Kansas tight end gets caught trying to pick up and hide a penalty flag

A Kansas Jayhawks tight end may have just taken protesting a bad call to another level. Instead of simply arguing with the ref, Mavin Saunders attempted to pick up and hide a penalty flag while the play was still going on.

That bold, new strategy didn’t work out well for Saunders. He got caught.

The above footage isn’t great, but if you look closely, you can see Saunders — who is circled — lower his body to pick up the flag right at the end of the clip.

This is what he did with it after he got to it.

Frustration may have gotten the best of Saunders while Kansas was in the middle of a rough drive. The team started things backed up on the 18-yard line. A holding call pushed them back to the 9-yard line. A false start on the next play pushed them back to the 5.

That’s when Saunders struck. The Jayhawks ripped off a 60-yard run on the next play, but a flag was thrown on the field. Knowing another holding call would back up the team even more, Saunders tried to hide the flag.

The team was penalized twice on the play. Holding was enforced, pushing Kansas back to the 3. Saunders was called for unsportsmanlike conduct, putting the team on the 1-yard line. The Jayhawks were unable to overcome the first-and-27 backed up at their own goal line and punted after three plays.

Kansas State Wildcats head coach Bill Snyder said he was “amazed” after he realized what was going on.

The whole sequence summed up Kansas’ day. The team dropped its game against Kansas State 21-17. The loss dropped Kansas to 3-7 on the season.

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Chris Cwik is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik

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