While players faking injuries — or allegedly faking injuries — isn’t new to football, it’s become a real point of emphasis during the 2024 college football season. That continued on Saturday in the third quarter of the SEC clash between Tennessee and Georgia.
As they (among others) have done at other points of the season, Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit, calling the game for ABC, called it out.
Georgia quarterback Carson Beck connected with receiver Dominic Lovett for a 13-yard gain, giving the Bulldogs a first down at the Tennessee 23. As the two teams were moving down the field, Tennessee’s Omarr Norman-Lott went to the ground with an injury. The fans at Georgia’s Sanford Stadium began to boo, instantly suspecting that Norman-Lott was faking an injury.
“Oh, they’re booing because they think Tennessee may be faking an injury to slow down this momentum,” Herbstreit said.
“That wouldn’t happen in the SEC,” Fowler sarcastically replied. “Would it?”
The announcers then discussed a letter that SEC commissioner Greg Sankey sent to the SEC teams, discouraging faking injuries.
“Very strongly worded,” Fowler said.
“Yeah, it was,” Herbstreit confirmed. “He was not happy with them.”
The broadcast then showed a replay of what caused Norman-Lott to go down.
“He’s right here and looks to be fine,” Herbstreit said, circling Norman-Lott. “Looking over to the sideline and takes it down.”
“When you look at the sidelines before going down, it’s suspicious,” Fowler added.
As the cameras showed Norman-Lott walking off of the field, Herbstreit did note that the Tennessee lineman looked tired. Fowler, meanwhile, shared an idea to fix the issue.
“Simple solution is, you come off like that, you’re done for the series,” Fowler said. Herbstreit agreed with his partner’s idea, calling it “great.”
“However long the drive lasts, you’re out,” Fowler continued. “If you’re seriously hurt, you wouldn’t be able to come back anyway. If you’re not, you’re just done.”
[Photo Credit: ABC]
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