Ohio State Coach Anthony Schlegel Destroys Fan Who Runs Onto Field [Video]

Anthony Schlegel is an assistant strength and conditioning coach for the Ohio State Buckeyes. Normally, these guys stay out of the limelight and don’t end up on national news.

However, when a seemingly drunken fan jumps the wall and runs onto the field, anything can happen, and in this case, the coach and former NFL/UFL football player stole a headline.

The video was posted to YouTube on Saturday. When I was testing it out to share with you, it was a little choppy — may have just been the connection — but you can definitely tell this fan has met his match in Schlegel.

And if there is any doubt whatsoever, just take a second look at the picture above. (Hats off to whoever captured that. It was first posted to Reddit and as of late Saturday night, it was the No. 1 link on the site’s front page.)

Anyhow, without further ado, watch Anthony Schlegel trash this ill-advised fan.

One thing I do have to give to the kid: he certainly tries sprinkling in a little fancy footwork, but Schlegel was having none of it. After all, he was a linebacker when he played at Ohio State, and that’s also what the New York Jets drafted him as in 2006.

It’s doubtful someone from the student section with one too many drinks in his system is going to win that pairing, but A for effort.

One point that some of the folks on YouTube brought up: what if the fan presses charges?

That probably isn’t going to happen, but even if it did, he wouldn’t have much of a leg to stand on. When you jump the barricade, you’re obviously in violation of security protocol.

Did Anthony Schlegel have to slam the poor schmuck down as hard as he did? Probably not. But on the other hand, why take chances?

You never know when someone like this fan is going to pull out a gun and start shooting. Schlegel was acting out of an obligation to keep his players and coaching staff safe. He was in the area to stop something potentially bad from happening, and boy did he ever!

Therefore, I wouldn’t anticipate any lawsuits from this, and if I were you, I’d probably rethink the urge to do something like this in the future. Coaches may be players “past their prime,” but they still know the fundamentals of the game, and that’s probably more than enough to take on the likes of you and me.

Hats off, Anthony Schlegel!

[Image via Reddit]