Gee Scott’s son praised for praying during Ohio State-Michigan postgame brawl

The Ohio State University football team, previously ranked No. 2 in the nation, was upset by arch-rival Michigan University Saturday 13-10, leading to a dramatic postgame brawl that involved nearly everybody wearing a collegiate uniform.

One of the few players not involved in the brawl was Gee Scott Jr., starting tight end for Ohio State and son of Gee Scott, co-host of “The Gee and Ursula Show” on KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM. Affectionately nicknamed Baby Gee, he, alongside two other teammates and a Michigan student-athlete, was seen praying on the sidelines just a few yards away from the melee.

“If your kid is down there, the first thing you’re doing is you’re looking for your child,” Gee said, who was in attendance for the Ohio State v. Michigan rivalry game. “I don’t see him. I can’t find him. Then, his girlfriend says, ‘Oh, I think he’s over off on the side praying.’ I’m like, ‘Huh?’ I didn’t understand that. I didn’t see what he was doing. Now, it’s all over social media, showing my son, two of his teammates and one of the Michigan players kneeling off to the side praying.”

While the melee was going on between Michigan and Ohio State, Ryan Day looked on and two Buckeyes and a Wolverine huddled together to pray pic.twitter.com/Bz3DwV6Ua8

— Brandon Marcello (@bmarcello) December 1, 2024

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“You must have felt, first of all, relief and then incredible pride,” Ursula Reutin, co-host of “The Gee and Ursula Show,” said.

But, according to Gee, he didn’t even know this all happened until after the dust settled.

The brawl came after a shocking result in the 120th edition of “The Game,” when these two schools face off. The Ohio State Buckeyes were a near 20-point favorite at home against Michigan this time around, and a win would secure their place in the Big Ten championship game.

But a victory eluded Ohio State, making this game the fourth-straight loss to Michigan for the university.

A Michigan Wolverines player attempted to plant a Michigan banner on the Buckeyes logo at midfield in Ohio Stadium before Buckeye players intervened, leading to pushing and shoving before punches were thrown by members of both teams.

“First of all, it’s the biggest rivalry in football,” Gee said.

“Is this the team that you guys can’t even say the name of?” Ursula asked.

“The team up north, absolutely,” Gee responded.  “There was a tussle with them involving the flag, and then the rest of the team’s players, and then it was this explosion. I’ve been to a lot of football games my life, but I’ve never seen that, especially when you see all the law enforcement out there, and then towards the end, you see the mace.”

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Players could be seen wiping their eyes and coughing on the television broadcast after the brawl due to the use of mace and pepper spray by law enforcement on the scene.

“I never saw him praying. So after it’s all cleared up, we parents get to come down onto the field and wait outside for our players to come out,” Gee said. “When Baby Gee comes out, he has tears in his eyes. He normally doesn’t cry when it comes to wins or losses, so I thought that was strange and I hugged him. He says, ‘I’m good,’ and we get on the bus. Baby Gee is standing there with running back TreVeyon Henderson, who was also in that video. Henderson was sitting there, and I was like, ‘Man, you’re in good spirits.’ He said, ‘Hey man, it’s bigger than the game,’ so he’s making me feel better because I’m feeling somber. He and my son are hugging and talking about scripture.”

Gee revealed that he didn’t see the video of his son praying online until after the bus ride that takes the players and parents back to the practice facility where everyone’s vehicles are parked, and after the interaction between Scott Jr. and Henderson.

Scott Jr. originally wanted to revive a communal gathering between both Ohio State and Michigan players before the season started, but the idea was vetoed by the coaches before the season even began, according to Gee.

“A few months back, the coaches said no because of the rivalry,” Gee said. “What they did, since they said no, they didn’t want them to do it, they talked and said, ‘Hey, after the game, let’s meet and it just so happened to be during the time of the brawl.”

The Big Ten football conference announced it fined each school $100,000 for the melee.

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“When things are going great and you’re winning, everybody wants to give praise. But when you take a loss and there’s some bit of failure, all that throw goes out the window, and then we want to act a certain type of way,” Gee said. “My son said, ‘I was just hurt by seeing some of my brothers and some of the people I love go against the things that we have been talking about. No matter what, win or lose, we can’t have that.'”

Frank Sumrall is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read his stories here and you can email him here.

Listen to Gee Scott and Ursula Reutin weekday mornings from 9 a.m.- noon on KIRO Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.