Michigan State football suspends four players following postgame incident

The Michigan State football program has taken swift action in the wake of the postgame tunnel incident at Michigan Stadium on Saturday night.

Following a physical altercation in the narrow confines of the stadium tunnel between two Michigan players and a number of Spartans, head coach Mel Tucker announced on Sunday night the suspensions of redshirt sophomore linebacker Itayvion “Tank” Brown, redshirt sophomore cornerback Khary Crump, junior safety/nickel back Angelo Grose, and true freshman defensive end Zion Young.

The suspensions are effective immediately and will remain in place while the Big Ten, law enforcement, Michigan State and Michigan officials investigate the incident further. The suspension follows MSU President Stanley and Coach Tucker issuing initial statements on the matter earlier today.

In his statement announcing the suspensions, Coach Tucker opened by stating that “Michigan State University football core values include integrity, discipline, unselfishness, toughness, and accountability.”

Tucker went on to make clear that “the health and safety of our student-athletes, coaches, personnel, and the Spartan community remain our number one priority. You have my promise that we are committed to fairness, transparency, and accountability, and that we will continue to take appropriate action in this matter.”

Athletic Director Alan Haller also weighed in on the matter with a statement reiterating the decision. Among his brief remarks, he states that he and Coach Tucker “are in alignment that it is necessary to take preliminary action and suspend our football student-athletes. The behavior we reviewed was both uncharacteristic of our football program and unacceptable.”

Brown has played in six games this season, missing the first two of the year but seeing the field in each since beginning with the road game at Washington. He has one tackle on the season which he made against Michigan.

Crump played in four games for the Spartans this season, but he did not see the field against Michigan. He has one tackle for the season which he made against Akron.

Grose has played in all eight games this season for Michigan State. He had a season high 11 tackles against Minnesota.

Young has played in all eight games for MSU this fall. He has one sack against Akron and a season high seven tackles against Michigan. Young also has 0.5 tackles for loss against both Maryland and Wisconsin.

Michigan State has four games remaining on the season with a trip to No. 14/13 Illinois this Saturday next up on the schedule. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time, with the game being broadcast by the Big Ten Network.