Two Texas high school football players appear to have intentionally tackled a referee at a game on Friday night, prompting the school district to investigate the incident.
John Jay High School in San Antonio was playing an away game in Marble Falls High School in Marble Falls, Texas. With one minute left in the game, the John Jay High School safeties targeted the referee.
The players’ overly aggressive and potentially harmful actions were uploaded to YouTube. The video shows one player knocking the ref so hard in the back his hat goes flying off, while the second player dives headfirst into him after he’s laid out. It’s unclear whether or not the referee was seriously injured—he appears to move to get up off the ground after the second hit.
Northside Independent School District’s athletic director Stan Laing told the San Antonio Express-News that the video was “very disturbing” and said investigations are underway as to what happened leading up to the play. Two other John Jay High School players were previously ejected from the game on different plays.
The two players who tackled the ref have since been suspended from the team, according to local news reports.
NISD athletic dept confirms the 2 John Jay HS football players who violently collided with a referee are suspended from the team. #kens5news
— Sharon Ko (@Sharon_K0) September 6, 2015
John Jay High School lost the game 15-9.
H/T San Antonio Express-News | Photo via Brandon Giesbrecht/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
