During Penn State’s road victory against Maryland on Saturday, there was a brief moment on the Penn State sideline that caught the eye of the broadcasters calling the game on FS1 and drew the ire of the Maryland faithful. Penn State lineman Fred Hansard was seen giving a somewhat hard shove to Maryland quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa, who was running out of bounds on a play as the Terrapins were moving the football in the second half. On Monday, Hansard issued a public apology directed toward Tagovailoa and the entire Maryland football program.
“I would like to extend my sincere apologies for the unfortunate incident that took place on the sideline on Saturday,” Hansard said in his statement. “It was truly an act of impulse, and not malice. I did not and would not intentionally try to hurt another player. I believe in the integrity and the rules of the game.”
Video replay does seem to show Hansard reacting instinctively as he turns and sees a player coming at him. The slow-motion replay may make it look worse than it appeared in real time as well. But the video replay also shows Hansard appearing to pull back as if he did not intend to inflict any harm on Tagovailoa and was regretful for the sequence of events.
Shocked the refs missed this. https://t.co/nVu0bpXZBV
— Ryan McFadden (@ryanmcfadden_) November 6, 2021
Hansard also issued an apology to one of his teammates, Rasheed Walker. Walker received some backlash for the sideline incident due to confusion over which player did the shove. Walker and Hansard wear the same uniform number (53), leading to plenty of criticism misguidingly being sent in the direction of Walker.
“I would also like to apologize to my teammate and brother, Rasheed Walker,” Hansard said. “Not only did my actions make you the subject of false public criticism on Saturday, but I also misrepresented what it means to wear #53 for Penn State Football.”
There has been no indication on whether or not Hansard will receive any internal discipline from head coach James Franklin or the Penn State program for the incident. There was no foul called on the play at the time, which was questioned by the broadcasters at the time, and the Big Ten has yet to issue any statement or suspension to Hansard at this time.
— Fred Hansard (@Fred_Hansard53) November 8, 2021
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