It is well known that I watch football games for the torts and New York Jets assistant coach Sal Alosi supplied a perfect case for battery this weekend. Despite the interesting legal dispute over the “one cheek, two cheek” rule in my Bears game, the jackbooted thugs at the network switched over to the “more competitive game” between the Dolphins and the Jets. I was quickly satiated, however, with the picture of Alosi tripping Miami’s Nolan Carroll on the sideline.
What is astonishing is that the trip appears intentional — leading to Alosi being frog marched out of New Meadowlands Stadium by a staff member.
Later he said “I made a mistake that showed a total lapse in judgment. My conduct was inexcusable and unsportsmanlike and does not reflect what this organization stands for. I accept responsibility for my actions as well as any punishment that follows.”
Here is the video.
Here come the Jets like a bat outta hell
Someone gets in our way, someone don’t feel so well!
Here come the Jets!
Notably, after the incident, Alosi switched his green hat for an appropriately black hat — but many noted that he was hiding his affiliation.
Alosi, who was wearing a green hat at the time, conspicuously switched to a black hat in the middle of the game. Then he took the hat off altogether.
Occasionally, professional sports will lead to tort or criminal actions. In football, one such case was Hackbart v. The Cincinnati Bengals involving a game between the Denver Broncos and the Cincinnati Bengals in Denver in 1973. The Broncos’ defensive back, Dale Hackbart, was injured by a blow by Bengals’ offensive back, Charles “Booby” Clark. The court ruled that the hit fell outside of the NFL rules and thus Hackbart did not consent to such a battery.
Likewise, Minnesota North Stars player Dino Ciccarelli went briefly to jail after assaulting Luke Richardson of the Toronto Maple Leafs during a game at Maple Leaf Gardens. He twice clubbed Richardson in the head with his stick and was later arrested. Judge Sidney Harris found Ciccarelli guilty and essentially ruled that he could not commit crimes inside a stadium for which he would be charged outside of a stadium. It is a crime regardless of the forum. He went to jail for a day and was fined $1,000.
In this case, Alosi appeared to have the intent to commit the harmful or offensive touching. There was no consent as shown in the Hackbart case. Likewise, under respondeat superior, the Jets could be sued (though they would argue he was a rogue employee and committed the act during a “frolic or detour.”).
When you’re a Jet you’re a Jet all the way
From your first cigarette
To your last dying day
When you’re a Jet if the spit hits the fan
You’ve got brothers around
You’re a family man
You’re never alone
You’re never disconnected
You’re home with your own
When company’s expected
You’re well-protected
Then you are set with a Capital J
Which you’ll never forget ’till they cart you away
When you’re a Jet you stay a Jet!(speaking)
Now I know Tony like I know me,
And I gaurantee you can count him in.ACTION:
In, out, let’s get crackin’!
Where you gonna find Bernardo?RIF:
At the dance tonight at the gymBABY JOHN:
But the gym’s neutral territoryRIF:
I’m gonna make nice with him, I’m only gonna challenge himICE:
Great, Daddy-ORIF
So everybody dress up sweet and sharp and
meet Tony and me at ten.
And walk tall!A-RAB:
We always walk tall!BABY JOHN:
We’re Jets!BIG DEAL:
The greatest!DEISEL:
When you’re a Jet you’re the top cat in town
You’re the Gold medal kid with the heavyweight crownICE:
When you’re a Jet you’re the swingin’est thing
Little boy, you’re a man, Little man you’re a king!ALL:
The Jets are in gear
Our cylinders are clickin’
The sharks’ll steer clear
‘Cause every Puerto Rican’s
A lousy chicken!
Here come the Jets like a bat outta hell
Someone gets in our way, someone don’t feel so well!
Here come the Jets!
Little world, step aside!
Better go underground!
Better run, Better hide!
We’re drawing the line,
So keep your nose’s hidden
We’re hangin’ a sign
Says visitors forbidden
And we ain’t kiddin’
Here come the Jets!
Yeah!
And we’re gonna beat every last buggin’ gang on the
whole buggin’ street.
on the whole ever mother lovin’ street!
Yeah!
bdaman,
After reviewing the tape for the eleventy-seventh time, I conclude that it absotively, posilutely was the knee poked over the line that did the deed, which has now been apologized for, fined, and suspended the rest of the season.
Bdaman,
That is propaganda in its highest…I think the Nazi War Effort would be pleased by your information. I am not amused however, as it is miscommunication… Use the same things today…Who bailed out the banks, insurance companies, deregulation. I am sure you get the gist….
The old GOP is the Democratic Party today….and vice versa…
To eniobob:
Very interesting thought experiment–but dangerous. It could cause some heads to explode.
What! Soo juss fer battry? Them football boyz gots lots of money. I would at least soo fer a new kar to go with that battry…
“assistant coach Sal Alosi” will soon become ex-assistant coach I hopefully predict. Can a coach that so miserably fails the test of leadership be allowed to continue in his job? He surly shouldn’t.
—
Eniobob: “…What if Obama were the one who was known to display publicly, on many occasions, a serious anger management problem?”
Really, he called his wife a cu*t in front of a plane full of reporters for no good reason, what if Obama had done that? McCain has problems that go way beyond being a flip-flopper.
enoibob:
I think Tatum did “officially” apologize, but Stingley saw it as a “public” apology to silence his critics rather than a heart-felt feeling of remorse. For his part, Stingley did say that he forgave Tatum but I don’t think Tatum ever truly regretted the incident as the two never met after the collision on the field.
mespo727272:
“wide-out, Darryl Stingley, who was paralyzed by a legal hit from Oakland Raider defensive back, Jack “Call Me Assassin” Tatum”
What I remember more that the hit,Tatum never apologized.
“The Hit On Darryl Stingley
In one of the most lasting images from Super Bowl XI on January 9, 1977, Tatum knocked the helmet off Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Sammy White. This is often regarded as one of the biggest hits in Super Bowl history.[16] But his most infamous hit came in a preseason game against the New England Patriots on August 12, 1978. Tatum and Patriots wide receiver Darryl Stingley collided as Stingley was leaping for a pass on an inside slant route, a play the Patriots had run earlier in the game with some success that put him in the path of Tatum. There was an awkward collision as Stingley lowered his helmet to protect himself and hit Tatum’s shoulder pad.[17] The impact badly damaged Stingley’s spinal cord and left him paralyzed from the chest down for the rest of his life. According to Stingley in his 1983 autobiography, Happy To Be Alive, Tatum never made any effort to apologize or to see him after the incident. [1]. Tatum had said he attempted to visit Stingley in the hospital, but was rebuffed by Stingley’s family.[18] The two did not speak from that day until Stingley’s death on April 5, 2007, although Stingley related in a 2003 interview that he had forgiven Tatum. “It’s hard to articulate,” he said. “It was a test of my faith, the entire story. In who, and how much, do you believe, Darryl? In my heart and mind, I forgave Jack Tatum a long time ago.”[19] Tatum never apologized for the hit, saying that the coaches knew it was a risky play and had called it too many times in the game already, that eventually someone was going to get hurt and it just happened to be Stingley when Tatum was playing.[20] “It could have happened to anybody,” said Tatum. “People are always saying, ‘He didn’t apologize.’ I don’t think I did anything wrong that I need to apologize for. It was a clean hit.”
We know he was president of the Harvard Law Review. His grades were excellent.
You do what were they.
Bdaman,
Enibob one of the problems is everyone assumes Obama is smart because supposedly he was a constitutional law professor. We don’t know how well he did in school, no one has seen his grades.
We know he was president of the Harvard Law Review. His grades were excellent.
“It is well known that I watch football games for the torts ….”
*********************
Personally I watch them for tarts, but in any event, I don’t think there is much doubt about the intention of Alosi or the right of the player to sue civilly for battery. Player to player contact is non-actionable under notions of implied or express consent to battery given the physical nature of the game and the rules which govern the contact, as you say. The Dolphin player, Nolan Carroll, cannot be said to have “consented” to an unexpected knee from a non-participant on the sidelines in clear violation the rules of the game.
Those of us old enough to remember the horrific case of New England Patriot wide-out, Darryl Stingley, who was paralyzed by a legal hit from Oakland Raider defensive back, Jack “Call Me Assassin” Tatum, recall there was talk of criminal charges arising from the play but none were brought as the contact was legal under the then-existing rules and thus impliedly consented to by the participants. A settlement was reached with the team and the league with the Patriots agreeing to pay for Stingley’s lifetime medical bills and for the education of his kids. Small recompense, indeed, given the injury involved.
The NFL has seen the light and is strictly construing rules preventing helmet to helmet or hand to helmet contact. One player, Pittsburgh’s James Harrison has already been fined $125,000.00 for four separate incidents involving helmet to helmet or hand tohelmet contact. What is interetsting is that Tatum’s hit today would likely be deemed illegal and actionable under the new rules — small solace for Stingley’s family who survived his 2007 death.
The NFL says it is doing so to prevent injury to its highly paid players, but I wonder if another reason is the fear of lawsuits for negligent enforcement of the rules should players become paralyzed or injured by rule-breaking hits.
Lately the F word has been used alot in statements 🙂 unfortunately it was from his own party.
Bdaman :
Well I don’t know,when ever I hear other politicians speak of his smarts its always a general statement which seems to say hes got it.
Education isn’t everything but this is about the two highest offices in the land as well as our standing in the world. You make the call.
Enibob one of the problems is everyone assumes Obama is smart because supposedly he was a constitutional law professor. We don’t know how well he did in school, no one has seen his grades.
Specialization in International Relations.
Thats where he must have learned to bow down to everyone.
our standing in the world ?
Wikileaks dispelled that myth. We are a bunch of bullies.
Cato,
The rhetorical kind?