A recent “Harlem Shake” video released by football players at Susquehanna University in Pennsylvania resulted in the discharge of 12 college students from the team.
The “ Harlem Shake ” is a recent internet fad that’s gone viral. Typically, amateur videographers begin “Harlem Shake” videos with one person dancing (often masked) in the foreground while others go about their normal activities in the background, then after a short spurt of lonely, comical dancing, the bass drops and madness ensues as everyone in frame springs in to an odd pose to strut their stuff.
According to Yahoo! Sports , the players were dismissed due to sexual acts portrayed in the “Harlem Shake” video they uploaded to YouTube.
Casey Crotty, former backup quarterback, told Football Scoop in a tweet that, “we didn’t break team rules we offended the ad’s subjective views with no actual ground to do that to us.”
How can it be that with all of the content on the web something like this gets kids kicked off of a football team? I mean really ?
Crotty also told Football Scoop that the team’s athletic director Pamela S. Samuelson, Ph.D. was personally offended by the clip. I think someone needs to give Dr. Samuelson an iPad and internet access. Go check out Reddit Doc, then let’s see if you still think this is fair treatment for a bunch of college kids having fun. Lighten up!
Logan Skillman, former tight end, seemed to voice the same opinion on Twitter Thursday stating, “bunch of my teammates thrown off for a dance… There are much worse things that go unpunished at every school every day.” The tweet has since been taken down.
Here’s the team’s “Harlem Shake” video:
Susquehanna, north of Harrisburg, PA, competes in the NCAA Division III Centennial Conference.
Even anchors on the TODAY Show recently made their very own “Harlem Shake” video for Valentine’s Day. Sure, it’s kid friendly, but it’s all in good fun and that should be the point here.
So, should these players have been kicked off for performing their version of the “ Harlem Shake “, or was the punishment too harsh?