2 weeks ago
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The family of Kansas State star quarterback Avery Johnson has broken their silence after the father and brother of the Heisman hopeful were seen brawling in the streets of Dublin.
That statement has coupled with a shocking revelation about his father, Mark Johnson's, past behavior that saw him banned from youth coaching at one institution and later briefly barred from attending youth sporting events.
Following K-State's 24-21 loss to rivals Iowa State in a game at the Aviva Stadium, video went viral showing Mark wrestling his other son, Anthony, in the rain.
Multiple bystanders intervened to break up the fight between father and son and cooler heads seemed to prevail.
Days later, the two involved released a joint statement apologizing for letting things get out of hand.
'We sincerely apologize for our actions following yesterday's football game in Ireland,' the statement read (via On3 sports). 'Senseless bickering escalated into an unnecessary fight.
The Johnson family has apologized after father Mark was seen fighting his son, Anthony, after a college football game in Ireland featuring Mark's other son, Kansas State QB Avery Johnson
After the incident, social media uncovered a confession from Mark (L) detailing how he was banned from coaching or attending games at a YMCA after his repeated abuse of officials
'We have resolved our differences and take full responsibility for our actions. We have apologized to our immediate and extended family, and now extend our apologies to Kansas State University, its alumni, and fans.
'We regret this incident, have learned from it, and are committed to ensuring it doesn't happen again. Please accept our deepest apologies.'
Kansas State Athletics has not released a statement on the situation and did not respond to a request for comment from Daily Mail Sport.
No arrests were made from this situation. It's not clear how the brawl was started.
After the incident went viral, fans uncovered a blog post written by Anthony and posted to the Greater Wichita YMCA website. In that post, Anthony discusses how he was banned from coaching youth sports - and then was banned from the facility entirely - after his repeated abuse of officials.
'The Y had a rule that while competing, players had to guard the player with the same color wrist band,' Anthony wrote. 'Call me crazy, but I knew at that age, my son would be better than Michael Jordan (just kidding, but many of us act like this) and proceeded to tell the ref how stupid of a rule it was.
'I ended up using a few words that were not Christian. I was asked to leave and was no longer able to coach.
'Fast forward, no longer a coach, now I am a loud, disrespectful parent. Before I arrived at games, I had already made up my mind the referee was going to make stupid calls on my kid. I was asked to leave many times by Farha Sports Center Branch Director Catherine Seales - MANY times.'
Avery played well in the opener against Iowa State, but failed to get the win for No. 17 KSU
Anthony then says he had a meeting with Seales to 'discuss me being able to return to the gym' and how his behavior 'if not adjusted would be my kid's downfall.' He says he 'started making adjustments' and ended up changing his behavior for the better.
Avery played well in the season opener on the 2025 college football campaign, but fell in the rivalry game both sets of fans have termed 'Farmageddon'
Coming off a 9-4 sophomore season, Johnson passed for 273 yards and two touchdowns for Kansas State (0-1, 0-1), while adding another score on the ground.
But it wasn't enough for the Wildcats, who trailed throughout Saturday's game in Dublin, where Iowa State coach Matt Campbell iced the game with a successful fourth-down conversion late in the fourth quarter.
'He called a great play, he gave me two plays and let me decide and I knew we were going to have a chance to get it,' Cyclones QB Rocco Becht said afterwards.
'We've worked on it in practice and it's been working for us and we're confident with it and I have trust in my guys.'
The recurring Aer Lingus College Football Classic series is aimed at bringing tourists from the US into the country, where roughly 30 million Americans can trace their roots. For years, invitees were predominantly Catholic schools, such as Boston College or Notre Dame.
Now, though, the series has widened its reach by inviting some larger publicly funded institutions, such as Kansas State and Iowa State.
