Ohio Lawmaker Wants to Make Flag-Planting a Felony Offense Following Michigan-Ohio State Brawl Ian Johnson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

It’s been nearly two weeks since Michigan defeated Ohio State on the Buckeyes’ home turf and planted their flag at midfield, but some are clearly not over the insult nor the injury.

Michigan’s flag-planting in the middle of the Block-O at midfield following their 13-10 defeat of the rival Buckeyes on November 30 set off a massive brawl that required dozens of officers and the use of pepper spray before the teams were separated.

On Tuesday, Ohio State Representative Josh Williams, R-Sylvania Twp., introduced the O.H.I.O. Sportsmanship Act, which would forbid flag-planting at Ohio Stadium. House Bill 700, as the act is known, would “prohibit planting a flagpole and flag in the center of the Ohio Stadium football field on the day of a college football game and to name this act the O.H.I.O. Sportsmanship Act.”

The bill states, “Whoever violates this section is guilty of a felony of the fifth degree.”

As much as bitter Buckeye fans may want the bill to pass, according to Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens R-Kitts Hill, it has as much a chance of passing through the state legislature as a Jayden Fielding field goal attempt has of passing through the uprights.

“Well, it’s not gonna have time to be passed, you know, this late in the game,” Stephens told the Columbus Dispatch.

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