You Make the Call — Accident or Assault?

I came across this video over the weekend.  It was something that happened during a high school football game in the San Antonio area of Texas.  Some message boards claim it was all an accident and there's more to the story than what we see.

What I see is an assault on a sports official bordering on criminal.  Police are investigating the case, but as of Monday no arrests were made.  The two players were not only thrown out of the game, but have been suspended from the team and from school.  The school district plans a more in depth investigation when school reopens today after the holiday weekend.

The video also caught the eye of the NFL Referees Association.  The group's executive director said "these types of actions against any game official at any level are inexcusable."  He said "we fully support the suspensions of the players involved, along with a full and complete investigation by the Texas University Interscholastic League."

I'm in my 30th year of officiating high school football, and I've never seen anything even close to this. Occasionally, in frustration, a player will say something to the officials or other players he shouldn't have said.  Flags fly.  We assess a penalty, then we move on.

What happened in Texas is so outside the bounds of the game it's something that police and prosecutors need to come down hard on.  It's a case that sports officials will be taking a long, hard look at.