Russell Athletic Bowl scrum

Old rivalries sometimes get renewed during bowl season, and apparently two old Big East rivals— Miami and West Virginia — have decided to reintroduce themselves to one another during the pre-game festivities of the Russell Athletic Bowl.

According to a report in the Palm Beach Post, the Mountaineers and Hurricanes reacquainted themselves at a charity event. A set of players from the two teams were seen jawing at each other and had to be physically separated on at least two occasions.

Perhaps the least surprising news is that the verbal insults were being hurled between sets of Florida-raised players according to the report:

The smack talk was mostly between Florida-bred players. They made no physical contact, but made plenty of promises to settle the beef at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at Camping World Stadium (ESPN).

Naturally, the real reason for being there appeared lost on a bunch of hot-headed players. No one seemed to care that kids were around or that they were talking smack in front of kids who were facing real life-and-death situations:

They were donating their time to the Give Kids the World Village, a 79-acre retreat where children with life-threatening illnesses and their families enjoy a free getaway with “whimsical accommodations” and playgrounds, pools and rides, according to the resort.

Apparently, backups were talking some of the biggest smack on the West Virginia side, and Miami players were having none of that crap.

West Virginia defensive end Adam Shuler, a wide-eyed Longwood native whose numerous tattoos include the “407” zip code and the “100” emoji, was among the loudest. He seemed to irritate Miami safety Rayshawn Jenkins by asking him loudly and incredulously, “You play?”

Just how ridiculous did things really get? There apparently was even a “bye Felicia” (Miami QB Brad Kaaya’s mother Angela played Felicia in the 1995 Ice Cube film Friday, in case you didn’t know) insult hurled at one point:

“Bye Felicia!” Shuler shouted as the Canes walked by a group of Mountaineers, toward the exit. “Hey, why you talking while you leaving?” a teammate called out. “Why you walking and talking?”

Too bad the two teams just didn’t settle things with a dance-off, like the kids they were there to meet and greet did…

Lest you think the talk and the heated actions of the players at this event won’t spill over, consider the fact that West Virginia players were talking about making Corn Elder, one of Miami’s stars, drop out of the Draft.

No seriously…this is how it apparently went down:

“We’re gonna make No. 29 drop out the draft,” an unidentified Mountaineer said in reference to Elder, Miami’s top defensive player. “Don’t even let him be a free agent.”

So, if you needed a reason to watch the Russell Athletic Bowl this week, it may be a very sad and chippy contest. In other words, it may be just like not being able to avoid looking at the car wreck on the highway – and before we get to the heart of bowl season, we’ll take it.

[Palm Beach Post]

About Andrew Coppens

Andy is a contributor to The Comeback as well as Publisher of Big Ten site talking10. He also is a member of the FWAA and has been covering college sports since 2011. Andy is an avid soccer fan and runs the Celtic FC site The Celtic Bhoys. If he's not writing about sports, you can find him enjoying them in front of the TV with a good beer!