Football Fights!

[Bobref]

We all deplore fights. They don’t belong in the game. I’ve ejected dozens of players (and others) over the years for fighting. Nonetheless, stuff happens occasionally.

I’m not talking about a couple of guys shoving one another after the play. I’m talking about actual Donnybrooks involving multiple players/personnel and lasting a while. What’s the most memorable one you’ve seen?

[Goose Liver]

I remember a fight between my old HS and an up and coming team that had participated in Football less than five years. Tempers flared, both benches emptied, and one of our coaches grabbed an apposing player who was hitting our punter with his helmet. It was on at that time, all of the coaches joined in when our HC was smacked in the head with a clipboard. Fists flew and at one point the two wrestling coaches were going at it on the ground. There was a small police presence that kept the fans at bay. Our coach finally took the team off of the field and refused to come back out when summoned. The whole temper of the game was building from the cheap shots administered during the first quarter of the game. There were a number of ejections on both sides  before the fight erupted.                                                                                                        To give you a little backstory there had been bad blood since the opening of the school back to 1966. I remember playing this school back in the 8th grade when equipment was not as good as it is today. I caught a forearm to the face over the top of the nylon face mask, which resulted in a broken nose. I came out of the game long enough to receive a cotton plug in each nostril. It was not uncommon to have your hands stepped or to be bitten on the bottom of a pile. Eye gouging was a common event when playing these guys. Our Center the next year was on the receiving end of a dirt bomb to the eyes from the NG. (ejection) Lots of flags flying and wolf tickets being sold. If there was a better cheap shot team out there I did not know about it !

      Getting back to the fight, our principal begged our coach to bring the team back on the field and he refused, resulting in a 2 - 0 forfeit to the visitors. These actions started the ball rolling toward the eventual dismissal of our head coach several years later. After the fight the school board was building book on coach.  The fight coupled with several losing seasons, alleged kick backs from vendors, and angry boosters got his ticket punched.  With the multiple ejections I do not understand why the game was not suspended prior to our team leaving the field. 

Edited January 1, 2021 by Goose Liver

[jakone]

Ft. Wayne South Side at Indy Tech a few year back, massive donnybrook.

[jakone]

6 minutes ago, jakone said:

Ft. Wayne South Side at Indy Tech a few year back, massive donnybrook.

Check it out on youtube.

[Gipper]

Fighting is never the answer, but given the hard-core nature of the game, it’s almost inevitable.  I just hope we never see something like “Malace at the Palace” again.

[jets]

I remember some years back, The “U” was hosting a bunch of youths for a “gang prevention” type program or something like that- and a huge brawl broke out between the two teams on the field. 

[DE]

Never apart of one.  We were raised to play to the whistle. Help our opponents up and NEVER, EVER trash talk. 
My freshman year at LC. We were playing a basketball game at Hammond High. I was on the JV (sitting behind the bench during the varsity game). A bench and bleacher clearing brawl broke out. Very ugly. Stayed on the bench. 

[BTF]

3 hours ago, jakone said:

Check it out on youtube.

Did the assistant coach from Tech go to prison for battery?

[DE]

As a coach at KV, there was an ugly fight vs. Hobart in sectionals. Hobart was destroying us. Final score was 38-0. That could’ve been the score at the time of the melee. 
 

One of our kids just wouldn’t keep his mouth shut, even though we were getting DESTROYED. Hobart kid reacted which really hurt his team Bc he was ineligible for round 2 vs. Mishawaka. 
 

It was on our sideline. Our staff and Hobarts staff knew each other well and had a lot of respect for each other. 
 

At a point the Hobart player who got ejected had a helmet in his hand and was about to swing it at me from behind while I was breaking kids up. I would have to watch the film again and could give a better analysis. 
 

I don’t remember what crew we had, but they did an EXCELLENT job from the opening KO to the end of the game. 

[BDGiant93]

Haven't seen any football fights in person that I can remember. I did have a front row seat for the Pike/Ben Davis girls basketball fight a few years back. I'd rather forget that.

[Bobref]

The first college playoff game I ever officiated was a Juco game at College of DuPage in Illinois. They were a national power, and were crushing the visitors late in the game when their linebacker intercepted a pass on the visitors’ sideline, went out of bounds, and got drilled very late. He got up looking for somebody and all hell broke loose. It happened right in front of me, so when the two guys squared off, I got between them. By this time, they had each other by the facemasks. They were both about 6’3” and 230#. I put a hand on each player’s chest, and shoved them apart ... of course, they didn’t actually move. Not so much as a millimeter. That’s when I knew I was in trouble. We were at the center of a seething mass of people. I realized my feet weren’t actually touching the ground. The mass moved all the way out of the bench area and on to the track, and me along with it. When order was finally restored, I reported the fouls to the Referee (Tom McCabe, a long time Referee in the MAC). Then he asked me “Where is the out of bounds spot?” I told him I had no idea. His response was “well, you better make something up pretty quick.”

[Bobref]

And, of course, nothing will ever top the brawl at the 1971 Bucket Game in Bloomington. Players, fans, cheerleaders, mascots, everyone was involved. For God’s sake, the marching bands were duking it out with one another! That’s the ultimate!

[DE]

15 minutes ago, Bobref said:

The first college playoff game I ever officiated was a Juco game at College of DuPage in Illinois. They were a national power, and were crushing the visitors late in the game when their linebacker intercepted a pass on the visitors’ sideline, went out of bounds, and got drilled very late. He got up looking for somebody and all hell broke loose. It happened right in front of me, so when the two guys squared off, I got between them. By this time, they had each other by the facemasks. They were both about 6’3” and 230#. I put a hand on each player’s chest, and shoved them apart ... of course, they didn’t actually move. Not so much as a millimeter. That’s when I knew I was in trouble. We were at the center of a seething mass of people. I realized my feet weren’t actually touching the ground. The mass moved all the way out of the bench area and on to the track, and me along with it. When order was finally restored, I reported the fouls to the Referee (Tom McCabe, a long time Referee in the MAC). Then he asked me “Where is the out of bounds spot?” I told him I had no idea. His response was “well, you better make something up pretty quick.”

😂 

7 minutes ago, Bobref said:

And, of course, nothing will ever top the brawl at the 1971 Bucket Game in Bloomington. Players, fans, cheerleaders, mascots, everyone was involved. For God’s sake, the marching bands were duking it out with one another! That’s the ultimate!

😂 😂 

“One time, at band camp...”

[foxbat]

16 hours ago, Bobref said:

And, of course, nothing will ever top the brawl at the 1971 Bucket Game in Bloomington. Players, fans, cheerleaders, mascots, everyone was involved. For God’s sake, the marching bands were duking it out with one another! That’s the ultimate!

Usually it's football on band violence ...

 

[jcat69]

Ugly scene. Traveled to Tell City, best rivalry ever,  back in the mid seventys, for a football game with a carload of friends. One guy had  way too much to drink. The game was a bitter battle, lots of penalties, the lead changing hands. We ended up losing a close game, and immediatly after the game the band come on the field, presumably to celebrate as we were walking out. My inebriated friend went out on the field and was pushing the drum major around during the performence. Two guys rushed out on the field and gave him a proper beatdown.  

[coachH]

When we were at Knox, we were playing a team that got into a fight with each other.   2 players were ejected, it was something I'll never forget.  I've never seen anything like it.  

[foxbat]

41 minutes ago, coachH said:

When we were at Knox, we were playing a team that got into a fight with each other.   2 players were ejected, it was something I'll never forget.  I've never seen anything like it.  

Saw that in a youth football game where the coaches on the same team got in a fight with each other.  It was strangest thing I've ever seen.

[DE]

2 hours ago, jcat69 said:

Ugly scene. Traveled to Tell City, best rivalry ever,  back in the mid seventys, for a football game with a carload of friends. One guy had  way too much to drink. The game was a bitter battle, lots of penalties, the lead changing hands. We ended up losing a close game, and immediatly after the game the band come on the field, presumably to celebrate as we were walking out. My inebriated friend went out on the field and was pushing the drum major around during the performence. Two guys rushed out on the field and gave him a proper beatdown.  

Drum major has the staff and that really cool hat.

48 minutes ago, coachH said:

When we were at Knox, we were playing a team that got into a fight with each other.   2 players were ejected, it was something I'll never forget.  I've never seen anything like it.  

I witnessed a game at KV many years ago.  Sectionals.  The visiting team were throwing haymakers at each other.  

[DE]

6 minutes ago, foxbat said:

Saw that in a youth football game where the coaches on the same team got in a fight with each other.  It was strangest thing I've ever seen.

I've officiated many PW games.  Surprised this doesn't happen more often.

[Miner_Pride]

I went as a spectator to watch a sectional game between Vincennes Lincoln at Jasper....  Can;t recall year.. low scoring, and Linton must not have been playing that night...  anyway... it came down to a last drive by the Alices.  I was walking the sidelines, transistor radio headphones listening to Walt Ferber... and thought I'd get to Jasper's endzone cause that's where it was gonna end up.  I was the only one standing there...dang near right on the end line.  As Lincoln got closer and the clock winding down, suddenly the whole VIncennes fan base came running from the stands into the endzone.. simply giving the Alices energy... but within a minute here came the Wildcat fans in full speed from their side.  Course immediately they tangled with me standing in the midst of it all.  No effort was made to separate anything, and it was ugly quick.  I saw a Jasper kid take a running punch on a kid holding a Lincoln Banner... and just knocked him cold, and he went into spasms, and everyone split. Just as fast as it happened, the endzone was empty except for this kid.. .and nobody was doing anything!  So I went over to try and physically contain him, and then police ran up.  They put him in an ambulance etc...  but the came continued through all of this.  Came down to a 4th down and goal from maybe the 7, with Lincoln completing a pass on the final play to win.    The kid who was hit was taken to hospital and had a concussion.   Just one in the many stories I've heard since moving to Vincennes in 1993 about the insanity between Lincoln and Jasper.

That post game fight I saw on TV with Miss. State and Tulsa was ridiculous.. and was the pregame shite...  I would hope admin from both schools would identify those who took part.. especially the ones who went to extreme levels.. I mean...if I get hit.. I'm gonna strike back no question.  If a teammate is getting pummeled or surrounded by 6 opponents, I'm gonna come to his side... but the kicking when someone is down... pulling helmets off where someone could really get hurt... as it seems did happen... well there isn't a place for that.. it's embarrasing.

I've seen my share of pushes and shoves in my time in the booth at Linton of course...  Linton and Sullivan go way back... the whole week leading into the game usually...especially in days of yore... usually had all sorts of episodes go down.  The only real full out brawl I saw was before my broadcasting time... but in a game at Rockville  in the 70's...  'twas a doozie..... 

I've always thought officiating would be very difficult when both teams get itchy for violence.  I mean... I know you gotta get control of the game... but you can't see everything that goes on lol... usually that 2nd guy gets nailed with the flag!

I broadcast a Linton game at a school...  I don't want name them....  but a kid late in the loss starting taking obvious potshots at our players.. particularly the skill guys.  Finally after 2 personal fouls and unsportsmanlike.. he was kicked out of game.   BEing on the home side in the booth I watched as this kid walked the sidelines... then got another kid to take off his jersey and they switched....  they did they in the midst of players, and really all the coaches were focusing on the field of play...  so I watch him run in to play... and I say in on the radio...  sure enough he tried to make a major hit.. but missed... and I honestly thing the coaches realized what had happened.. and yanked the kid back out of the game.  I always wondered if that is something that has happened in other games?

 

 

[DE]

13 minutes ago, Miner_Pride said:

I went as a spectator to watch a sectional game between Vincennes Lincoln at Jasper....  Can;t recall year.. low scoring, and Linton must not have been playing that night...  anyway... it came down to a last drive by the Alices.  I was walking the sidelines, transistor radio headphones listening to Walt Ferber... and thought I'd get to Jasper's endzone cause that's where it was gonna end up.  I was the only one standing there...dang near right on the end line.  As Lincoln got closer and the clock winding down, suddenly the whole VIncennes fan base came running from the stands into the endzone.. simply giving the Alices energy... but within a minute here came the Wildcat fans in full speed from their side.  Course immediately they tangled with me standing in the midst of it all.  No effort was made to separate anything, and it was ugly quick.  I saw a Jasper kid take a running punch on a kid holding a Lincoln Banner... and just knocked him cold, and he went into spasms, and everyone split. Just as fast as it happened, the endzone was empty except for this kid.. .and nobody was doing anything!  So I went over to try and physically contain him, and then police ran up.  They put him in an ambulance etc...  but the came continued through all of this.  Came down to a 4th down and goal from maybe the 7, with Lincoln completing a pass on the final play to win.    The kid who was hit was taken to hospital and had a concussion.   Just one in the many stories I've heard since moving to Vincennes in 1993 about the insanity between Lincoln and Jasper.

That post game fight I saw on TV with Miss. State and Tulsa was ridiculous.. and was the pregame shite...  I would hope admin from both schools would identify those who took part.. especially the ones who went to extreme levels.. I mean...if I get hit.. I'm gonna strike back no question.  If a teammate is getting pummeled or surrounded by 6 opponents, I'm gonna come to his side... but the kicking when someone is down... pulling helmets off where someone could really get hurt... as it seems did happen... well there isn't a place for that.. it's embarrasing.

I've seen my share of pushes and shoves in my time in the booth at Linton of course...  Linton and Sullivan go way back... the whole week leading into the game usually...especially in days of yore... usually had all sorts of episodes go down.  The only real full out brawl I saw was before my broadcasting time... but in a game at Rockville  in the 70's...  'twas a doozie..... 

I've always thought officiating would be very difficult when both teams get itchy for violence.  I mean... I know you gotta get control of the game... but you can't see everything that goes on lol... usually that 2nd guy gets nailed with the flag!

I broadcast a Linton game at a school...  I don't want name them....  but a kid late in the loss starting taking obvious potshots at our players.. particularly the skill guys.  Finally after 2 personal fouls and unsportsmanlike.. he was kicked out of game.   BEing on the home side in the booth I watched as this kid walked the sidelines... then got another kid to take off his jersey and they switched....  they did they in the midst of players, and really all the coaches were focusing on the field of play...  so I watch him run in to play... and I say in on the radio...  sure enough he tried to make a major hit.. but missed... and I honestly thing the coaches realized what had happened.. and yanked the kid back out of the game.  I always wondered if that is something that has happened in other games?

 

 

Charges pressed for the assault?

[Bobref]

2 hours ago, Miner_Pride said:

I've always thought officiating would be very difficult when both teams get itchy for violence.  I mean... I know you gotta get control of the game... but you can't see everything that goes on lol... usually that 2nd guy gets nailed with the flag!

It’s incredibly difficult. Very hard to juggle preventive officiating, even-handed enforcement, and punishing the instigator to get it stopped. That’s in addition to all the other officiating you have to do during the game.

[Miner_Pride]

3 hours ago, DE said:

Charges pressed for the assault?

Nobody could ever point out who it was....... it happened so quickly... bam.. then like the parting of the red sea......

 

[Purdue Pete]

On 1/1/2021 at 10:49 AM, jakone said:

Check it out on youtube.

I remember that 1

[Lysander]

Not football but a Lafayette Jeff v. Chatard lacrosse game in 2008 at Jeff.  Jeff had upset Chatard in a relatively low scoring game and VERY amicable game but apparently there was some bad blood from the prior year’s playoffs.  Still, it was a clean and non-controversial game.   Post game, though, several Jeff players rushed the Chatard team banner and ripped it to shreds (which aggravated me a bit since I had just paid Kinko’s around $50 for it some 4 hours prior).

At that point, both teams charged each other and the fight was on.  Apparently Jeff’s coach was down with it (based on comments attributed to him post-game and the swings he got in).  Our coach was horrified.  He was a dad who’d taken over when our prior coach left a week or so before the season. He was also a divinity professor at U of I.

At the end, we parents literally had to make a physical barrier as the Jeff parents cursed and yelled at our kids on the way to the bus.  It really did feel dangerous.  There were never any real repercussions that I was ever aware of aside from the Jeff coach not being there the next year (maybe he opened a boxing gym).

I’ve never cared much for Jeff since then...aside from the $50 they owe me.

Edited January 7, 2021 by Lysander