Donovan Raiola at center of bizarre Nebraska football postgame exchange

While the Nebraska football team was celebrating bowl eligibility on Saturday evening, something rather bizarre unfolded as both teams walked off the field. While there are still more questions than answers, it appears that offensive line coach Donovan Raiola and members of the Wisconsin Badgers staff had some words, and things escalated to the point where a uniformed officer chased down Raiola and briefly grabbed his arm.

Three police officers that appeared to be Wisconsin security were escorting Fickell off the Memorial Stadium field near the South end zone after the Cornhuskers 44-25 win while Raiola and several other NU staffers walked in the other direction.

A video uploaded on social media shows the Nebraska football offensive line coach appear to say something and point in Fickell’s general direction before turning and walking towards his locker room.

Nebraska football offensive lineman at the center of odd postgame exchange

As the two sides were still walking away, a Wisconsin staffer seemingly points at Raiola and a uniformed officer then jobs over to the Husker coach and grabs his arm. The two have several words and then the officer jogs back towards where Fickell was headed.

At the moment, neither Wisconsin nor Nebraska have offered any explanation as to just what might have been going on or what was said. 

It’s worth pointing out that the officer doesn’t appear to be Lincoln Police or Nebraska State Patrol but is most likely a Wisconsin state trooper who is there as personal security for the Badgers’ coach. If that’s the case he had not authority to stop Raiola in the first place.

Hopefully, the Nebraska Football progam will shed some light on this incident in the coming days. Though with a Black Friday game coming up to close out the season, Matt Rhule and company have bigger issues to deal with.