Four players from Michigan tunnel fight likely to have cases dismissed
A physical altercation in the tunnels of the Big House that saw seven players charged following a football game between Michigan and Michigan State has some pending resolutions for a handful of the players.
According to a report from the Associated Press, four of the Michigan State players involved in the incident who are facing misdemeanor charges will likely have their cases dismissed “in exchange for community service and other conditions.”
Those players were Angelo Grose, Itayvion Brown, Brandon Wright and Justin White, according to reporting by MLive.com.
“It’s going to happen outside of court,” said Max Manoogian, an attorney for Grose, according to the AP. “There is going to be no criminal responsibility whatsoever. There are no admissions being made, no pleas being tendered.”
The fight took the college football world by storm, in part because it wasn’t the first incident of its kind at Michigan, though it was certainly the most notable.
Fight breaks out between Michigan, Michigan State
Tensions were already elevated on Oct. 29 when the two teams met, and Michigan ended up winning the contest 29-7. Shortly after a fight would break loose as the two teams crossed paths in the tunnels after the game.
Several Michigan State players can be identified by nameplates in the video. Angelo Grose, Zion Young, Jordan Simmons and Itayvion ‘Tank’ Brown all appear to be a part of the fight, as does Charles Brantley.
In his press conference after the game, Spartans coach Mel Tucker said that he did not know what happened.
“I know it was a heated game. Things were heated. We’re trying to get our guys in the locker room. We’re gonna have to figure out what happened,” Tucker said, per Matt Fortuna of The Athletic.
Later, Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh spoke on the incident, adding that one of his players potentially broke his nose during the scuffle.
“Two of our players were assaulted. You saw the one video, the 10 on 1. Pretty bad,” the Wolverines leader said according to Austin Meek of The Athletic. Harbaugh added one had a nasal injury, potentially a broken nose. He also said Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel would address the incident.
“It needs to be investigated and brought to a conclusion,” he added, according to Chris Solari of The Detroit Free Press.
A number of the accounts from reporters covering the game indicate that the Michigan athletic director was extremely upset with what happened after the game.
“This is not the way another team should grab a player and do what they did. It’s completely and utterly unacceptable,” Manuel said according to Meek.
On3’s Andrew Graham and Steve Samra contributed to this report.