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The Rice Thresher
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by Rachel Shiffrin Thresher staff Rice University Police handcuffed Fresno State cornerback Marcellus Armstrong and removed him from the field after an altercation with an officer at the Fresno-Rice football game Oct. 5. He was released shortly thereafter and was not charged. Brown College junior Matt Ludwig, who saw the conflict, said a girl in the student section of the stands threw a football at Armstrong. It didn't hit him and landed on the field. "Officer Pete Martinez went over and it looked like he asked for the ball, but the football player ignored him," Ludwig said. According to Ludwig, Martinez picked up the ball anyway, and as he walked away, the football player spit on his back. Brown senior Brian Nash also saw the incident. "It looked like [the player] walked over to Officer Martinez and pushed him," Nash said. "At that time, three or four Rice police officers got him and took him away." Police Chief Bill Taylor said officers took Armstrong to the top of the tunnel on the south side of the stadium so that Taylor, other police officers, some of the coaching staff from Fresno and the athletic directors from both schools could discuss the episode with Armstrong. After discussion, the player was turned over to the Fresno coaching staff and athletic director and later returned to the game. Fresno State football coach Pat Hill told The Fresno Bee, a newspaper serving the San Joaquin Valley, that unruly fans probably had something to do with Armstrong's behavior. "Those fans behind us were relentless," Hill said. "It probably had something to do with somebody in the stands. The same thing happened at Tulsa last year. People were throwing ice at us and cups at us and cans at us. It was probably some kind of jabbering between that group of kids and our players." Hill did not respond to requests for an interview with the Thresher. "I'm sure the only reason [Armstrong] would do something as stupid as to shove a uniformed police officer was because the Rally Club was successful at getting inside his head," Ludwig, a member of Rally Club, said. Nash, the Rally Club president, agreed that the club probably angered Armstrong. "This kind of proves that the Rice Rally Club really does get to the other team and is a great benefit for Rice athletics," he said. The Rally Club is a student-run spirit group that sits near the playing field and cheers at sporting events. Rally Club Vice President Michael Dailey said the group drinks alcohol before the game and then cheers for Rice athletes and teams and against opponents. The Rally Club is not an official Rice student organization. "We're providing a service to the Athletic Department by cheering on the teams and by getting the other people to cheer for the team," Dailey said.
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