ESPN's First Take Weighs in on Florida vs. Florida State Rivalry Brawl

The two teams went head to head both during and after the game.

Oct 23, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; Stephen A. Smith (Stephen Smith) on the ESPN NBA Countdown live set at Intuit Dome. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Florida State's season is over after an abysmal 2-10 year, marked by losses to both in-state rivals and out-of-state rival Clemson. The disappointing season left fans and players frustrated as the team struggled to find its footing.

On-field brawls broke out across college football during this past rivalry weekend, but the one following FSU's loss to Florida was particularly intense. When the clock struck zero, a UF player ran to the middle of the field and planted a Florida Gator flag in the center, igniting the Florida State bench, and causing chaos inside Doak Campbell Stadium.

ESPN's First Take weighed in on the matter in a somewhat amusing way and spoke specifically about the flag planting in Tallahassee, Florida.

"If I was a Florida player, I woulda stole the horse and the spear!" ESPN's Shannon Sharpe said.
"I woulda got on the horse with a spear and ride around the stadium."

First Take Even giving out takes about UF Vs FSU... Shannon talking bout he would of found a horse & a spear 😂 pic.twitter.com/kitAQg51vv

— JD (@Smooth189) December 2, 2024

Sharpe riding around on Florida State's mascot, Renegade, with a spear would be pretty funny, but it brings up bigger issues with sportsmanship altogether. Football is an intense and emotional game, and people love to see the drama, but punching and kicking each other just for the uniform they are wearing goes a little beyond pageantry.

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Rivalry week's antics caused a debate on whether or not flag planting should be permitted after games and the ACC even fined NC State and UNC, along with two other schools, after their skirmishes because of it. However, the two other programs were penalized for fighting pre and post-game which didn't specifically start with flag planting.

Florida State head coach Mike Norvell even ran onto the field and threw the flag with assistants holding him back. After the game, Norvell said he had some choice words for Florida head coach Billy Napier, telling him that "they aren't going to do that here."

"You're Norvell and you got a problem with Billy Napier. Well, first of all, he didn't know his players were going to do that," Stephen A. Smith said. "He spoke adamantly against it in the post-game conference but, really, was it about the flag planting, or was it about the fact you got your *** kicked at the end of the season and you're Florida State?"

FSU's season did not go the way they expected it to and that only adds fuel to the fire for the talking heads of college football who are looking for anything entertaining to talk about.

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