Coach bodyslams teen at high school football game after he ran across the field with a crude message
A Friday night football game in southern California was disrupted by a teenage boy who sprinted across the field carrying a flag with a crude message, only to be body slammed by a grown man.
The game, which was played by the Kennedy High School of La Palma and Katella High School of Anaheim teams, was briefly interrupted by a young man traversing the field with a flag that read, ‘I eat a**,’ deceptively spelled out with numbers and symbols.
As the teen made his way to the end of the field, a grown man, believed to be an employee – possibly a coach – of the Katella High School team, sprints up behind the kid, grabs him as he is about to make a clean getaway over the wall past the end zone, and slams him into the grass.
The man can be seen placing his knee on the boy’s neck as the Katella team erupts in cheers.
A man though to be a high school football coach aggressively tackled a teenager running across the field with a crude message displayed on a flag
While members of the Katella team could be heard cheering, members of the audience audibly gasped and condemnations of the coach’s actions could be heard echoing around the stadium
The incident occurred Friday night during a home game between the Katella High School of Anaheim football team and the Kennedy High School of La Palma team
The teen with flag was pursued by the Katella coach (far right) for brandishing a flag with a crude message displayed on it and running across the field during the middle of a Friday evening game
The teen almost made a clean getaway by hopping the wall in the end zone, but the man was able to grab and slam the perpetrator into the ground
Michele Schow, who provided initial footage of the incident of KTLA, said the tackle drew a collective gasp from the audience and audible condemnations from some of those in attendance at the game.
‘The excessive force in the body slamming was unnecessary, witnessed by all the families, school staff and students,’ she told the outlet.
Commenters on the House of Highlights instagram account, which also posted a video of the shocking tackle, appear to generally agree with Schow.
‘Man you gotta have some real issues to run down a kid that was playing a harmless prank an body slam him. What a douche,’ wrote one user.
Others predicted the imminent dismissal and possible criminal charges of the tackler.
‘It’s a wrap for coach,’ wrote one viewer.
‘He definitely got fired and locked up,’ wrote another.
‘He should be arrested for assault and battery, endangering the welfare of a child and whatever the prosecution can think of. There’s no excuse for this. I’m good with him grabbing the kid and restraining him until the police can take him into custody but the extra violence is completely unnecessary and totally uncalled for,’ wrote a third.
The game was played at the Katella team’s home stadium in Anaheim, California. The game ended in a 39-0 loss for Katella.