NFL: Do fights tarnish the game? A love-hate debate

A slew of NFL fights broke out across the league in Week 9. Do these scuffles tarnish the game, or do you love when players brawl?

There were a surprising number of fights that broke out during Week 9 action. We don’t know what caused multiple brawls in one afternoon, but they were entertaining. Normally, these types of scuffles start from either a cheap shot or a blowout. The former is self-explanatory. The latter causes players getting their butts beat to get chippy and angry, as you can imagine.

NFL fights are usually uncommon, which brings up two main questions coming out of the NFL action of Week 9.

1. Do you like it when players fight?
2. Should New York Giants fans feel more embarrassed that their players have quit so much they didn’t even bother starting a scuffle?

Two brothers from New York, Dan Salem and Todd Salem, debate NFL fights in today’s NFL Sports Debate.

Todd Salem:

In the New Orleans Saints’ beat down of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, some weird stuff happened. Jameis Winston, who wasn’t even playing in the game at this point, got his hand up in the face of Marshon Lattimore. No one knows why; probably because Winston is a jackass. Either way, Lattimore properly gave Winston a shove. From there, Mike Evans, following dirty guy 101 technique, launched himself at the back of Lattimore. Since the NFL is a joke in all scenarios, Evans was allowed to remain in the game.

Jacksonville took down Cincinnati and the game was witness to type-two brawl, supposedly. A.J. Green and Jalen Ramsey got into a legit fight. Green took the fight to the next level, though he claimed that Ramsey was taking cheap shots and was the aggressor all afternoon. The main part that made news was Green’s choke, body slam, and repeated punches to Ramsey’s head. No suspension has been handed down and we’re told none is coming, but I can’t imagine why. Green certainly earned himself one.

These were the main two fights of the afternoon, but they weren’t the only ones. San Francisco 49ers players got into with Arizona after a hit on a sliding quarterback, C.J. Beathard. There was shoving and head slaps after the teams joined together, but this fight had a much more generic feel than the other two.

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In general, I like it when someone does something jerky and gets his face planted for it. I didn’t like the outcome of either of these two main fights Sunday, though, because the main perpetrator wasn’t punished. Winston was the biggest issue in the first fight, yet hardly anything happened to him. After that, Evans was issue No. 2, and he drew a simple penalty and no ejection. He did end up with a one-game suspension, but there was no justice here.

The same goes for Green and Ramsey. Both players were ejected, even though it isn’t clear what Ramsey even did beyond giving Green a shove. That happens all the time. Why Green then went all UFC on Ramsey is a he-said, he-said. Hopefully the Bengal eventually gets a lengthy suspension for his insanity. That’s the only way to even this out, although it appears it won’t happen.

As for New York, who has clearly quit on this season, especially on the defensive side. I would have liked to see some anger and chippy behavior. The fact that there was none indicates the squad doesn’t care enough to get angry. Was Green really upset at supposed cheap shots, or did he get fed up with Andy Dalton overthrows? The Giants have gotten fed up with nothing on the field, instead deciding to simply stop coming to practice, a la Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Janoris Jenkins. That’s not the fight you want from a football team.

Dan Salem:

Let’s shelve the New York Giants debate for another day, because its inexplicable to me how the entire team seems to have quit on the season. Are all of their injuries legitimate? I was questioning them weeks ago, but now we must seriously consider the fact that Giants players simply don’t want to play for this team in 2017. As for the slew of NFL fights that broke out in Week 9, I am not a fan and think they are a bigger black eye for the league than any protest could ever be.

Football is a tough game and emotions run high, but NFL fights are beyond asinine. Players wear helmets and thick pads, so any sort of “fight” is going to end badly. No one is going to “hurt” anyone except feelings and ego. If the point of a fight is to kick a disagreement up a notch, NFL fights are unable to accomplish this. Instead, a group of guys are shoving like idiots as we wait for them to stop. The referees throw their flags and hats in comical fashion — I do enjoy the hat tosses — and penalties and ejections are handed out. Nothing is dished out fairly and the person caught is usually punished worse.

If your team is getting blown out, then I at least understand the boiling over of emotion and desire to fight someone. Any other circumstance and its better to actually take it out on the field. This is football. People hurt one another on every play. I’m not condoning an intent to injure someone, but at least it accomplishes the goal here.

Next: NFL 2017: 20 Bold predictions for Week 10

Many teams had high hopes for success this season. Every team enters the year believing they can make the playoffs, yet it certainly feels like more this season are butt-hurt over their current struggles. The Giants stink. The Bengals are not very good. Tampa Bay is not very good either. San Francisco and Arizona are more even than records would indicate. All of these teams got in fights, except the New York Giants. Fans should be angry, because tanking is not new, but players making the decision certainly is. Unless this was the plan all along. Eli Manning can’t play forever.