to intimidate the opposition, but can also be used in a humorous spirit...
and were increasingly physical. By the third quarter, officials had called seven penalties (six for FIU and one for Miami).
With 9 minutes left in the 3rd quarter, Miami H-back
H-back
An H-Back is an offensive position in American football, and is also known as power back. The position is a hybrid of a fullback and a tight end. The position was made notable in the NFL by the Washington Redskins under head coach Joe Gibbs who ran a two tight end system...
James Bryant caught a 5-yard touchdown
Touchdown
A touchdown is a means of scoring in American and Canadian football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone.-Description:...
pass from quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
Kyle Wright, making the score 13-0 Miami. After scoring, Bryant pointed towards Miami's West End zone. Bryant, who later transferred to the University of Louisville
University of Louisville
The University of Louisville is a public university in Louisville, Kentucky. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of the first universities chartered west of the Allegheny Mountains. The university is mandated by the Kentucky General...
, was called for unsportsmanlike conduct
Unsportsmanlike conduct
Unsportsmanlike conduct is a foul or offense in many sports that is not necessarily a violation of the respective sport's rules of play, but violates the sport's generally accepted rules of sportsmanship and/or participant conduct...
.
During the ensuing PAT
Extra Point
Extra Point is a twice-daily, two-minute segment on ESPN Radio that covers generic sports-related topical news and opinion. The AM edition airs Monday through Saturday at various times between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. ET, and the PM edition airs Monday through Friday between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. ET...
attempt, FIU safety Chris Smith wrestled Miami holder Matt Perelli to the ground after the kick and appeared to punch him in the chin. FIU cornerback, Marshall McDuffie, Jr., kicked Perelli in the head. Miami players, including Calais Campbell, came to Perelli's defense, separating Miami and FIU players. FIU's Lionel Singleton punched Campbell in the back of the helmet, which was quickly followed by retaliation from both teams, escalating the fight to a bench-clearing brawl. Miami's Anthony Reddick
Anthony Reddick
Anthony Reddick is a defensive back for the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League. Reddick signed as a free agent with the Lions on April 27, 2010. He played college football for the Miami Hurricanes. In a 2006 brawl, Reddick swung his helmet as a weapon at players on the opposing team...
swung his helmet at FIU players and Miami's Brandon Meriweather
Brandon Meriweather
Brandon Meriweather is an American football safety for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League. He was drafted by the New England Patriots 24th overall in the 2007 NFL Draft. He played college football at the University of Miami.-Early years:Meriweather's mother gave birth to him when...
kicked an FIU player. FIU's A'Mod Ned, who was previously injured, came onto the field and swung at Miami players with his crutches. The fight lasted less than two minutes with Florida Highway Patrol
Florida Highway Patrol
The Division of the Florida Highway Patrol is a division of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles and the law enforcement agency charged with ensuring the safety of the highways and roads of the state.-History:...
State Troopers and FIU Police coming onto the field to restore order.
Officials needed several minutes to sort out the penalties. Ultimately, 13 players were assessed 15-yard penalties for fighting and ejected from the game (eight from FIU and five from Miami). Although the unsportsmanlike conduct penalties for fighting offset each other, Miami was forced to kick off from its own 10-yard line due to the original penalty against Bryant (penalized at half the distance to the goal).
After the brawl while waiting for the game to resume the Miami team was seen huddled in a circle in the sidelines hopping up and down in what appeared to be a celebratory gesture. There were also several fights in the stands between UM and FIU fans which were stopped by local police.
Former Miami wide receiver
Wide receiver
A wide receiver is an offensive position in American and Canadian football, and is the key player in most of the passing plays. Only players in the backfield or the ends on the line are eligible to catch a forward pass. The two players who begin play at the ends of the offensive line are eligible...
Lamar Thomas
Lamar Thomas
Lamar Thomas is a former NFL player and former color commentator. Thomas played college football, college basketball and ran Track at the University of Miami before being drafted in the third round of the 1993 NFL Draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.With the University of Miami Thomas set a...
, who was broadcasting the game for Comcast Sports Southeast (CSS), made several controversial comments during the scuffle, including:
“Now, that’s what I’m talking about. You come into our house, you should get your behind kicked. You don’t come into the OB [Orange Bowl] playing that stuff. You’re across the ocean over there. You’re across the city. You can’t come over to our place talking noise like that. You’ll get your butt beat. I was about to go down the elevator to get in that thing...I say, why don't we meet outside in the tunnel after the ball game and get it on some more? You don't come into the OB, baby. We've had a down couple of years but you don't come in here talking smack. Not in our house."
Aftermath
The incident won almost instant condemnation from all sides. FIU head coach Don StrockDon Strock
Don Strock is a former professional football player who was the head coach of the Florida International University football team from 2002–2006.-College:Strock played college football at Virginia Tech, and graduated in 1973...
said he was "embarrassed" for what happened, and said that he would impose sanctions even more severe than any imposed by the Sun Belt Conference
Sun Belt Conference
The Sun Belt Conference is a college athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Its football teams participate in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision , the higher of two levels of Division I football competition . The Sun Belt has member institutions...
, the conference in which FIU plays. Miami head coach Larry Coker
Larry Coker
Larry Edward Coker is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the head coach at the University of Texas at San Antonio, whose Roadrunners football team begins play in 2011. From 2001 to 2006, Coker served as the head coach at the University of Miami...
said he was "shocked and angered" by the brawl but made no promises of further sanctions.
The next day, 31 players from both schools — 18 from FIU, 13 from Miami — were handed one-game suspensions by their schools and conferences.
- For FIU: cornerback Marshall McDuffie, Jr., cornerback Chris Smith, offensive lineman Michael Alls, offensive linemen Chad Sales, linebackerLinebackerA linebacker is a position in American football that was invented by football coach Fielding H. Yost of the University of Michigan. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up approximately three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage, behind the defensive linemen...
Mannie Wellington, linebacker Michael Dominguez, linebacker Scott Bryant, defensive lineman Roland Clarke, fullbackFullback (American football)A fullback is a position in the offensive backfield in American and Canadian football, and is one of the two running back positions along with the halfback...
John Ellis, defensive back Cory Fleming, defensive lineman Reginald Jones, defensive back Robert Mitchell, linebacker Quentin Newman, defensive lineman Luis Pena, defensive end Jarvis Penerton, running back Julian Reams, defensive back Lionell Singleton, tight end Samuel Smith and wide receiver Chandler Williams - For Miami: cornerback Carlos Armour, offensive tackle Chris Barney, H-back James Bryant, offensive tackle Tyrone Byrd, tight endTight endThe tight end is a position in American football on the offense. The tight end is often seen as a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like offensive linemen, they are usually lined up on the offensive line and are large enough to be...
DajLeon Farr, wide receiver Ryan Hill, cornerback Bruce Johnson, running backRunning backA running back is a gridiron football position, who is typically lined up in the offensive backfield. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback for a rushing play, to catch passes from out of the backfield, and to block.There are usually one or two running...
Charlie Jones, safety Brandon MeriweatherBrandon MeriweatherBrandon Meriweather is an American football safety for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League. He was drafted by the New England Patriots 24th overall in the 2007 NFL Draft. He played college football at the University of Miami.-Early years:Meriweather's mother gave birth to him when...
, punterPunter (football position)A punter in American or Canadian football is a special teams player who receives the snapped ball directly from the line of scrimmage and then punts the football to the opposing team so as to limit any field position advantage. This generally happens on a fourth down in American football and a...
Brian Monroe, offensive guard Derrick Morse, cornerback Randy Phillips and safety Anthony Reddick
In both schools' cases, the suspensions were not staggered, which was unusual considering the number of players involved. The ejected players (Chris Smith, McDuffie, Singleton, Ellis, Williams, Wellington and Penerton for FIU; Morse, Barney, Jones, Armour, Johnson and Samuel Smith for Miami) already faced minimum one-game suspensions under NCAA
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
regulations for ejections.
On Monday, Miami's coach suspended Bryant, Merriweather and Reddick indefinitely and announced that the other players would have to complete community service and sit out the next game, against Duke
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
. Miami, which already had a history of such incidents enacted a "zero tolerance" policy for future incidents: any Hurricane involved in a fight will be suspended for the remainder of the season, and could face permanent banishment from the team. The same day, FIU kicked Chris Smith and McDuffie off the team (though they were allowed to keep their scholarships
Athletic scholarship
An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university awarded to an individual based predominantly on his or her ability to play in a sport...
), and the remaining players were suspended from the team indefinitely. FIU also placed the suspended players on probation for the remainder of the year. In contrast, Miami president Donna Shalala
Donna Shalala
Donna Edna Shalala served for eight years as Secretary of Health and Human Services under President Bill Clinton and has been president of the University of Miami, a private university in Coral Gables, Florida, since 2001. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest...
announced that the other 12 UM players would not face additional suspensions. She also said that Coker would not be fired.
ESPN.com's Gene Wojciechowski
Gene Wojciechowski
Gene Wojciechowski [woj-che-how-ski] is a sports writer, best known for his work with ESPN.Born in Salina, Kansas, Wojciechowski received a bachelor’s degree in communications and journalism from the University of Tennessee and began his career as a sports writer covering college football and...
called Miami's one-game suspensions "a soothing caress and manicure", suggested that Coker should be fired, and called for Miami to wipe the game from its records.
Lamar Thomas was fired by CSS, and the network edited out his comments when it rebroadcast the game on October 18. Later in the day, he told ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio is an American sports radio network. It was launched on January 1, 1992 under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN." ESPN Radio is located at ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut...
's Dan Patrick
Dan Patrick
Daniel Patrick Pugh , professionally known as Dan Patrick, is an American sportscaster, radio personality, and actor from Mason, Ohio...
that he had gotten carried away in the moment.
Coker also came under fire for some of his comments after the incident. "I think that it will affect the image of our program greatly, but in a positive way," he said. "I think that when they see the video and they see how it was handled they will be impressed with our players." Additionally, he was quoted in the Miami Herald as saying "I think you've got a lot of players from their team frustrated because they're not here, and maybe were not recruited." His handling of the incident contributed to speculation that he would not return in 2007, Shalala's vote of confidence notwithstanding.
Coker was in fact fired at the end of the season, while Strock resigned at the end of the season.
For FIU, which had been competitive up to this point in the season but had yet to win any games, the strict penalties and self imposed suspensions led to a winless 2006 season and a losing streak that would last 23 games. The damage to their lineup would keep them from winning another game until the end of the 2007 season when they won their last game against North Texas.
FIU and Miami played the following season, on September 15, 2007, without incident on the field as Miami won 23-9. FIU was coached by Mario Cristobal
Mario Cristobal
-External links:*...
, who was previously Miami's offensive line coach. Local police presence was intentionally heavier than normal for this game.
See also
- South Carolina-Clemson brawl, a similar bench-clearing incident in 2004