Arkansas Razorbacks player Fernando Carmona has finally spoken out amid calls to ban him from football for life after deliberately stepping on a rival’s ankle.
Furious college football fans took to social media to demand that the offensive linemen never play again after a shocking foul play in Arkansas’ 39-26 win over Texas Tech in Friday’s Liberty Bowl.
Footage showed Carmona standing over helpless Texas Tech player CJ Baskerville as he lay on the ground and stomping on his ankle with his full body weight.
Amid a barrage of criticism, Carmona finally spoke out about the incident on Sunday evening and issued a groveling apology.
He posted on X: “I would like to apologize for my actions last Friday night at the Liberty Bowl. I let my emotions get away from me.
“I have nothing but respect for Texas Tech and the game of football. My apologies to my team and coaches. I’m not that kind of player and I’ll learn from this.’
Arkansas player Fernando Carmona has finally spoken out after stomping on his rival’s ankle
Former NFL player Emmanuel Acho has called Arkansas player Fernando Carmona “trash.”
Former NFL player Emmanuel Acho called Carmona “trash” on social media.
The former Cleveland Browns, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants player posted on The end.’
It came after an irate Baskerville posted two videos of the incident on
“But #55 Fernando Carmona shamelessly stepping on my ankle and putting pressure on it on purpose is downright gross.
“Goes on to say, ‘I got your b**** a***.’ Do better @RazorbackFB.”
In the footage, Baskerville can be seen writhing on the ground in pain afterwards, although the referees appeared to miss it.
Angry fans took to social media immediately after the incident to call for a lifetime ban for Carmona Jr.
One wrote: ‘This should be his last game ever. What a loser.’
Acho joined the backlash on social media after he deliberately stomped his ankle on CJ Baskerville
Baskerville took to social media to condemn Carmona’s actions as ‘downright nasty’
Another commented: ‘This was definitely on purpose. You can see he held his right leg up until it was on top of the other man’s ankle, and then he pressed down.
‘A normal step would not have had that hesitation. He should be kicked out of the team and the team should be fined.”
A third posted: “I hope every NFL scout and coach sees this. What a terrible thing to do.’
‘He should be banned from football forever!’ another commented.
One comment read: ‘I mean, to even put that in our minds to do it, let alone actually do it… Wow. Cut him off absolutely immediately.”