College Football Player Who Knocked Out Ref Says He was Trying to Punch Himself to Calm Down

VIDEO: Mt. SAC lineman punches referee between plays at Ventura College (video by @SoCalCollegeSpo) @scfafootball pic.twitter.com/ZD4vejJRYp
— VCStar CollegeSports (@vcscolleges) September 11, 2016

Bernard Schirmer, a 19-year-old offensive lineman for Mt. San Antonio College in California, was arrested and spent a night in jail over the weekend after he knocked out a referee during a skirmish in a game against Ventura County Community College. A fight was brewing between the two teams and Schirmer had to be restrained by several of his teammates; referees also tried to step in and calm things down. Unfortunately, one of the referees got in tight on Schirmer, who is listed at 6'5" 270 pounds, and Schirmer's punch sent the ref sprawling, knocking him unconscious.

According to Schirmer and his father, however, he was not trying to punch the referee. He was trying to calm himself down, actually. And the way he does that, actually, is to punch himself in the mouth.

"My friends were trying to pull me back away from the defensive end," Schirmer said. "I didn't know the ref was right inside of me, bear hugging me."Schirmer said he often attempts to compose himself by hitting himself on the helmet "so I calm myself down." "I didn't mean any of that to happen," Schirmer said. "I'm truly sorry about what happened to the ref."

Schirmer's father, Craig, also said the same thing, and pointed to the video above as proof.

"We're going to go in and plead not guilty," Craig Schirmer said. "If they ask us why, we're going to say, 'Please look at the tape.' "

Craig Schirmer said the video shows his son made contact with the referee only after first hitting himself in the helmet.

"What he does when he gets mad is, he hits himself in the mouth," Schirmer said. "My son never intentionally swung at the ref. He swung at himself to calm himself down. My son didn't even notice him there."

When you watch the video, you do see Schirmer make contact with his own helmet first, and then the referee goes down. Whether that means he actually was trying to hit himself is impossible to know, but a football player intentionally punching himself in the face is not, like, out of the realm of possibility when it comes to the crazy things football players do.

Schirmer was immediately ejected and booked on suspicion of felony battery on a sports official and eventually released on bail Sunday morning. Mt. San Antonio reviewed the tape, interviewed witnesses, and determined that Schirmer did not intentionally strike the official. The referee was tended to by athletic trainers, but did not return to the game. According to school and police officials, he did not want to press charges.

Schirmer is scheduled to appear in court on September 26.

[Ventura County Star]