Andre Rison Says Coach Carl 'Buck' Nystrom Hit Him at Michigan State in 1986

Former Michigan State wide receiver Andre Rison alleged Monday former Spartans assistant coach Carl "Buck" Nystrom slapped him before a game against Illinois in October 1986. 

Rison told ESPN's Eric Woodyard he originally felt the situation was "part of being tough and being a football player that wanted to make it to the National Football League," but his view has changed over time, especially amid the current movement for racial justice.

"When the coach slapped me, the whole room got silent, and Mark Ingram Sr. put his arm around me," he said. "I shed a tear. I had never been struck by a grown man. Not by my grandfather, not by my father—who wasn't in my life a lot—but I just had never been struck by any man, and then I had never been struck by a white man, for sure. For a long time, I just held it in."

Rison played at MSU from 1985 through 1988. He explained to Woodyard the incident was never disclosed to anyone outside of those in the locker room that day, a group that included former Spartans defensive coordinator and current Alabama head coach Nick Saban:

"That man had no right to hit me. I never told my mom. I never told anybody. The only people that really knew were our whole team and all the coaches. Nick Saban was on that staff. He was one of the ones that came to me and consulted me. That's why I respect him to this day. I don't have to call Nick Saban every day and knock his door down, but Nick Saban offered my son a scholarship [to Alabama], and that was fair to me. That was fair and was all I ever asked for. I love Nick. I love Nick like a father figure."

Nystrom was an All-American guard at Michigan State before later returning to the school to serve as the offensive line coach. He was inducted in the MSU Athletics Hall of Fame as part of the 2014 class.

Neither Michigan State nor Kyle Nystrom, his son and Northern Michigan's current head football coach, returned requests for comment about Rison's allegation, per Woodyard.

Rison added he's happy to see the ongoing efforts to achieve racial equality:

"I played basketball at Michigan State and I also made All-Big Ten at Michigan State in indoor track, and I thought it was part of the culture of trying to get to the next level. Also, I was fresh off watching 'Roots' as a kid and listening to how slavery was. We were real close to [having learned] that, but not like this generation of professional athletes, so that's why I commend them for how they stand up and protest and the way they do for racial change.

"For me, myself, being in an interracial relationship, in a marriage of 15 years, I love my wife, and it doesn't matter what color you are and what race you come from, because we're all human."

Rison was selected by the Indianapolis Colts in the first round of the 1988 NFL draft. He earned five Pro Bowl selections and won Super Bowl XXXI with the Green Bay Packers in 1997 during a 12-year career.

Nystrom retired in 1992 after a 38-year collegiate coaching career.