League defers to teams regarding practice-field fights

Posted by Mike Florio on August 19, 2015, 5:15 PM EDT
Getty Images

When a fight happens during a game, the league administers discipline. When a fight happens in the locker, the league also can get involved. However, when a fight happens on the practice field, the NFL typically stays out of it.

“These have always been club matters,” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy told PFT by email on Wednesday afternoon. “If a fight occurs off the football field, it would fall under the Personal Conduct Policy. Otherwise, practice is a club matter.”

So don’t look for the league to do anything about Tuesday’s melee between the Rams and the Cowboys, or any other fights that happen between the white lines when teams are practicing either alone or with another team.

Of course, if the teams aren’t going to do anything about it — and if the league’s in-house TV network intends to glorify the fighting by broadcasting the brouhahas repeatedly — eventually the NFL will have to take action.

Assuming the NFL wants it to stop. There’s a chance that the ultimate reality show likes it when the reality includes some real donnybrooks.

Permalink 13 Comments Feed for comments Back to top

13 responses to “League defers to teams regarding practice-field fights”

  3. More league inability to manage the situation, its time that house was cleared out and someone with strong leadership was brought in.

  4. Because the hypocrites actually want their league-owned network to repeatedly show the in-practice fights to boost their ratings. Therefore, they refuse to place league-wide mandates against it.

  5. No need to overreact. Fights have always been a part of football, especially in training camp. In my opinion, the league is right and this should be handled by the individual teams. It’s all fun and games until someone breaks a face.

  6. …not to mention the league’s in-house network repeatedly announcing last night that the league will be taking numbers and taking names from the video for disciplinary purposes.

  8. descendency says:

    Then why did the league send out a memo a few weeks ago about this very issue?
    _______________________

    It’s called lip service. As an example you can reference the league’s pronouncements on player safety, domestic violence, CTE, integrity of the game…

  9. Coaches can’t handle the players? Is there that much team strife? Not going to the playoffs year after year can probably do that. Ravens don’t have that problem.

  10. Truely, it is something that’s gone on since before the NFL in the game of football. It’s just that now it widely reported. I mean, consider the element, even with a league crackdown, it’s going to occur. Only then, guys will get punished for things that happen in practice. We talkin bout practice (SMH).

  11. This is PREASON ” most ” of the guys who are fighting WON’T even be on the 53 man roster. It should be the teams matter to deal with NOT the NFLS.

  12. I get that this is a relatively small issue that really falls under the heading of boys will be boys, but if the NFL is going to punish players for any sort of indiscretion it is really quite hypocritical to punt it back to the teams. But then why should we expect anything less from a league office run by town-idiot Roger Goodell and his stooges?

    My solution would be to take a page from the playbook of Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio – any players involved in a fight get stuck wearing pink uniforms for a few days, or if that is not feasible then a pink helmet cover and pinnie (a mesh pullover that anyone who played high school sports was made to wear during scrimmages and likely hated).

  13. I never knew there were so many fights in NFL training camps. Someone told me they swear a lot too.

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to leave a comment. Not a member? Register now!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.