It’s an 8-second clip of a young ball carrier lowering his head and running over a would-be tackler during a drill.
The video is from last year, but recently went viral and has caused anger and outrage.
The clips shows the ball carrier lower his helmet and runs over the defender, and it appeared the two connected with each other’s helmets. The defender hit the ground and was a little shaken up.
The coaches can be heard laughing.
The video was shot in September, but prompted outraged this week.
“…the team's head coach was later removed from his position, a lawyer for the youth football league told USA TODAY Sports on Wednesday.
The attorney, Christopher Duggan, told USA TODAY Sports in a written statement that the Wesley Chapel Weddington Athletic Association – a youth sports organization in North Carolina – first learned about the collision in September and commissioned an investigation.
"This drill occurred back in September 2020 on a team with a first year coach in the program," Duggan wrote in the statement. "This was addressed immediately with the coach when it happened as this was deemed not an acceptable drill for this age group or the experience level of these players. Subsequent to the coach being removed from his position, there were no other incidents or issues with this team during the remainder of the season."”
Duggan added that "the safety of the players is the primary focus and we believe that the immediate and swift actions of removing the coach from his position demonstrates WCWAA’s commitment to that safety."
A number of ex-NFLers express their disgust with the video.
Former Wide Receiver Torrey Smith tweeted, "attention all parents! If your kid is doing this drill. Take your child off the field and don’t go back to those stupid coaches. Coaches like this aren’t safe and ruin the image off football."
Former QB Dan Orlovsky wrote, "This is one of the dumbest things I have ever seen in youth sports. 1-they look to be like 7-8 years old. There’s not need to be doing anything close to this 2-one if OBVIOUSLY outmatched and that’s on the coach 3-whoever put this drill together should face consequences."
Former Linebacker Shawn Merriman added, "Idk what organization or program this is but they all should be banned until they get proper coaching. Ridiculous.”
Former Lineman Mike Golic, “Too young is one thing, poor teaching of technique is another, teaching bad technique is far worse, and then seeing bad technique played out at full speed can be tough to watch.....younger age is fine with great oversight and teaching.”