Michigan's Derrick Moore reacts to proposed Ohio law to ban flag planting after 2024 incident vs. Ohio State

Michigan defensive end Derrick Moore‘s postgame flag-planting at midfield of Ohio Stadium after a 13-10 upset of eventual national champion Ohio State in last year’s The Game created quite the stir. Both on the field and in the Ohio state house.

Of course, that included sparking a violent brawl between players from both Buckeyes and Wolverines players that ultimately required extreme police intervention, including the “justified” use of pepper spray at midfield. But the reaction didn’t stop there.

Several weeks later, Ohio State Rep. Josh Williams, R-Sylvania Twp, proposed the “O.H.I.O. Sportsmanship Act” that would make it a felony to plan a flag at midfield of Ohio Stadium, home of the Buckeyes. The bill, titled House Bill 700, would “prohibit planting a flagpole and flag in the center of the Ohio Stadium football field on the day of a college football game and to name this act the O.H.I.O. Sportsmanship Act.” That bill, which ultimately never made it out of committee, specifically references Ohio Stadium. So, it would presumably not include flag planting incidents at other college football stadiums in the state of Ohio, like Cincinnati‘s Nippert Stadium.

That was a particularly difficult time for Moore, who was vilified for his act by Ohio lawmakers and Ohio State fans alike. The senior Michigan defender opened up about the experience Thursday at Big Ten Media Days in Las Vegas.

“For like a whole month straight they had a picture of me with the flag on the field. And they pretty much said, like, ‘Criminal’ or something like that,” Moore said, per Matt Fortuna. “I’m like: Bro, wow. Like, I’m a criminal now? … But all I gotta say, man: Hey, that’s Ohio for you.”

Williams, who is a Toledo graduate, said the bill was also a signal to both institutions that they need to strive for better leadership with regards to sportsmanship. He cited Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore mimicking a flag planting gesture during a recent Michigan home men’s basketball game. Williams argued he’s all for the rivalry, and has family supportive of both sides, but not at the expense of competitive integrity or safety.

“Imagine if one of our players would have been substantially hurt because of a scuffle over a flag?” Williams said. “Imagine if one of our officers would’ve been hurt?”

The Big Ten fined both Ohio State and Michigan $100,000 apiece for the brawl.

Notably, the brawl between Ohio State and Michigan wasn’t the only fight over a flag planting incident during the final week of the regular season, known as Rivalry Week. NC State and North Carolina fought in a similar incident. Then, at the end of the Florida and Florida State game, Seminoles head coach Mike Norvell was seen throwing a Gators flag on the ground.

— On3’s Dan Morrison and Andrew Graham contributed to this report.