Michigan State Football Explains Flashing of Hitler Image Before Taking a Beatdown From Wolverines

(Photo : Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) EAST LANSING, MICHIGAN - Head coach Jim Harbaugh of the Michigan Wolverines shake hands with interim head coach Harlon Barnett of the Michigan State Spartans after a Michigan Wolverines 49-0 win at Spartan Stadium on October 21, 2023 in East Lansing, Michigan.

What should have been a regular football night turned controversial for the Michigan State Spartans after an image of Adolf Hitler was shown on the team's jumbotron before their anticipated match against the Michigan Wolverines.

The image, now making the rounds on social media, drew criticisms from fans and netizens.

Somebody explain the context behind this for me pic.twitter.com/NnFszUR5Jl
— College Football Report (@CFBRep) October 22, 2023

The image was shown for a trivia question, a regular activity for the school, but context is key here.

Many thought the Michigan State University was tone deaf given how Israel, a country of mostly Jews whom Hitler killed, is currently in conflict with the Hamas group in the Middle Eastern region.

In a world where Jewish people are being killed and tortured every single day Michigan State puts a picture of Hitler on its massive scoreboard as a wacky trivia answer like he’s a movie star or something. Unbelievable. https://t.co/qcil7gr460
— Matthew Berry (@MatthewBerryTMR) October 22, 2023

This actually happened.

Michigan State University displayed a picture of Adolf Hitler on the videoboard at the school’s football game.

This is on the heads of every university leader who has allowed pro-terror student groups to hijack their institutions. pic.twitter.com/BCqDqWbn4R
— Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) October 22, 2023

MSU recognizes where it went wrong

MSU immediately apologized for the lapses after being criticized. It explained that a third-party company was responsible for the ignorant mistake, and because of that, such business partnership will no longer be observed.

"MSU is aware that inappropriate content by a third-party source was displayed on the videoboard prior to the start of tonight's football game," Michigan State spokesman Matt Larson said.

"We are deeply sorry for the content that was displayed, as this is not representative of our institutional values. MSU will not be using the third-party source going forward and will implement stronger screening and approval procedures for all videoboard content in the future."

The Spartans were dominated by the Wolverines, 0-49.