The Duke football star who was heavily criticized for swatting away a female staff member has issued a groveling apology, admitting he was ‘completely wrong.’
In the third quarter of Duke’s 24-20 defeat to UNC on Saturday night, medical staff rushed onto the field to tend to Blue Devils star DaShawn Stone following a nasty hit.
During which, Stone’s teammate, cornerback Kimari Robinson, stood over the injured Duke star while two staffers began assessing the situation.
A third staffer – a young female – also rushed over to the scene and forcefully moved Robinson out of the way in order to get through to Stone.
However, Robinson clearly took issue with her actions and aggressively swatted the staffer’s hand away, leaving her visibly shaken by the confrontation.
The incident quickly went viral on social media as fans weighed in on the situation and now Robinson has broken his silence on the matter with a passionate apology.
College football fans were left stunned on Saturday after a Duke star was seen swiping at a young female staffer while she attempted to provide medical attention to a player
Duke cornerback Kimari Robinson clashed with the female staffer as she attempted to offer medical assistance to DaShawn Stone in the third quarter of their game against UNC
On Sunday night, Robinson issued a groveling apology, admitting he was ‘completely wrong’
Taking to X on Sunday night, Robinson said: ‘I want to publicly apologize to the member of our training staff for how I acted toward her during Saturday’s game. I was completely wrong, and she did not deserve that.
‘Immediately after the game, I apologized to her personally and checked to make sure she was okay,’ the Duke cornerback continued.
‘The injured player on the ground, DaShawn Stone, is like family to me, and I was scared he might be seriously hurt. But being worried about him does not excuse how I treated her. I should have controlled my emotions, and I didn’t.
‘I’m truly sorry for my actions and for letting her, myself and our program down. I have to be better than that.’
Duke are yet to publicly comment on the matter.
Some fans took aim at Robinson for his ‘violent’ actions and questioned why he would hit out at a young female staffer in such a manner.
However, other fans were sympathetic towards the Duke star and insisted that he was simply concerned for his teammate and shouldn’t have been moved out of the way.
‘No reason to box him out. She needs to keep her hands to herself in this situation. He is just checking in on a friend. Poorly handled by both parties,’ one X user said.
The staffer was visibly shaken by Robinson’s confrontation as she glanced back at him
Robinson added: ‘I’m truly sorry for my actions and for letting her, myself and our program down. I have to be better than that’
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‘Mixed emotions. Coming onto field, aggression is high, worried about teammate and some person with a water bottle is pushing me out of the way?’, another said.
However, one said: ‘He should be suspended indefinitely and go into some sort of classes to help with his anger.’
Former NFL star Robert Griffin III chimed in, adding: ‘As a man, this just can’t happen. No excuses for it.’
Thankfully, Stone was able to walk off the field following the injury.
