Saturday’s clash between Georgia and Alabama had more than its fair share of bad blood. As it turns out, the bad blood didn’t end with the game.
Senior Georgia linebacker Raylen Wilson drew plenty of attention during the game, recording a team-high nine tackles. But his post-game interaction with an Alabama fan drew national headlines.
Wilson and the rest of the Georgia Bulldogs were instructed to put on their helmets as Alabama fans rained bottles and trash down on the team and officials. Wilson was heading off the field when he spotted a man in the stands he thought was a Georgia fan.
The linebacker made his way over to celebrate with the fan, only to find out he wasn’t a Georgia fan at all, but a particularly irate Alabama fan who angrily denounced the Georgia player.
“Let’s go, boy! Let’s go, boy! Get the f*ck out of here!” the man yelled.
The man then shoved Wilson in the head twice. To his credit, Wilson calmly walked away instead of escalating the incident.
After the game, Wilson explained the bizarre confrontation on social media.
It’s unclear why Wilson thought the man was a Georgia fan, but he’ll likely be much more careful in the future.
Georgia coach Kirby Smart praised Wilson for his restraint after the game.
“I don’t know that you can predict to make good decisions and do things the right way,” Smart said. “Raylen certainly did there. There’s so much that goes into that, and he thought it was a Georgia fan. Probably helped react the way he did initially. You know, disappointing behavior by any fan, and certainly nothing we condone. I’m sure Alabama doesn’t condone it either.”
Alabama has promised a full investigation into the incident.
“We are disappointed by the unacceptable behavior exhibited by some of the game’s attendees Saturday night and are in the process of gathering information,” the university said in a statement to the Athens Banner-Herald. “Alabama takes matters of fan conduct seriously and expects everyone at our events to demonstrate respect to the student-athletes, coaches, staff, officials, and visitors. Such conduct will not be tolerated.”