Duke football player, female athletic trainer exchange sparks controversy
· Yahoo Sports
A wild Week 7 of college football is winding down, but it wasn’t without some controversy. During a game between the Duke Blue Devils and visiting North Carolina Tar Heels at Wallace Wade Stadium, an incident between a Duke player and female staffer has gone viral.
Duke defensive back Kimari Robinson was standing over injured teammate Dashawn Stone, when a female athletic trainer came running onto the field help.
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The staffer moved Robinson out of the way so the medical team could examine stone, which led to Robinson taking an aggressive swipe at the trainer’s arm. It didn’t take long for the incident went viral, with everyone calling out Robinson for his actions.
Some were understanding that he was concerned for his motionless teammate, while others were calling for his dismissal from the team.
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Duke’s Kimari Robinson Swats Away Female Athletic Trainer
This, @DukeFOOTBALL can’t happen. Check out the 7-9 second mark where the female athletic trainer tries to get the player hovering to move so she can help and he swings his arm at her. He needs to listen to her and know where he should be. If not where is the line? https://t.co/o7VAg4fxlm
— Kevin Kelley (@coachkelley1) October 17, 2026
Video of the incident has been viewed online more than two million times.
One of the few defenders of Robinson understood the heat of the moment and immediate concern for a close friend and teammate, saying: “I get your point, but the emotions of a kid when someone as close as family is hurting and down isn’t a thing to dismiss either. They both obviously care for the down player.”
Another added, “Imagine your best friend on the ground receiving medical attention and you tryna make sure he’s good This is just emotion do not judge his character because of this.”
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A majority of people, however, had a much different take.
Former NFL star Robert Griffin III was among those criticizing Robinson. “As a man, this just can’t happen,” Griffin wrote on X. “No excuses for it.” An athletic trainer noted, “Athletes take note: Never, I mean never, do this to an athletic trainer trying to attend to an injured player on the field.”
“Should be instant dismissal from the university,” a more drastic reaction suggested.
Duke’s sideline emptied for DaShawn Stone. Stretcher came out but he walked off under own power. https://t.co/4ATrIIvinf
— Conor O’Neill (@ConorONeill_DI) October 17, 2026
Luckily, despite the scary nature of the injury, Stone was able to walk off the field under his own power. And as far as Robinson is concerned, he would probably like to have that moment back.
It’s an unfortunate moment all around, but hopefully something that he will learn from moving forward.
At the end of the day, one fan said it best: “Real talk, I don’t blame him for his reaction, that’s his guy, they in the trenches together. That said, if she’s the head trainer and needs space, gotta back up but she should’ve used her words instead of putting hands on him.”
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