A 16-year-old girl in Tennessee is facing criminal charges after entering a middle school football field and tackling a 13-year-old player during a game on Tuesday night. The incident occurred during a match between South Middle School and Cornersville Middle School at Franklin County High School in Winchester.
Wild footage captured the moment the girl, identified as Addison Hunnicutt, sprinted onto the field and charged toward a South Middle School player. She knocked him to the ground with a tackle and then shoved him again as he attempted to stand up. Hunnicutt has stated that she intervened because she was tired of witnessing rough play directed at her younger brother.
According to NewsChannel 5, Hunnicutt said she saw a South player grab her brother's face mask, spin him around, and then hit him in the ribs. "That's when I started to be like, no, I'm done watching this," she told the outlet. "I wasn't going after this kid just to go after him. That wasn't my intention at all. Seeing what they were doing to him and no one stopping it, that kind of made me the last choice. Somebody has to stop this."
The mother of Hunnicutt, Elizabeth Chumbley, expressed mixed feelings about her daughter's actions. While acknowledging her daughter's behavior was inappropriate and that she should not have jumped the fence, Chumbley echoed claims that her son was being targeted. "I'm seeing my son on the ground being attacked. This wasn't just a football play. This is him on the ground being physically attacked by this other player," Chumbley told WTVF.
The Franklin County Sheriff's Office has charged Hunnicutt with assault and disorderly conduct. She has also been issued a lifetime trespass ban from all Franklin County Schools properties. Additionally, the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association has barred her from attending any Cornersville Middle School athletic events.
Brandon Taylor, who identifies as the father of the tackled player, praised his son for his restraint. "He had every reason to be angry, yet he still showed restraint," Taylor wrote on Facebook. "He did not deserve to be tackled, pushed, or humiliated on the field. He is a 13-year-old child, and I will always stand up for him and protect him."