Products You May Like
Facebook/ProvidenceAcademyTN
Tennessee politician Jeremy Faison was booted from a high school basketball game earlier this week … after he tried to pull a referee’s pants down in a sideline temper tantrum.
Seriously.
Faison, a top Tennessee House Republican lawmaker, was in attendance to watch his son play in Lakeway Christian Academy’s game against Providence Academy in Johnson City on Tuesday … when he exploded over a call on the floor.
Video from the gym showed Faison was so irate with a ref over the whistle, he got in the man’s face, screamed at him, and then attempted to pull his pants down.
TN State Rep. Jeremy Faison, House GOP Chair, tried to fight and depants a high school basketball referee.
FAISON: “Unfortunately, I acted the fool tonight and lost my temper on a ref. I was wanting him to fight me. Totally lost my junk and got booted … I was bad wrong.” pic.twitter.com/qlBttjWZsg
— Heartland Signal (@HeartlandSignal) January 5, 2022
@HeartlandSignal
According to the Nashville Tennessean, the ref wanted to immediately call the cops on Faison — but fortunately for the House Republican Caucus chairman, law enforcement never arrived.
Instead, Faison was ejected from the venue.
Afterward, the politician issued a mea culpa, apologizing for his actions and calling himself a “fool.”
“For years I thought how wrong it is when a parent loses their temper at a sporting event. It’s not Christian and it’s not mature and it’s embarrassing to the child have always been my thoughts,” the 45-year-old said.
“Unfortunately, I acted the fool tonight and lost my temper on a ref. I was wanting him to fight me. Totally lost my junk and got booted from the gym.”
Faison continued, “I’ve never really lost my temper for all to see, but I did tonight and it was completely stupid of me. Emotions getting in the way of rational thoughts are never good. I hope to be able to find the ref and ask for his forgiveness. I was bad wrong.”
Faison is no stranger to sports controversy — in 2017, he was famously part of a movement to stop the Univ. of Tennessee from hiring Greg Schiano as its football coach.
As for the game, Faison ended up missing a thriller — Lakeway Christian went on to defeat Providence Academy, 56-51.