Former Eagle Jason Avant was in the thick of the Michigan-Ohio State brawl: ‘This is just not acceptable’
The former Wolverine saw his alma mater’s flag in the wrong hands, and went to retrieve it.
After Michigan’s 13-10 win over Ohio State in The Game, the Wolverines attempted to plant the flag at midfield, which they had also done after their win in 2022. Ohio State defensive end Jack Sawyer ripped down the flag and the two teams began to fight on the field, which ultimately ended in police officers using pepper spray on players, the Ohio State police department confirmed.
A video quickly went viral of a man in a Michigan winter hat grabbing the Michigan flag back from Ohio State cornerback Davison Igbinosun. After a brief struggle, the man managed to pull the flag away, and multiple Ohio State players made further attempts at yanking back the flag, with one even shoving the man. But the man kept his cool, and walked down the tunnel with the flag.
That man was former Eagles receiver and current Michigan radio sideline reporter Jason Avant.
“People around me were like, ‘Oh, that dude didn’t fall. They were pushing him pretty hard and he didn’t fall,’” Avant told The Inquirer. “It’s because I’m one of them! I still train, I’m still in shape, so it was kind of funny seeing people’s reaction, like they’re pushing this poor equipment guy. No, there’s a history there, but it was totally fine. I understand the frustration, their anger. It was just funny to me because they were trying their best to push me down and couldn’t. That made me chuckle.”
Avant was on his way back to the locker room for postgame interviews when the fight broke out. He didn’t even see the attempt at planting the flag — he just saw the flag of his alma mater where it didn’t belong, and went to retrieve it.
“My mindset was, these are someone’s kids,” Avant said. “I’m not going to hit anyone or swing or push back or anything like that. Just don’t fall down.”
Avant took the flag back into the locker room, letting it wave as he walked through.
Avant played for the Wolverines from 2002-06 before his eight-year tenure as an Eagle. He retired from the NFL in 2015 under Andy Reid in Kansas City after 11 seasons, and began his role as Michigan’s radio sideline reporter in 2022. Avant is also active mentoring current Michigan players.
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“As I’m going up the tunnel with the flag, Ohio State fans are throwing stuff at me from up top, because I’m letting the flag wave at this point,” Avant said. “Then as the players are coming up the tunnel to the locker room, I got the flag waving, and they were going crazy. All the players afterward were just like, ‘Man, I respect that.’”
He still keeps in touch with his old teammates, and his group chats pop off during every game — but especially after his big moment in the big win on Saturday.
“When I played, I was always a tough football player,” Avant said. “I was no-nonsense, I was always ready for an altercation, but now I’m way past that point in my life, and I’m working, and I’m not about to get into it with one of these kids. So it was just funny, because my teammates are like, ‘Dude, old Jason would have been fighting out there.’”
The flag plant scuffle was one of a few on Saturday, including at the NC State-North Carolina and Florida-Florida State games. The Big Ten fined both Michigan and Ohio State $100,000 for violating “fundamental elements of sportsmanship such as respect and civility” and jeopardizing the safety of bystanders.
Avant said the problem was not the players, but the coaches not teaching their teams how to lose with grace, pointing to running Wolverine back Kalel Mullings’ postgame interview as the right way to handle the situation.
“You had 60 minutes to prove your point and to protect your field, or whatever it is,” Avant said. “We’re not teaching these kids enough. There’s a lot of money being exchanged. We’re paying kids $200,000, a million dollars, to come in with NIL, but the coaches used to have the earnest of developing a kid’s character, not just exploiting them for their talent. We need to get back to that aspect of it where a kid’s character counts, and you teach them how to win and lose, because this is just not acceptable.”