An attorney hired by Virginia State to investigate the fight between Virginia State and Winston-Salem State players said in his findings that the fight was spontaneous and only one Virginia State player was involved.
In November, Winston-Salem State quarterback Rudy Johnson suffered facial injuries after a fight in the bathroom at a joint team awards luncheon before the CIAA Championship Game.
The game was subsequently canceled after Johnson had a swollen eye and a laceration above his eye as well as what his coach said was a busted lip. Johnson said he was confronted in the bathroom by multiple VSU players when the incident occurred.
From the Richmond Times-Dispatch:
The report says eight VSU football players were in the vicinity of the bathroom when the fight broke out, as were one or two WSSU players. In sworn affidavits from seven of the VSU students, with names redacted, the athletes recount a scene of innocent trash talking just before the fight.
The students describe lighthearted bantering and laughing immediately before a VSU player struck WSSU quarterback Rudy Johnson in the face with a closed fist.
The report says the WSSU quarterback made a remark in a “trash-talking way” to a VSU player just before he was punched.
After the incident, Virginia State running back Lamont Britt was charged with misdemeanor assault. He was suspended for a semester in January and has an April 15 court hearing for the charges. When he returns to school, Britt will be on probation for a year, must do 30 hours of community service and undergo anger management sessions.
Johnson was undefeated as Winston-Salem State's starting quarterback as the team entered the NCAA Division II playoffs. After WSSU beat Slippery Rock in the first round, it fell 7-0 to Shepherd in the second round after Johnson departed with an injury.
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