Harvard students are supposed to be the smartest of the smart, but sometimes even they make a disastrous decision.
Devin Darrington, the Ivy League university’s star running back, caused a touchdown he had just scored to be called back on Saturday. Darrington darted through an open hole in the middle and dashed 27 yards for a touchdown during a game against Yale held at Boston’s Fenway Park, but as he sprinted toward the goal line, he reached around and flipped off the pursuing Yale defenders.
The referees were having none of that. The zebras flagged Darrington, charging him with unsportsmanlike conduct. Because Darrington had made the gesture before he entered the end zone, the TD was canceled and Harvard lost 15 yards from the spot of the foul. They were unable to get back into the end zone and had to settle for a field goal on the drive.
“An absolute lapse in judgment to say the least,” said the TV commentator.
Harvard coach Tim Murphy ripped his young running back for the move. “The bottom line is: He was wrong,” Murphy said. “He was wrong. It’s that simple. It was the right call; he was wrong. I’m just so grateful to our team that he didn’t have to learn that the absolute hard way of trying to live with that for a year or however many years.”
But shortly after the game ended, Darrington took to Twitter to say he was wronged.
That claim sold some supporters.
Others weren’t buying it.
And one Twitterer said maybe Darrington should just play the game.