Brawl leads N.C. A&T to call off 2008 match

The entire affair was televised by JarvisTV via the Internet. Facts are--it lasted 30-45 seconds, the coaches from both teams were on the field separating their players; security was instantly on the field to stop the aggression by NCCU; and one NCCU Cop was shooting the pepper spray as you can see from the photos at NCAT players to keep them back. Let's not make this more than what it is--a classless act by NCCU inexperienced football players that are not accustomed to winning over an established program. The pepper spray did more damage than the few players pushing each other.

William Friday's comments are totally inappropriate. How in the hell do you tie NFL Quarterback Michael Vick involvement in dog fighting and Floyd Landis doping allegations on Tour de France, to the actions of NCCU and NCAT college students? Clearly, William Friday did not see the game and is stereotyping all black young men to Michael Vick and the clown Landis. Vick is a product of Virginia Tech. Sorry, all black men are not the same as Vick!

Let's get some honest and fair journalism, North Carolina newspapers! (beepbeep)

MICHAEL BIESECKER, Charolotte Observer

Future games between bitter rivals N.C. Central University and N.C. A&T State University are in doubt after football players and coaches clashed in a benches-clearing brawl Saturday night.

The latest melee to mar the NCCU-N.C. A&T rivalry started after the final seconds ticked off the clock with NCCU winning 27-22 on a game-saving interception. Players from the Durham university then ran out from their sideline and stomped on the Aggies' bulldog logo painted at the center of the field, taunting the defeated team.

Fists and helmets were soon flying. The fight, which lasted about five minutes, cleared the benches of both teams and involved more than 100 people. It prompted at least one campus police officer to use pepper spray, leaving some players vomiting and gasping.

No criminal charges were filed, and no one was injured. An A&T official blamed NCCU coaches and students for the fight. NCCU said in a written statement that the behavior of both teams was disappointing but would not respond directly to questions.

A&T athletics director DeLores "Dee" Todd said in an interview Sunday that she will cancel the planned 2008 matchup between the historically black universities, which have a heated rivalry dating to 1924.

Todd said A&T officials will review videotape of the fight and will possibly suspend some Aggies players for the next game on Thursday night against Fayetteville State.

Todd, who watched the melee from the stands, blamed members of the Eagles coaching staff for instigating the brawl.

"A couple of their coaches led them out there and were in the middle," Todd said. "One of the coaches picked up a patch of dirt off the dog and threw it. You know, that's just disrespectful and terribly unsportsmanlike. ... Coaches are your leaders, and if a coach does that, then, you can't really expect the kids to do anything different."

Todd said the NCCU players continued the jeering.

"As our coaches went out to shake hands, the Central kids were giving them the finger and saying, 'You're losers, get used to it,' as they were, you know, flipping them off," Todd said.

In a written release, NCCU's athletics department said it will suspend one player, whom it did not identify, for this Saturday's game against Presbyterian College.

"What happened following the game was a great disappointment as the poor judgment and thoughtless actions of a few student-athletes led to an unfortunate and embarrassing altercation between both teams at midfield," Bill Hayes, NCCU's athletics director, said in a written statement. "This type of behavior will not be tolerated and is in no way indicative of this athletics department or this university. We will respond to this matter swiftly and decisively."

No NCCU official would comment on the incident beyond the written statement, said Kyle Serba, the university's assistant athletics director for media relations.

William Friday, former UNC system president and former co-chair of the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics, commended A&T athletics director Todd for canceling next year's matchup.

"I thought the immediate action was appropriate," Friday said. "[Fighting] kills the spirit of the occasion. ... There is no place for that kind of fist-fighting in any kind of event."

Friday lumped the fight in with Michael Vick's recent guilty plea to dog-fighting charges and the doping allegations that led to Floyd Landis being stripped of his Tour de France victory.

"We've just got to find a way in sport to right this ship of constant problems we've seen in the last 12 to 18 months. The public is getting tired of it," Friday said.

Fallout from the fight could also have long-range implications for NCCU, which has applied to join the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. A&T has been a MEAC school since 1970; Todd would not say whether A&T would oppose NCCU's application.

MEAC Commissioner Dennis E. Thomas said Sunday that he was withholding comment until he receives written reports on the incident.

"Not only do we expect the schools in our conference to behave as great sportsmen during the game, but also before and after," Thomas said.

Asked specifically whether NCCU's role in the fight might affect its admission to the conference, Thomas replied: "They're not a member, so I have no comment on that."

Saturday marked the first game between the Aggies and the Eagles since 2005, when the series lapsed. There has been a long history of scuffles at football and basketball games between the two schools, Todd said.

That bad blood re-emerged in Greensboro on Saturday when the NCCU marching band went several minutes over their allotted share of the halftime show, not allowing the Aggies band to take the field and receiving loud boos from the hometown crowd. The Aggies band was forced to cut its performance short to avoid a delay-of-game penalty.

The NCCU band continued playing from the stands for much of the rest of the game, even during the plays.

During the postgame fisticuffs, campus safety officers from both schools waded into the fray. Photos of the fight taken by a photographer with the Greensboro News & Record appear to show a uniformed N.C. Central police officer aiming blasts of pepper spray into the faces of Aggies players.

It was not immediately known whether A&T officers also used pepper spray.

"The spray seemed to be aimed more at our players," Todd said Sunday.

Chief Willie R. Williams Sr. of the NCCU police said that he was not at the game and had not seen the photos but that his department typically conducts reviews of all uses of force to ensure its officers act appropriately.

Saturday's loss to the Eagles extended A&T's losing streak to 20 games, currently the nation's longest. Todd said the brawl besmirched the good reputations of both universities.

"I'm disappointed and embarrassed," she said. "But you just don't come to people's schools and disrespect them. It's a football game. Everybody played a great game. That's what it should be about. This other stuff is nonsense."

(News & Observer staff writers Sam LaGrone and Jaymes Powell Jr. contributed to this report.)