2007 Navy vs. Rutgers

GreatAmerican
Wed, 12 Sep 2007 19:42:41 +0000

Embarrassed president, AD apologize for fans’ crude conduct during Friday’s game

By Tom Luicci, Star-Ledger Staff

Rutgers President Richard McCormick issued a formal apology yesterday to the U.S. Naval Academy for offensive cheers directed at the Navy football players during last Friday night’s game at Rutgers Stadium.

In addition, Athletic Director Robert Mulcahy wrote an open letter to students, to be published in today’s editions of the student newspaper, The Targum, calling the behavior “undignified, disrespectful and unacceptable.” In his letter to Vice Admiral Jeffrey L. Fowler, superintendent of the Naval Academy, McCormick said he learned of the offensive chants only after the game.

“No student athlete should ever be subject to profane language directed at them from the crowd, and certainly not the young men of the Naval Academy who have made a commitment to serve our nation in a time of war,” McCormick wrote.

Rutgers, which is 2-0 and ranked 13th nationally, defeated Navy, 41-24, in front of 43,514, the third largest crowd in stadium history. The game also was broadcast nationally on ESPN.

The Navy players were booed and taunted with vulgar cheers as they came onto the field at the start of both halves and again toward the end of the game.

Navy Athletic Director Chet Gladchuk said in a statement, “There has been communication between the Rutgers president and our superintendent, and between the two athletic directors, and as far as we’re concerned the matter is closed and we are moving forward.”

Rutgers and Navy are scheduled to play each year until at least 2014. Mulcahy said the obscenities and booing were done by a “small group of students.” But the “vulgar chants,” as he referred to them, were loud enough to cause considerable outrage from people at the game, with several dozen making complaints to the school.

“Some parents were so upset by the vulgar chants in the student section that they left the game with their children,” Mulcahy wrote in his open letter, which was co-authored by Greg Blimling, vice president for student affairs.

Mulcahy said he and Blimling have set up meetings with student leaders over the next two weeks to address the matter, with the first of those scheduled for the end of this week. Rutgers is at home Saturday afternoon against Norfolk State.

Rutgers has sold out all eight of its home games this year and has added extra bleachers in the south end zone that seat 2,000 to 2,500 people, to keep pace with ticket demand.

“This is a problem nationally,” Mulcahy said in an interview, referring to fan behavior. "I’ve talked to athletic directors across the country and … we’re not unique in that. That doesn’t excuse it.

“People are going to boo. I don’t have a problem with that – except for the (service) academies. I do have a problem with the vulgarities and the obscenities and there’s no excuse for that.”

Head coach Greg Schiano said he didn’t hear the chants – “I’ve got two headsets on and I’m trying to coach a game” – but received enough reports from “reputable people” to believe the situation occurred.

“In any of those situations, it’s a couple of people who cross the line and they make a bad name for everyone,” Schiano said after practice yesterday. “It shouldn’t happen with anybody. It shouldn’t happen with any opponent and then you throw on top of it (these are) the people who are going to defend our country and it’s not something that should happen.”

Schiano said he had not contacted Navy coach Paul Johnson, but that he and Johnson “are okay (with the situation).”

Mulcahy said he left a voice mail apology on the cell phone of Gladchuk Monday night and left another message yesterday with Gladchuk’s secretary. Mulcahy said the incident will not cause a change in any stadium policy regarding fan behavior.

Big East Conference official John Paquette said the league would not intercede. It is up to individual schools to deal with fan behavior, he said.
“The thing I’m sorry about, No. 1, is that any opponent has to hear that type of stuff if it’s true, which I suppose it is,” Schiano said. “And No. 2, all of our fans now get a smear on them because a couple of people said the wrong thing.”