The miracle of NFL fights is that they don't happen all the time (2024)

Over Christmas of 1914 on the Western front, British and German soldiers climbed out of the trenches and spent a peaceful holiday together. A soccer match between the warring sides is even said to have taken place. The tale of the 24-hour truce endures more than 100 years later because it is so magical and bizarre that two sides that had just been trying to kill each other could instantly flip a switch and co-exist peacefully together … only to then return to their trenches and begin the bloodshed anew.

Of course, football is not war (no matter how many times other sportswriters and every football coach ever have tried to compare the two). But it is the most violent game in American sports and features athletes trying to physically destroy each other every Sunday for three hours and some 120 plays. Yet when each play is over, the players are expected to set their differences aside, calm their emotions and co-exist peacefully ... until the violence and mayhem starts again in 40 seconds. The Christmas truce was a one-time occurrence 103 years ago, while NFL truces are expected to happen 120 times in every game. Each moment of peace is remarkable considering the context.

On Sunday, Michael Crabtree and Aqib Talib chose to not set their differences aside, extending a beef from last season with a new confrontation that got several of their teammates involved along the sidelines.

Talib ripped a chain off of Crabtree’s neck — just as he did in Week 17 last season — and then the brawling ensued. Both players exchanged punches and Talib also snatched Crabtree’s helmet and threw it. The NFL responded on Tuesday by suspending both players for two games (later reduced to one) without pay.

“Your actions triggered a melee and endangered various sideline and league personnel, including one of our game officials who was injured trying to maintain control of the situation,” NFL vice-president of football operations Jon Runyan wrote in his letter to Crabtree. “Finally, during the ensuing altercation, you grabbed and twisted that same opponent’s facemask and threw a punch at him. Such actions have no place in this game, engender ill will between teams, and lead to further confrontations.”

That is one way to address the situation. Here is another message Runyan could have written: “Considering how violent and emotional the sport of tackle football is, it’s honestly surprising this sort of thing doesn’t happen more often. It almost feels unreasonable to ask you to always keep your battles between the whistles. Just do me this one favor, though, if you can: the next time you fight, please try not to injure any innocent refs in the melee. Other than that, you’re doing great. Thanks, fellas!”

But fighting – after the whistle, at least – has never been part of football’s culture. Baseball is another story. A player is hit with a pitch or one of baseball’s several hundred unwritten rules are broken, and the benches empty for an infield shoving match. Eventually the relief pitchers join in the fun, but only after first jogging in from the outfield bullpens alongside their fellow combatants. There are no earnest columns written about the downfall of society. No one laments the example being set for America’s youth. Base-brawls are frequent occurrences ingrained in the sport’s culture. Whereas basketball, a finesse game that featured minimal contact in its early years, never welcomed fighting. Kermit Washington’s punch to the face of Rudy Tomjanovich in 1977 and the Pacers-Pistons brawl in 2004 are still traumatic memories for the league.

Hockey, of course, is the sport most associated with fighting. It even birthed the old and terrible dad joke about attending a boxing match and a hockey game breaking out. Fighting has lessened in recent years as many teams replaced their goons with players possession actual talent. A bold approach to be sure. But it’s not completely gone. Even the back-to-back Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins – the most skilled team in all the league – went out this offseason and traded for Ryan Reaves, a player who provides little more to a roster than a right cross.

The NFL league office obviously doesn’t feel, however, that skirmishes after the whistle – or what broadcasters call “extracurricular activities” – are no big deal. Nor should they really. If players feel they have a free pass to fight, every low block or questionably late hit could set off a wrestling match. And if you watch an NFL game, there are low blocks or questionably late hits on pretty much every play.

The Crabtree-Talib skirmish is the latest in what the league may feel is a rise in fighting. Just three weeks ago on 5 November, there were fights in three different games that led to five ejections. AJ Green and Jalen Ramsey mixed it up in a Bengals-Jaguars game. Buccaneers receiver Mike Evans leveled Marshon Lattimore of the Saints for shoving Tampa quarterback Jameis Winston. And the 49ers and Cardinals mixed it up after San Francisco quarterback CJ Beathard took a late hit. Yet none of those players were suspended two games, which means this week’s Crabtree and Talib punishments are a clear message to players throughout the league to confine their ultra-violence to when the ball is in play. The NFL doesn’t want fighting and it would probably prefer there not be fighting-inspired celebration routines either.

There’s no reason to celebrate the actions of Crabtree or Talib or any other brawling footballer. But at the same time, appreciate the self-control exhibited after the 99.9% of plays that don’t end in fisticuffs. It’s not always easy to turn the other cheek when a 245lbs man is holding your face mask.