Louisiana Tech's Brevin Randle suspended by school after head stomp of UTEP lineman
Louisiana Tech's Brevin Randle's viral moment on national television is his last as a college football player, at least for a while.
The school suspended the defensive tackle indefinitely after he was caught on camera Friday night stomping on the neck of prone UTEP offensive lineman Steven Hubbard. Randle was not flagged on the second-quarter play and finished the game, but was a target of almost immediate outrage after replays of the stomp were broadly tweeted.
Louisiana Tech didn't need long to weigh in, as athletic director Eric Wood issued a statement suspending the senior. It was released early Saturday afternoon.
"Coach (Sonny) Cumbie and I met with Brevin Randle today and informed him that he has been suspended indefinitely as a result of the incident during last night's game versus UTEP. In speaking with Brevin, he acknowledges that his action was wrong and understands the consequence of that action. Our University, athletic department, and football program believe in culture, class, and competitive excellence and in no way was that displayed in that moment."
This is Randle's first year and final with the program after transferring from Stephen F. Austin.
There were many tweets replaying the moment, many of which had between 300,000 and 500,000 page views by Saturday morning.
UTEP coach Dana Dimel didn't see the play at the time but heard about it soon enough and was conciliatory toward the Conference USA officials after the game for their non-call.
"The referee, who I really admire, came over at halftime and very gentlemanly said that he missed it," Dimel said. "That's part of the game. He (the official) was a class act, I really appreciated that."