NCAA FootballWeird But True

Luke Fickell Denies He Had Pizza Guy Fired Over Joke Made To His Wife

If you were a lifelong Ohio State fan, taking phone orders at the pizza place where you work, and the wife of Luke Fickell called up for some pizza, you might make a nervous joke. You are but a lowly college student, after all, and this is the wife of the Buckeyes’ defensive coordinator.

Little did you know that said joke would set off a firestorm of controversy in Columbus.

The man says he was joking when he said the Buckeyes need better tackling and that Fickell’s wife laughed.

But the next day, he says he was fired.

“It was a joke. It was like, ‘Let’s do better, guys,’ ” said the driver during an interview with WSYX in Columbus (the driver would appear on camera, but wouldn’t reveal his name). ”I was like, ‘You know, we really should improve on our tackling because it’s just, it’s really bad right now,’ and she laughed.”

Just an innocent joke while I’m takin’ your ‘za order, bruh.

Meanwhile, Ohio State quickly addressed Pizza-Gate with an actual written statement.

“A slight (or a flippant remark or an inappropriate comment) was made by an employee of a retail establishment to Mrs. Fickell. The Fickells DID NOT call the manager to complain,” the statement said. “The manager found out about the incident (presumably from someone at the restaurant). The manager called the Fickells … to ask what was said by his employee. They told him.

“And just like they did not place a call to complain, they also did not ask that anyone be fired. In fact, they feel terrible that this person lost his job. All they did was order pizza.”

All they did was order pizza. FYI: The Buckeyes turned in two solid defensive performances against Michigan State and Nebraska following the pizza guy’s comment, and are currently 6-0.

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