Florida football players challenge Andy Mattingly for frying pan supremacy

Among Washington State Cougars fans, former linebacker Andy Mattingly is famous for two things: That crazy sophomore season when he had eight sacks, and that even crazier time he used a danged frying pan in a fight with a couple of soccer players from a community college.

He’s now got some company.

On Wednesday, First Coast News reported that, according to a police investigation, a bunch of Florida Gators decided in May to use weapons to confront another student named “Tay Bang” — for real, it’s “Tay Bang,” and he apparently is best known for gambling on the football team. Some of them were wielding Airsoft guns that were gussied up to look like real rifles. There must not have been enough of them to go around, though, because one of the players stole a page from Mattingly’s playbook:

The football players initially denied having any involvement with the incident, according to the report. While searching for evidence, police didn’t find any bullets. However they did find a frying pan that, according to the report, was seen on camera being used by one of the athletes during the confrontation.

However, there’s no evidence that the pan was actually used for anything other than intimidation. That’s a little different than how Mattingly used it — here’s a recap if you’ve forgotten, via The Seattle Times archives:

Andy Mattingly, a linebacker coming off an outstanding sophomore season, was in Spokane in late January when a friend called for help. His front teeth had just been punched out in an argument with some soccer players from North Idaho College, he said.

The friend joined up with Mattingly and Trevor Mooney, a WSU tight end. The three went to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, where two of the soccer players, a goalie and a midfielder, shared an apartment.

First, they knocked. Then, Mattingly kicked in the door. The midfielder grabbed a steak knife, the goalie a butter knife. Mattingly picked up a frying pan off the stove.

The midfielder jumped out a window. This left the goalie — Cesar Lira, 5 feet 10, armed with a butter knife — to contend with Mattingly, a 6-4 linebacker swinging heavy kitchenware.

Mattingly hit Lira’s head so hard the pan’s handle broke, court records say. Lira got back up, jumped out a window and called police. He had a 2-inch gash and was “bleeding profusely,” a police report says.

Mattingly might now have some company in frying pan notoriety, but in this tale of the tape, breaking the handle while hitting someone over the head means Mattingly still is the king of frying pan wielders.

Go Cougs?