JUST KEEPS COMING

Baylor Associate Athletic Director Charged With Assaulting Reporter

After blowout loss.

Baylor University’s associate athletic director, Heath Nielsen, was arrested for allegedly assaulting a sportswriter after a football game. The incident, on Nov. 5, involved Nielsen reportedly grabbing the journalist—James McBride, of The Blaze News, in Keller, Texas—by the throat and pushing him away from a football player after a game. McBride says he got permission from the player to take a picture but that afterward Nielsen grabbed him by the throat, squeezed, and pushed him away. When McBride and the player asked Nielsen why he’d done it, Nielsen allegedly replied: “He’s abusing his privileges.” Nielsen eventually told McBride, “You’ll never f****** work in this business again. You’re abusing your privileges on the field.” According to a spokesperson for the newspaper, cameras in the stadium recorded the entire event. The charges come after a string of scandals at the university and football program, including unprosecuted sexual assaults, led to a rash of officials’ resignations.