Winston-Salem State quarterback Rudy Johnson on Monday revealed the black eye he says he received as a result of an attack by several Virginia State players on Friday during a banquet on the Winston-Salem State campus.
The teams were gathered for a traditional luncheon at Winston-Salem State, and Johnson says he was jumped in the bathroom of the school’s gym. The teams were set to meet on Saturday in the CIAA championship game, but the game was canceled following the attack.
The alleged attack by the Virginia State players has resulted in one player, Lamont Britt, being charged with misdemeanor assault.
In a press conference on Monday, Johnson shared his side of the events.
“Are you the starting quarterback?” Johnson says the Virginia State players asked him.
Johnson says they were talking some trash at that point. He told them he was going to wait until the game to let his play do the talking.
“I’m not going to talk a lot of trash, we’ll just see you on the field,” Johnson says he said.
Then he says he was jumped by about five or six players.
“I’m going to wash my hands and somebody tapped me on my back, on my shoulder. As soon as I turn around, I got hit,” Johnson recalled on Monday. “So I square him up, and then when I square him up, somebody else hit me on my blindside, on my head. And that’s when I fell and I felt about four or five feet stomping on me, kicking.”
Johnson says the Virginia State players scattered after his teammates came out of the bathroom stalls and that there was a lot of commotion after that.
“I can’t even explain why it happened. I’m in shock, still.”
Winston-Salem State plans to file a formal complaint with the NCAA and CIAA in which they will allege that Virginia State lacked institutional control over its players.
Virginia State also held a news conference on Monday, and their football coach, Latrell Scott, insisted that it was one player who made a bad decision, not several.
Virginia State was declared ineligible for the Division II playoffs. Winston-Salem State is the No. 4 seed for the playoffs and will host Slipper Rock in the first round.
Video of a report from WGHP is below:
