Quote:It wasn't done "in the heat of the moment". It was premeditated. The players said that he had missed "several" calls and used racial slurs against them (lolwutever), and there was enough time between the missed calls and the hit for those players to go to the sideline, potentially for multiple plays, maybe even an entire series, and decide to take follow their coach's instructions and take out the ref.


Even at 17, their tiny little brains had to be aware of the consequences of spearing an unprotected, unaware person in the back with your helmet at full speed. If they wanted to show their disappointment in the worst possible way, "bumping into him" heads-up at full speed would have gotten their message across. By lunging helmet first, they displayed intent to paralyze imo, and should spend time in prison along with their coach.

I'm not denying what they did was wrong and dangerous, but you are making a huge leap stating their intent was to paralyze. Of course, that is your opinion, but it can't be proven.


As far as premeditated, it came up during the game. This wasn't something they thought about before the game or planned in advance. It was done in the heat of the moment.

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