Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
There’s an intriguing furore Stateside after the National Football League (NFL) ‘outed’ the practice of placing a bounty on the heads of leading players in opposition teams, the aim being to injure them so that they could take no further part in a game.
It’s a concept that, bizarrely (taking the moral high ground), divides sporting fans the world over. In the whiter than white corner, the argument is that it is morally wrong and is a practice that should be banned. In the murky corner the argument goes that players are simply being further incentivised to do a job they are already paid to do, and is part of the game that has been around since it was invented.
So, is deliberately injuring an opponent part of the game anyway? Does it therefore make a difference whether players are paid more to do their job? How does this practice relate to other sports?
An investigation has begun after former New Orleans Saints coach, Gregg Williams, has admitted paying players for injuring targeted players nominated before games. ‘Knock-outs’ were worth $1,500 while ‘cart-offs’ were paid $1,000, the proceeds being paid from a $50,000 fund that was allocated. Players targeted include quarterbacks Brett Favre and Kurt Warner.
His admissions span a three-year period, although since the revelations a number of other allegations involving myriad teams, including the 2011 season, have surfaced. But it is the 2009-10 season that has caused the greatest consternation as it was then that the Saints went on to win the Superbowl.
The NFL has stated that 27 players have been implicated. Favre, to his credit, has defended the opposition when his Vikings played the Saints (hardly an appropriate name) and he was repeatedly hit, claiming they were simply doing their job and that the sums on offer would hardly incentivise players already earning seven figure salaries, excluding endorsements.
Another burning question is why this matter has now arisen, directly from the NFL, when it has been a widespread part of the game for years. Some sceptics claim it is tied to an NFL drive to protect player safety and improve the integrity of the game. Could it also be a fear of legal action resulting from post-concussion syndrome affecting retired athletes?
This could be considered more pertinent given the recent deaths of three National Hockey League (NHL) ‘enforcers’, all amidst allegations of suicide. Ice hockey is perhaps one of the best known sports with fighting ‘encouraged’ with hardmen hired to ‘protect’ their more skilful colleagues and react aggressively to violence from the opposition. They are considered by many to be working class superheroes and are often amongst the more popular members of the team, despite their relatively lower skill levels.
A change in regulations following the 2004-5 lockout aimed at increasing the game speed and scoring opportunities saw an initial decrease in the fighting. The following season saw ‘only’ 466 fights during the league season, although this increased to a peak of 734 in 2008-9. To put this into perspective, this represents a fight occurring in over 40 per cent of all matches played. For many it is one of the main reasons to go and watch ice hockey. The targeting of star players is a well known art form!
The link between aggressive hard men and skill levels can also be found in soccer. Many will remember the illustrious characters, Ron ‘Chopper’ Harris and Norman ‘Bite Yer Legs’ Hunter, nicknames that hardly suggest they had the artistry of the modern era players such as Messi and Ronaldo. However, they won titles which suggest they could also play football. You don’t lift a trophy over the course of a season purely by intimidation.
Harris won the League Cup with Chelsea in 1965 and became the youngest captain in an FA Cup final in 1967, a game they ultimately lost to Spurs. He did eventually get to lift the FA Cup in 1970 when Chelsea defeated Leeds United in a replay made famous by Hunter’s late tackle on the opposition playmaker, Eddie Gray, after only eight minutes. And Real Madrid were chopped down to size the year later as Chelsea won the UEFA Cup Winner’s Cup.
Hunter was the very first winner of the PFA Players’ Player of the Year Award in 1974 when he also picked up his second league winner’s medal with Leeds. Despite his legendary strength in the tackle he was not immune to injury himself. On one occasion he failed to rise from a tackle and the club trainer, Les Crocker, was informed that Hunter had broken a leg. However, given his reputation, Crocker’s immediate response was to question ‘whose is it?’
In more recent times Vinnie Jones is perhaps the most notorious of the hard men, leading to him presenting a video in 1992 entitled Soccer’s Hard Men. This included footage of some of the toughest tackles although the controversy stemmed from him describing various tricks used to intimidate opponents. This led to him being fined a then record £20,000 for bringing the game into disrepute.
Many may not recall that Jones won the FA Cup with the Crazy Gang in 1998 and even captained Wales. Jones can perhaps thank the ‘testicle squeeze’ he employed on Paul Gascoigne which will be the most enduring image of his career, although this has spawned a Hollywood career with Jones cast again as a hard-man!
Players in all contact sports, past and present, will argue that intimidation, to varying degrees, is part and parcel of the game with the natural focus falling on the opposition players capable of technically causing the most damage.
The comparatively punitive sums offered to the players at the New Orleans Saints do nothing more than highlight the action. It is up to the regulators of each sport to marginalise the opportunities for players to manipulate the grey areas of the game while ensuring players wear the necessary protective gear. Increased visibility through the media is already playing its part.
The main balance is to ensure that the sport is not taken out of the game.
