Sports

Michigan State Coach Pat Fitzgerald Apologizes For Flipping Bird In Disgust Of Poor Officiating

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iStockphoto / USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Pat Fitzgerald flipped the bird after a botched call by referees.


The Michigan State football team dropped a Big Ten conference game to Illinois in overtime over the weekend. Head coach Pat Fitzgerald made headlines for his antics on the sidelines during the loss.

Midway through the fourth quarter, he flipped the bird in the direction the opposing bench. His reaction came after a controversial call that stripped the Spartans of an offensive possession.

He’s since apologized for losing his cool. With that being said, he won’t say sorry for defending his program.

Michigan State lost a thriller.

The Spartans fell behind 17-0 in the first half but battled back to make things interesting. They outscored the Illini 31-14 over the final 35 minutes of regulation. They forced overtime with a touchdown inside the final two minutes.

Unfortunately, they’d be unable to complete the comeback. Illinois struck first with a touchdown in the extra session. Sparty responded with a score of their own but went for the win with a two-point try.

It failed. Illinois sniffed out a trick play. Michigan State lost, 38-37.

Fitzgerald believes his team was robbed of an opportunity to add to its scoring total earlier in the contest. The Spartans were seemingly stripped of an offensive possession after a successful onside kick.

Michigan State scored a fourth quarter touchdown with just under eight minutes remaining to cut the deficit to 31-24. They squibbed the ensuing kickoff towards the sidelines, and it was recovered by a Spartans player.

Officials ruled that the player was offsides. That didn’t appear to be the case. The play was not reviewable.

Pat Fitzgerald made the perfect call. It was executed flawlessly. It didn’t count.

As a result of the offsides ruling, Michigan State was forced to re-kick. The Illinois offense took over. While it would be unable to increase its advantage, the call prevented the Spartans from potentially tying the game much earlier.

Had the onside kick been officiated correctly, Michigan State’s final drive might’ve represented a game-winning possession. Instead, it forced overtime. Fitzgerald was not happy.

Pat Fitzgerald apologizes for flipping the bird.

The head coach flew the bird towards the opposing sidelines after the bad call. It’s more likely that the response was directed at the officiating crew, not Illinois.

That theory is supported by his postgame comments. He very publicly ripped referees after the loss.

“From a standpoint of the explanation, I prefer to talk to the Big Ten officials. I’ll talk to them. My vantage point: we were not offsides. My vantage point: we recovered the ball. My vantage point is that it was one of the more confusing plays I’ve ever seen officiated.”

-Pat Fitzgerald

It was a tense game. The stakes were high. Michigan State was robbed. Fitzgerald admitted that his emotions got the best of him.

He offered an apology on Monday.

“My mom is rolling over in her grave. I need to be more disciplined. I need to be more composed. I do have a passion problem. I’ve had it for a long time, but that needs to be controlled… I was emotional.

“I’m the leader of the team. I have high expectations of myself. I made a mistake. I told the team I apologize for any distractions I may have created. But I’m not going to apologize for fighting for my guys. I’m not going to apologize for fighting for our program and our school.”

-Pat Fitzgerald

It’s unclear whether or not Fitzgerald will be punished by the league. He clearly disagreed with the call, and often, vocal criticism of officials comes with some sort of league backlash.

Until that possible punishment is announced, the head coach will await his fate while he preps for a matchup with his former school, Northwestern.