For as long as football has existed, the game has been predicated on one team or one person imposing their will on their opponents. It is a show of power, of force, that is unlike almost any other organized team sport. The toughness and physicality of the game is what draws so many fans to football. But when a player is knocked out of a game, and his own hometown crowd starts to cheer, it’s hard not to think that we’ve gone too far.
In the fourth quarter of Sundays Ravens-Chiefs game, Kansas City quarterback Matt Cassel was leveled to the ground by Baltimore’s Haloti Ngata after he released a pass and stayed there for minutes afterwards writhing in pain.
At the sight of this, several audible cheers could be heard around the Chiefs’ Arrowhead Stadium. Yes, fans were happy to see their own starting quarterback lying on the field, hurt, unable to continue playing.
After the game ended, Kansas City offensive tackle Eric Winston gave an impassioned speech in his postgame interview, chiding the fans for their behavior and asking what had gone wrong with society that would make people think actions like this were acceptable.
“It’s 100 percent sickening,” Winston said. “I’ve never been more embarrassed in my life to play football than at that moment right there.”
Yes, Cassel has had a poor season. He has thrown an NFL-high nine interceptions against only five touchdowns while leading his team to just one victory. Regardless, I don’t care if he had thrown zero touchdowns and 100 picks, it doesn’t give fans the right to celebrate the pain and suffering of another human being.
This is hardly the first time that fans have celebrated an injury. The most memorable example that comes to mind was in 1999 when Philadelphia Eagle fans cheered after Dallas Cowboy wide receiver Michael Irvin suffered a broken neck, an injury that ended his career.
But even in that example, it was fans cheering at a fallen opponent who had killed their team for years, rather than their own player.
Maybe they were cheering because they thought that Cassel not playing was what would be best for their team. Maybe they were cheering because they were tired of seeing drive after drive stifled by a weak passing game. Maybe—and I know this is a long shot—but just maybe it had something to do with heavy alcohol consumption.
None of these however, are reason enough to partake in the classless actions that took over the stadium Sunday.
ESPN’s football insider Adam Schefter tried to excuse the Kansas City fans by saying that they were cheering because they were excited to see backup quarterback Brady Quinn take the field. Nobody, and I mean nobody, has been excited to see Brady Quinn play in a game since he was at Notre Dame in 2006.
Winston points out that football players are not gladiators playing in the Roman Coliseum. As fans we forget (or chose to ignore) the fact that these are people playing this game. It isn’t a video game. They aren’t just pawns for your fantasy football team.
We like to justify actions like this because football players earn more money in a year than most of us will see in our lifetimes. They chose a dangerous game, they knew what they were getting into, and so it must be OK to cheer or laugh when they get hurt.
I don’t have a problem with the toughness or brutality of football, in fact I disagree with many of the recent decisions that league commissioner Roger Goodell has made to increase player safety, to the detriment of the overall quality of the NFL.
Sunday was a black eye for Kansas City, and not because of their 9-6 loss on the field. I lost respect for their fans, but found a new appreciation for at least one of their players.
What do you think about fans cheering about an injured player? Were the Chiefs fans’ actions justified? Let Matt know what you think at sports@dailycardinal.com
