Chris Cuellar

ccuellar@dmreg.com

IOWA CITY, Ia. — Iowa defensive tackle Faith Ekakitie says he was the target of racial slurs from an unidentified Nebraska player during Friday’s game.

Ekakitie, who is black, refused to identify the Nebraska offensive lineman he claims is responsible, but spoke on the situation during post-game interviews Friday evening.

“I’m one to completely respect my opponents at all times, but they had a few guys out there that decided to talk a whole lot and a couple guys who were throwing around derogatory, racial slurs,” Ekakitie told the Register.

“Anyone that is willing to openly go out of their way and throw that around — even in a competitive environment — I think you’re a piece of trash.”

When asked for comment, Nebraska assistant athletic director for communications spokesman Keith Mann said via email: “The Nebraska football staff and athletics administration are aware of the post-game comments by the Iowa student-athlete.”

Ekakitie, a native of Canada who went to high school in Lake Forest, Ill., finished with five tackles in Iowa’s 40-10 win over Nebraska.

He walked off the field hand-in-hand with classmate and fellow defensive tackle Jaleel Johnson after their final defensive series in the fourth quarter. Both said the display of solidarity was an idea from assistant coach Reese Morgan and had nothing to do with Ekakitie’s claims.

“He told me on the sidelines and I saw him out on the field talking to the guys and pushing them,” Johnson said. “I didn’t realize what had happened until he told me.”

Nebraska’s offensive line had white and black players starting on Friday. Ekakitie, who had started the last three games, said the incident occurred in the first half.

For more breakdown of Friday's game:

“No one else but me knew at the time, but I internalized it. I think some of the guys could tell that I was really worked up,” Ekakitie said. “I can get emotional sometimes, but I’m not one to have my eyes swell up or get worked up about much.”

He added he had been “fortunate” to not encounter other similar issues in the past on the football field.

Johnson said that he had experienced what Ekakitie described in the past.

“It happened to me in high school, senior year,” Johnson said. “Things got heated, the n-word flew out a few times, it didn’t really bother me.”

Ekakitie was the subject of national news in July when Iowa City police approached him with guns drawn while he was playing the "Pokemon Go" mobile game in a park near the site of a recent bank robbery. He was released without incident after the “misunderstanding,” which was captured on video via body camera. He was praised by Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz for how he handled the situation.

The 6-foot-3, 290-pound redshirt senior from Brampton, Ontario, declined to point out individual offenders from Friday’s game, because “I don’t want to throw anyone under the bus.”

But, he added, “I’m glad we blew them out. In my opinion, they got what they deserved today.”

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