Football Fan Draws Calls for Lifetime Ban After Committing ‘Disgusting’ Act

An Ohio State football fan was caught on camera appearing to spit on Michigan players at the game between the two teams on Saturday, and some online commentators are calling for him to be banned from Ohio Stadium for life.

The fierce rivals clashed in a low-scoring game, with the Michigan Wolverines pulling off a hard-fought 13-10 win over the No.-2 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes, likely depriving the Buckeyes of a shot at the college football championship.

The intense game was capped off by a post-match brawl between players from the two teams (which reportedly required police to use pepper spray to break up), but it was the actions of one fan in particular, ahead of the game, that aroused ire on social media.

Early on in the match, Patrick Barron, a photographer for Michigan’s MGoBlog, posted a photo on X of a man wearing an Ohio State jersey who is visibly spitting. Although it wasn’t clear from the photo whether the act was directed at anyone, Barron captioned it, “Ohio State fan spitting on the Michigan players coming out of their locker room.”

The situation drew near-universal condemnation from commenters below the post, which has so far been viewed more than 1 million times.

“As an Ohio state fan that s--t p--ses me off,” wrote user @holyquacanolli. “Should be identified and punished.”

User @THEREDRANGER3 described it as “absolutely disgusting behavior,” earning over 700 likes.

Others called for the fan in question to be detained by police, removed from the stadium, and even receive a lifetime ban from attending games.

Based on a similar past incident, it seems like an arrest isn’t out of the question. In 2022, a player on UCLA’s basketball team was cited for misdemeanor assault after he spat on an Arizona fan during a game.

However, this individual so far does not appear to have been identified, and it is unknown whether the incident is under investigation.

Representatives for Ohio State University did not immediately respond to the Daily Beast’s request for comment.