Arkansas Football: Punter Blake Johnson flips off Missouri players

Arkansas football has had plenty of bumps and bruises this season. The latest negative news story comes from a crude gesture by punter Blake Johnson.

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Punters are people too, but generally it’s not a good thing when they’re in the news. Yet that’s where Arkansas punter Blake Johnson finds himself on Rivalry Week.

During the first quarter of a rivalry game with Missouri, Johnson looked out at the field and not-so-secreitively flipped off the Missouri players on the field.

Johnson has the benefit of playing at home. You  can imagine how much grief he’d be getting right now if he’d been bold enough to make the gesture on the road. Being a punter, there’s a decent chance that half of the fanbase doesn’t know his name, so unless it was brought to head coach Bret Bielema’s attention it’s unlikely he faces any consequences on Saturday.

Arkansas will not be going to a bowl game this year. That’s true even if the Razorbacks are able to take down the Tigers in Week 13. That dispels the likelihood of any further reprimands for Johnson. Then there’s the question of whether or not his current head coach will return next season at all.

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A Texas A&M player and a Tennessee player were both caught on camera earlier this season making similar gestures. You would think that college football players would understand the camera is always rolling. All three of those offenders play in the SEC. Perhaps showmanship just means more? Either way, it’s not the sort of thing that any coach wants to see from any of his players in the middle of a game.