A teenager from Tennessee, 16-year-old Addison Hunnicutt, asserts she jumped onto a football field and tackled a middle school player to safeguard her younger brother from what she describes as abuse.
During a game on Tuesday night between South Middle School and Cornersville Middle School in Winchester, Hunnicutt grew increasingly concerned when she noticed a player grabbing her brother’s face mask and spinning him around. This apparently escalated when her brother was hit in the ribs, leading Hunnicutt to take action.
“That’s when I started to be like, no, I’m done watching this,” she shared in an interview with a local news station. “I wasn’t going after this kid just to go after him. That wasn’t my intention at all. Seeing what they were doing to him and no one stopping it, that kind of made me the last choice. Somebody has to stop this.”
Hunnicutt ran onto the field at Franklin County High School and charged at the 13-year-old, bringing him down twice before officials and coaches could intervene.
While her mother, Elizabeth Chumbley, disapproved of her daughter’s conduct, she pointed out that the actions occurring on the field went beyond typical football plays. “I made sure she understood quickly that her behavior was inappropriate, and you should not have jumped over the fence,” Chumbley explained. “I’m seeing my son on the ground being attacked. This wasn’t just a football play. This is him on the ground being physically attacked by this other player.”
The father of the tackled boy commended his son for not retaliating against Hunnicutt following the incident. “I was at the game… his first response was, ‘She better be glad she’s a girl.’ That alone says a lot about his character,” Brandon Taylor posted on Facebook. He emphasized his view of his son as a true gentleman who did not deserve the tackle. “He is a 13-year-old child, and I will always stand up for him and protect him,” he added.
After the incident, Hunnicutt was escorted off the field and subsequently charged with assault and disorderly conduct by the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office. Additionally, she received a lifetime ban from all Franklin County Schools properties and was prohibited from attending any future Cornerville Middle School games, whether at home or away.
