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Copyright 2017 Valley News Oct 29, 2017
Allston, Mass.— A spectator attending Dartmouth College’s football game on Saturday was injured after a Big Green assistant coach punched a Harvard Stadium press box window on the aging structure’s upper lip, sending glass shards into the seats roughly 30 feet below.
Dion King, a second-year defensive quality control coach, struck the window, which was later covered with what appeared to be a tarpaulin taped to the frame. The section of seats into which the glass fell was cleared of fans and marked off with yellow plastic tape for the remainder of the Ivy League game, which the Crimson won, 25-22.
Rick Bender, Dartmouth’s sports information director, was sitting on the same level of the press box as King and said police arrived to speak with the coach but did not arrest or cite him. Bender said the police told him that a spectator was injured by the falling glass but did not provide him with more details.
The incident apparently occurred after the Big Green’s Danny McManus was ruled to have fumbled a punt after signaling for a fair catch. Dartmouth contended McManus was not allowed enough space to make the play, but Harvard took over and soon pulled within 14-6 just before halftime.
“Dion King let his emotions get the best of him,” Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens said in a news release sent out after the game, which was played before an announced crowd of 11,143. “We hold ourselves to high standards, and in this instance we failed to conduct ourselves appropriately. Dion, Dartmouth football and I apologize wholeheartedly.”
Bender said that Teevens was unavailable for further comment on Saturday night and added that King will be expected to pay for the damage he caused. Bender confirmed that a hole was kicked in the wall of the Dartmouth coaches’ room at Memorial Field during last week’s game with visiting Columbia, but he said he didn’t know which coach was involved.
After an Oct. 14 victory at Sacred Heart in Fairfield, Conn., Teevens delayed a postgame meeting with reporters so he and assistant coach Cheston Blackshear could meet with Pioneers officials to discuss an incident involving Blackshear sometime after the nonconference game’s start. The head coach did not divulge details, but said he went “sort of hat in hand” to calm Sacred Heart administrators.
As of 10 p.m. Saturday, the story of King’s punch could be found on websites including USA Today, ESPN, the New York Post and ABC News. Harvard’s student radio station, WHRB, posted a Twitter photo of the broken window from the inside, showing numerous strips of thick black tape reinforcing the remaining glass. “Aftermath of the Dartmouth coach’s tantrum,” read the caption.
King’s Twitter account usually includes posts about Dartmouth’s football recruiting or game performances. However, on Sept. 29, King received a tweet reading that the sender was watching Dartmouth’s televised game at Pennsylvania and would be looking for him. Replied King: “Any good tape of me in the press box?”
King, 25, is from Douglasville, Ga., and played at Lafayette College in Easton, Pa. He was listed as a 6-foot-1, 203-pound linebacker who appeared in a combined 16 games during his third and fourth seasons with the Leopards, who, like Dartmouth, field an NCAA Division I team in the Football Championship Subdivision.
Tris Wykes can be reached at [email protected] or 603-727-3227.
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