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Most sports fans have a bucket list of things they want to check off at some point in life, including a number of moments you can only truly appreciate if you attend a game in person.
If you’re a college football fan, there’s a good chance your list includes “Storming The Field.”
As someone who got the chance to do exactly that when Boston College upset a 9th-ranked USC team at Alumni Stadium in 2014 to treat its supporters to one of the program’s only bright spots since the Matt Ryan Era, I can confidently say it’s one of the coolest things I’ve ever experienced.
However, you don’t need to be one of the people scrambling onto the gridiron to appreciate the magic of those moments, as there aren’t many things cooler than simply watching thousands of ecstatic fans invade the turf following a big win—which is what happened when Florida State beat Florida in Tallahassee last season.
However, fans in the Sunshine State could end up facing some serious repercussions for taking part in that time-honored tradition if some lawmakers end up getting their way.
According to WCTV, Senator Corey Simon and Representative Taylor Yarkosky have proposed two measures in the Florida legislature that would allow police to charge anyone who storms the field onto a “covered area” (defined as “any area designated for use by players, coaches, officials, performers, or personnel administering a covered event that is on, or adjacent to, the area of performance or play”) with a misdemeanor carrying a maximum fine of $2,500 and/or a year in jail.
The floated measures were obviously put forward with safety in mind and in the hopes of preventing incidents like the one that transpired when an Oregon player punched an Oregon State fan in the head while the Beavers faithful were celebrating a big win last year.
With that said, this seems like a fairly extreme way to solve a supposed “problem” that probably doesn’t need to be addressed with legal codification.
Here’s to hoping reason prevails.