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Hardcore Fight In The Stands At Panthers And Eagles Game
Anyone who has been to an NFL game will know that while the game may be the most testosterone-filled pro sport there is, the stadium itself feels a lot like the field. While the NFL and time have done a good job of fixing that situation, the ambiance still feels a lot like a protest that is one wrong look away from turning into a riot.
This situation varies from stadium to stadium and one of the stadiums/teams that is most well known for being extremely hostile and women-free is Lincoln Financial— home of the Philadelphia Eagles.
So when people heard that there was a terrible fist fight in the crowd of a Carolina Panthers and Philadelphia Eagles game during Thursday Night Football, it was assumed that an Eagles fan probably had something to do with it. Surprisingly, that’s not the case, though.
The fight actually transpired at Bank of America Stadium — home stadium of the Panthers — and was between two men in Panthers attire. Here’s the video:
The fight marred an otherwise much needed successful game for the NFL. The league has had ratings issues this season since the debut of Thursday Night Football. Ratings for that game were up almost ten per cent over Thursday Night Football in 2016.
The above video went viral and the man throwing the punches might be charged. The hyper-tense ambiance at NFL games has been an unspoken reality for awhile.
This fight is not an isolated incident nor is it something that happens often in other sports like baseball, or even hockey — where five-minute penalties are given to players who punch one another in the face.
Another perfect example is the “bathroom brawl” that occurred at Levi’s Stadium in San Francisco during a game between the 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs. A Niners fan in a Frank Gore jersey and his friend ended up in a fight while in line for the bathroom. The unlucky victim “nudged” the assailant on the shoulder to show him that one of the urinals was free.
The man didn’t like being touched, so he attacked the other man, punching him in the face with no heads up. This “fight” was also caught on mobile video. It left the victim with a serious brain injury that was almost fatal — at first it was thought that the victim might be paralyzed.
The attacker got 5 years in prison for grievous bodily harm. While the Carolina situation wasn’t as bad, it’s definitely a trend at this point. “We have reviewed videotape of the incident and have identified the perpetrator,” Lance Emory, the Panthers executive director of risk management said . “We are working with the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department to pursue charges to the fullest extent of the law.”
“The Carolina Panthers are committed to a fan-friendly and family-friendly stadium experience. The behavior exhibited by the perpetrator is unacceptable and will not be condoned at Bank of America Stadium,” he continued.
While that may be something that the NFL is working towards it still feels like something that is pretty far away. The NFL has been building new stadiums left and right in different locales and those stadiums lend themselves to a more family-friendly situation.
Still, there’s an unspoken rule at some stadiums that you shouldn’t bring children under a certain age to a game or especially to certain areas in a stadium. Like the Black Hole at an Oakland Raiders game.