5 Pro Football Fights

In the brutal and unforgiving world of the National Football League there were five pro-football fights. it’s hard to imagine what the best football fights would look like. From the unmatched strength of the defensive linesmen to the merciless efficiency of a well-timed sack, the NFL truly is a sport that is not for the faint of heart. With all the protective gear, it comes as no surprise that these gladiators of the gridiron are not afraid to mix it up with each other. In a sport where a cheap shot may not look like a cheap shot at all to the referees, flying bodies and collective grunts of pain are a general staple.

1. August 6, 2005- NY Jets against NY Giants. In what was supposed to be a simple scrimmage match-up between two inter-state professional football teams, this gathering turned quite ugly.  The whole mix-up involved more than ten players and two coaching staff members from the opposing teams.  An afternoon supposed to be spent on getting everyone into football shape for the upcoming season soon was pockmarked by several skirmishes stretching the whole training session.
2. September 20, 2009- Houston Texans against Tennessee Titans. It all started with simple trash-talking between two pumped up players jawing at each other until everything turned for the worse in what could be one of the worst pro football fights in recent history.  Houston Texan Andre Johnson put one over Tennessee Titans Cortland Finnegan when the former threw the latter literally into the players on the Texans sideline.  What soon ensued was an appalling sequence as Texan players ganged up on the hapless Finnegan to the point where one unnamed Texan player took a chunk of Finnegan’s red hair off the field as a souvenir of the fight.
3. October 18, 2009- Carolina Panthers against Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The incident involving Panther Dante Wesley and Tampa Bay punt returner Clifton Smith serves as an example of how a miscommunication can definitely result into a brawl.  As Smith was in position to field a punt, he apparently missed out on signaling for a fair catch.  Wesley, who admitted that he was just trying to make a play, flew into Smith and leveled him. This opened up the proverbial floodgates and a full-blown unrestrained pro football fight could have happened had the officials on the field not taken control of the situation.
4. December 22, 2009- Washington Redskins against New Giants. Elevated tension and a history of bad blood between teams can spark a pro football fight and all it took was one busted play. DeAngelo Hall and Brandon Jacobs immediately got into each other’s faces and it appeared to be Jacobs who belted out the first punch to start the brawl. Huge defensive lineman Albert Haynseworth joined in the mix and connected a strong right hand on Jacobs and continually threw punches wildly until officials could restrain him.
5. August 10, 2006- Tennessee Titan against Tennessee Titans. Rookies are supposed to make the most out of their first season and learn from veteran team members while trying to go up the ladder in the roster rotation.  But in rookie running back LenDale White’s case, all that flew out of the window as he instigated one of pro football’s classic infighting sequence within a team.  After experiencing a case of rookie jitters during training camp that involved missed catches and clashes with the defense on running plays, White already had everything up to his neck when three-year safety Donnie Nickey got into his face.  After elbowing safety Vincent Fuller and allegedly spitting on Nickey’s face, White immediately found himself in the middle of a pushing and shoving fracas before cooler heads intervened.

Ironically, for such a physical sport, history has never recorded a high abundance of fights or brawls in pro football games. Perhaps the sheer ferocity and ruthlessness players experience on the playing field would make troublemakers think twice before initiating something they would eventually regret horribly.