Go back and watch the main FOX broadcast of the on-field brawl between the Michigan Wolverines and Ohio State Buckeyes, which was sparked when the victorious Wolverines planted the team flag on the Buckeyes logo at Ohio Stadium, and you'll notice something interesting.
The Wolverines flag, which was ripped away by Ohio State players, is then snatched back by a man in a blue sweatshirt, who then exits the frame towards the end of the video. That man, as it turns out, was none other than former Michigan All-American and 10-year NFL veteran Jason Avant, who works as a sideline reporter for the Wolverines' radio broadcast.
Avant, during an episode of the Inside the Birds podcast with former Philadelphia Eagles safety Quintin Mikell, said that he was preparing to walk off the field when he saw the two teams scuffling.
“I’m still swoll under this jacket!”
— Crossing Broad (@CrossingBroad) December 3, 2024
Michigan flag saver, Jason Avant, tells the bts of the flag incident at Ohio State. pic.twitter.com/Z6i3bKzeaW
"So I'm grabbing all of my equipment and putting it in my backpack and I'm going across the field," Avant said. "I see them [Michigan and Ohio State players] in the middle of the field and I'm like, 'Nah, I don't wanna be a part of that.' "
"So I go around it and I see some jerk in a red jersey with the Michigan flag. I'm like, 'I wanna walk off the field.' But my Michigan pride just wouldn't allow me to walk off the field."
So Avant, backed by the ingrained belief—either a blessing or a curse, he says—from years of football that he's the "toughest dude on the field," entered the scrum.
"So I go and I grab the flag," Avant continued. "And then people are pushing me. The first thought in my mind is like, 'Push me again ... ' And then I'm like, 'Dude you can't hit anybody's son.' And then ... 'Ok you're here on business, so you can't swing. Don't even push anybody, just accept their pushes, take the flag and get it off. '"
"But the funniest part of the whole thing is they were trying so hard to knock me down. But I'm like, 'Dude, y'all don't know ... I had this Michigan sweater and jacket on but there's a lot going on under this jacket. I'm still swoll under this jacket.' "
Avant then took the flag through the tunnel, where he was pelted by Ohio State fans, and into the Michigan locker room.
Avant, 41, played four seasons with the Wolverines from 2002-06. He was named a co-captain of the team and in 2005 led the team in receiving yards. He went on to play 10 seasons in the NFL with the Eagles, Carolina Panthers and Kansas City Chiefs.
Avant's alma mater and Ohio State were each fined $100,000 by the Big Ten for the postgame brawl.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Ex-NFL, Michigan Player Shares Story of Saving Flag During Brawl With Ohio State.
