Bizarre Sequence Unfolds As Missouri Teammates Fight Each Other For Offering To Help Up Opposing Quarterback

Missouri linebacker Chad Bailey was not particularly sportsmanlike on Friday night. It made for a very bizarre sequence of events that even left head coach Eli Drinkwitz scratching his head.

The Tigers, who finished the regular season at 6-6, traveled to Tampa Bay to face Wake Forest in the Gasparilla Bowl and things got chippy late in the first half. However, the kerfuffle did not take place between the two schools.

It took place between players on the same team.

Late in the second quarter, Demon Deacons quarterback Sam Hartman was crushed in the backfield for a loss. The Tigers were flagged for roughing the passer and the chains moved for a first down, but that has nothing to do with what happened next.

As Hartman laid on the ground, Missouri defensive back Ennis Rakestraw Jr. went over to help him get back to his feet. He stuck out his hand to to the opposing signal-caller, and Hartman reached out to take him up on the generous offer.

Bailey, for some reason, did not like that. He ran over to Rakestraw, pushed his hand away, and moved him away from Hartman.

That in itself was bizarre. To make things even weirder, Bailey was jarring at Rakestraw the entire time.

The latter did not like that, and understandably so.

What's wrong with helping up an opposing quarterback? Isn't that a nice thing to do?

And that's when things escalated. Rakestraw and Bailey went at each other, grabbing face masks, and had to be separated by their defensive counterparts.

Meanwhile, on the sideline, Drinkwitz was visibly puzzled and frustrated. Both by the penalty and his players going at one another.

There may be more to the story, but it looked like the entire thing stemmed from Rakestraw offering to help Hartman off of the ground. Super strange.