Flag Planting in College Football: A History of Controversy and Sportsmanship
College football, known for its intense rivalries and passionate fan bases, has recently seen a resurgence in a controversial tradition: flag planting. This practice, where a winning team places their college flag on the home field of their opponent, typically at midfield on the team's logo, has ignited heated debates about sportsmanship, respect, and the very essence of rivalry. While some view it as a harmless display of pride and a way to stoke the competitive fire, others see it as an act of disrespect that can escalate into dangerous confrontations.
The Rise of Flag Planting and Recent Incidents
Flag planting is not a new phenomenon in college football. In fact, Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield did the same thing following a victory over the Buckeyes in 2017. What has changed is the frequency and intensity of the reactions it provokes. Rivalry week games in college football sparked a lot of controversy as multiple teams attempted to plant flags or celebrate on the opposing teams' logos at midfield.
This year, several high-profile games have brought the issue to the forefront. The most notable incident occurred after Michigan's victory over Ohio State. A Michigan player attempted to plant a maize and blue M flag at midfield, directly on the Buckeyes logo. This act was met with immediate resistance from Ohio State players. Jack Sawyer, the veteran Buckeye linebacker who has never beaten Michigan, grabbed the flag and threw it on the ground. “They’re not fucking planting the flag on our field again, bro,” he yelled at a support staffer who sought to restrain him. A brawl ensued, involving players from both teams, and security personnel eventually resorted to using pepper spray to quell the altercation. The Big Ten announced Sunday evening that it was fining both schools $100,000 each for violating the league’s sportsmanship policy.
Similar incidents, although less severe, occurred after other rivalry games. Following Florida’s road win over Florida State, Florida defensive end, George Gumbs Jr, placed their team’s flag on the logo of Florida State. After the fight was intervened by security, NC State player, DK Kaufman, ran around the field with the flag, almost as a victory lap. He was seen on screen jumping, skipping, and cheering around the field for several minutes.
Reactions and Repercussions
The flag-planting incidents have drawn strong reactions from coaches, players, and commentators. Ohio State head coach Ryan Day was less contrite. “I’ll find out exactly what happened, but it’s our field,” he said. Some saw it practically as a matter of religion to stand up for their logo and field.
Read also: Michigan State's Emblem Explained
Some of college football’s most influential media voices may have contributed to a sense that the sport is out of control. Gus Johnson, the play-by-play broadcaster who called the game for Fox, admonished Michigan for gloating and sparking the situation. Kirk Herbstreit, the top college football analyst at ESPN and a former Ohio State quarterback (though typically no homer for his alma mater), called for the sport to “return to civility and just sportsmanship.” He suggested that a rule (rather than a state law) against flag-planting could “be a start.”
The Big Ten dealt each of the schools a $100,000 fine after the scuffle.
The "O.H.I.O. Sportsmanship Act"
The controversy even reached the halls of government. In Ohio, a state legislator introduced a bill he named the “O.H.I.O. Sportsmanship Act.” If passed, the bill would “prohibit planting a flagpole and flag in the center of the Ohio Stadium football field on the day of a college football game and to name this act the O.H.I.O. Sportsmanship Act.”
That’s right: a bill to ban planting a flag on Ohio State’s field, specifically. All of this because of one flag planting. Or, more fundamentally, all of this because Ohio State lost a home game as a three-touchdown favorite to their bitter rival and could not tolerate the resulting celebration.
Is flag-planting such a state, or even nationwide, scourge that it demands a legislative response? Certainly not. American lawmakers love to grandstand, and college football is a long-favored subject for political point-scoring that has little chance of materializing into law - and even less chance of making a difference in the day-to-day lives of a state’s citizens.
Read also: Flags of UCF Over Time
The state representative who sponsored the bill, Republican Josh Williams, was hoping for media attention. He has succeeded, joining a long tradition of state legislators tapping college football for the same end. Seasoned observers will recall the Iowa legislator who sought to ban Friday night college football games in his state, hoping to keep the night reserved for high school teams that play their own games that night. Maybe they will remember the Alabama lawmaker who introduced a resolution urging Auburn University to claim seven national championships that the school had not actually won.
Ohio State are by far the most popular sports team in Ohio, even dwarfing the notoriety of the NFL teams in Cincinnati and Cleveland. Here, Williams has cast himself as the protector of the Buckeye brand. What the team really needed was a downfield passing game that could get behind Michigan’s safeties.
Historical Context: Flags and American Identity
Think about all the great American events that involved flags and/or planting a flag: Our national anthem: the song is ABOUT how our "flag was still there" over the city of Baltimore, letting the Brits know that they wouldn't win that particular battle (or the War of 1812 as a whole). It took four days of fierce battle, but once we got control of Mount Suribachi, we let the Japanese watching from elsewhere on the island know about it immediately! July 20, 1969: Neil Armstrong wasn't on the moon for long, but he sure as hell took some time to plant a flag before he left. Take notice Secretary Brezhnev, we were here first! Any others historic flag plantings in American history I missed?
A Matter of Sportsmanship or Harmless Banter?
The debate over flag planting often boils down to differing perspectives on sportsmanship and the nature of rivalry. Some argue that it is an unsportsmanlike act that disrespects the opponent and their home field. They believe that winning should be celebrated with humility and grace, not with gestures that could be interpreted as taunting or gloating.
Others view flag planting as a harmless expression of team pride and a way to intensify the rivalry. They argue that college football is meant to be a passionate and emotional game, and that these types of celebrations add to the excitement and drama. Baker Mayfield was asked about the four flag planting incidents during college rivalry weekend. It was something he did at Ohio State in 2017. “College football is meant to have rivalries. That’s like the Big 12 banning the ‘horns down’ signal. Just let the boys play.”
Read also: The Story Behind the FSU Flag
Morgan Lanuti says, “Although many would argue that starting fights post-game is unnecessary and dangerous. “Maybe it helps to decrease the amount of players in the transfer portal because they want to stay with their school now after disrespect from another school. They will want to come back and play against that team the next year. Woolf brings attention to the positive side of this show of violence in games, it shows that players are passionate and proud of their school. It’s important to mention that even though this brings a greater competitive fire to the sport, it is a slippery slope and it needs to be managed and handled safely.
Fegeley says, “Although I do think that the grieved party, the losing team, doesn’t need to react in such a wild way. Overall, college football is gaining a competitive fire, but it may come at a cost. It’s important to not let the fighting get too out of hand to ensure the safety of players and the image of college football.
Stadium Security Concerns
Stadium security concerns have become a recurring issue in college football and college basketball in recent years. Sometimes that involves the safety of the players themselves-in 2022, a fight between football players from Michigan and Michigan State in a stadium tunnel resulted inr criminal charges for seven Spartans players, felony assault for another, and a $100,000 fine from the Big Ten. Other times, it involves fans. Students rushing the football field or basketball court following wins have become a common occurrence for big games, and conferences are starting to crack down. The SEC’s new rules, put in place last year, include $100,000 for a school’s first offense, $250,000 for a second and $500,000 for all future violations. In 2022, the Big 12 hired Oak View Group to review its stadium safety policies, and earlier this year it fined UCF $25,000 for a basketball storming.
Finding a Balance
Ultimately, the question of whether flag planting is acceptable in college football remains a matter of opinion. However, the recent incidents highlight the need for a more nuanced approach to managing these situations.
It’s hard to see what will change unless more drastic measures are taken. “You hate to see stuff like that after the game,” Mullings, the Michigan running back, said. A little more sportsmanship never hurts anyone. But flag-planting is far from a crisis, and two easy options exist for a team that would like to avoid a major flag-planting episode on its field. One is to not react violently when another team jams a piece of plastic into some turf. (After all, few stadiums even use natural grass anymore. A flag stick will not ruin artificial turf.) The other option, of course, is simply not to lose a home game to the kind of team that would like to mark your field as its own. Michigan could have avoided the fight by not planting a flag, but Ohio State could have cut off the whole episode at its knees by doing something more fundamental: winning.
“We’re going to win in your house and we’re gonna plant the flag,” Michigan’s quarterback, Davis Warren, said after the upset.
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