Dartmouth’s football team, coaches and athletic department apologized Thursday for a brawl that broke out after an overtime win Saturday by Holy Cross, as the college and police continued to investigate.
After the game ended, Holy Cross players celebrated atop the Dartmouth “D” painted on the field, and fights broke out when the teams lined up for post-game handshakes. Some players were thrown to the ground and kicked. Coaches, campus security and Hanover police broke it up.
“It is obvious that many players and some staff of both teams were involved in this incident,” Athletic Director Jo Ann Harper said on Thursday. But she said she was not able to identify specific participants.
Harper said Coach Buddy Teevens, his staff and his players have acknowledged the actions “were not in keeping with acceptable standards of behavior at Dartmouth, nor with the great traditions of Dartmouth football and Dartmouth athletics in general.”
“They join me in apologizing to the Dartmouth community, the Holy Cross community and the public,” she said.
Holy Cross sports information director Charles Bare did not immediately return calls for comment from the AP, but he told the Boston Herald the school would not discipline its players.
“We did not see anything from any Holy Cross players that warranted disciplinary action,” he said.
The game wasn’t televised and the fight so unexpected and short that the cameraman filming the game for Dartmouth caught only the end.
Police Chief Nicholas Giaccone has said the video hasn’t been very useful. He said punches were thrown, but he’s relying more on memory than video.
“For me to say what an individual person was doing … there was too much going on,” he said.
Harper said she has concluded her investigation and turned information over to Dartmouth’s dean for review.
Acting Dean Daniel Nelson says if his review finds sanctions are warranted against individuals or the team under Dartmouth’s standards of conduct, the matter will be handled through the normal disciplinary process.
AP-ES-10-19-06 1543EDT
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