Community College Football Player Arrested After Appearing To Punch Referee In Face

There are certain universal no-nos across the sports world, and putting your hands on an official certainly makes that list.

A community college football player in California faces a penalty much worse than 15 yards after punching a referee in the face during a game Saturday night.

Mt. San Antonio College lineman Bernard Schirmer got way too carried away and punched a side judge in the face during the third quarter of a game against Ventura College.

Schirmer, who’s listed at 6-foot-5, 270 pounds, was arrested after the game and faces a felony battery charge, according to KABC-TV in Los Angeles.

Schirmer claims he wasn’t trying to hit the official. Instead he was trying to calm himself down after the play by hitting himself in the head.

“I really didn’t mean to do that to the ref,” Schirmer said, per KABC-TV. “I just didn’t see him and he was really short, but when I seen him on the ground, I thought somebody else did it.”

The official didn’t return to the game but isn’t expected to press charges, according to KABC.

h/t to Deadspin