Tuskegee kicker Locran Ryans will be punished for how he acted during the rivalry college football game against Alabama State on Thanksgiving. Both schools issued a statement to reflect their frustration with his behavior and promised to handle the situation with proper repercussions.
It is currently unclear as to what that might mean in terms of discipline.
However, the specialist is going to receive of some kind of formal reprimand from the HBCU. Fans who were in attendance at the college football game also said that he did eventually apologize.
Who is Lorcan Ryans?
At 5-foot-9, 225 pounds, Ryans serves that primary kicker for the Tuskegee University Golden Tigers football team. He is a junior.
Tuskegee is a private, historically Black university in Alabama that was founded in 1881. It enrolls approximately 2,500 students. Ryans is obviously one of them.
Despite the school’s status as an HBCU, the true junior kicker hails from Limerick, Ireland. According to the team’s official roster, he is one of just three white players on the team. That likely did not help with the optics on Thursday.
Lorcan Ryans found himself at the center of controversy during a 58-21 loss to Alabama State at ASU Stadium on Thanksgiving Day in Montgomery. His behavior went extremely viral on social media.
What did the Tuskegee kicker do?
One of the fans in attendance at the college football game filmed a three-minute video of Ryans warming up on the field prior to the third quarter. He continued to kick the ball at the uprights from the near pylon in the corner of the end zone during the band performance.
The timing of his warmup did not go over well with the Hornets fans, because the halftime performance at HBCUs is often more important than the game itself, but this kind of thing is not uncommon within the sport. Specialists often return to the field first, prior to their teammates, to start getting loose. They are often forced to interrupt the band and/or the cheerleaders. It happens.
However, Lorcan Ryans did not act respectfuly upon return to the field and that is where the problem lies.
The initial video, which has been viewed more than four million times, first shows him extend a middle finger to the crowd. He then got physical with one of the band members just moments later.
Here is the full sequence of events:
According to boots on the ground, Ryans supposedly did go over to the Mighty Marching Hornets to apologize for his behavior. I was not there so I can neither confirm nor deny whether he did or did not.
Alabama State issued the following statement:
Tuskegee promised to take disciplinary action.
The university will not comment further on the matter. This incident is going to be handled internally.