High school football, especially in the South, is like a religion, and many games are high stakes with plenty of emotion.
That emotion got the best of an Alabama high school quarterback, who was kicked off of his team following a postgame altercation. On Friday, a fight broke out in the stands following Citronelle’s 14-7 win over UMS-Wright.
Reportedly, Chris Edmunds, the father of Citronelle quarterback Daylon Edmunds, got into a fight with the father of another player. Daylon, who reportedly is an A student but clearly has the same energy as his father, ran off the field area and rushed into the melee, striking the parent, Stephen Byrd, before people in the crowd broke up the fight.
New Video Of Alabama HS Football Brawl Shows Byrd Lunging at Edmunds First
New video of the incident shows how the event unfolded. It began with Byrd and Edmunds exchanging verbal jabs. Byrd lunges toward Edmunds near the bottom of the stands and the two get into a tussling match, with one man struggling between the two, apparently trying to break it up and subdue Byrd.
The fight is briefly broken up and then more punches are thrown as Edmunds retaliates and starts throwing punches to the top of Byrd’s head. Citronelle quarterback Daylon Edmunds enters the fracas and delivers a blow to Byrd’s face in defense of his father.
Fighting Fathers, Chris Edmunds and Stephen Byrd Arrested, QB Daylon Edmunds Kicked Off Team
The aftermath of this embarrassing and unfortunate event won’t sit well with Daylon and his father. Citronelle Police Chief Chris McLean told News 5 Sports and WKRG’s Simone Eli, that both adults were charged and arrested for disorderly conducted before posting bond.
“While this is a disappointing situation, it is not a reflection of the Citronelle community, school and football program. Coach Jason Rowell has worked hard to build the Wildcat program the right way — this was a situation in the stands between individuals who chose to begin a fight,” McLean said Monday.
Citronelle told Daylon Edmunds that he’s no longer part of the team, and school administrators decided to also suspend him from school for five days.
Chris Edmunds Disagrees With Decision To Eliminate His Son From Team
Chris Edmunds accepted his responsibility in the fight, but he vehemently disagrees with the school’s decision to remove Daylon from the team.
“I think it’s too harsh of a punishment for a kid who has never been in trouble,” Chris Edmunds told WKRG. “He’s a straight-A student. I’m not saying he shouldn’t be held accountable, but I think it’s overboard to remove him from the football team.”
Brad Lowell, the Mobile County Public Schools District athletics director, issued a statement to WKRG.
“We are aware of a minor altercation that took place after the game,” Lowell said. “We take these matters seriously. We are investigating and will handle it in accordance with our policies and procedures.”
McLean said it will be Mobile County Public School’s decision if Edmunds and Byrd are permitted on campus.
With Alabama’s college powerhouse suffering possibly the worst loss in school history, falling 40-35 on Saturday to Vanderbilt, a team who never had a win against an AP No. 1-ranked program in history (entered 0-10 all-time), you can say it’s been a rough week for football in the state of Alabama.