Most Famous Brawls in Sports History

A massive brawl broke out right as Kansas completed a dominating win over rivals Kansas State. As the Jayhawks dribbled out the clock, Kansas State’s DaJuan Gordon stole the ball and went up for a lay in, only to be blocked by Silvio De Sousa and fall to the ground. After De Sousa stood over his opponent to taunt him, players from both sides came pouring onto the floor and a fracas ensued. Punches were thrown, and fans sitting nearby scrambled out of the way. De Sousa even raised a chair over his head before a coach took it out of his hands. All but five players on each team were ejected. De Sousa was suspended for a dozen games and three other players were suspended for a combined 13 games.

The bad blood between the Toronto Blue Jays and Texas Rangers began when the teams faced off in the 2015 playoffs. Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista flipped his bat after hitting what would be the decisive home run in the series. When the teams played the next season, the Rangers clearly had not forgotten the bat flip.

Pitcher Matt Bush hit Bautista with a pitch. Bautista responded by sliding well past second base when trying to break up a double play, almost hitting second baseman Rougned Odor. These slides can be dangerous to the fielder. Odor pushed Bautista, then punched him in the face. Both benches cleared and 14 players and coaches were punished over the scrap.

The Broncos and Raiders have been rivals for years, but a personal dislike between Broncos cornerback Aqib Talib and Raiders receiver Michael Crabtree embroiled both teams into a fistfight in 2017. Talib ripped Crabtree’s chain off his neck in a 2016 game, then tried the same move the next season. By the second time, Crabtree was fed up and grabbed a hold of Talib and shoved him into the sidelines, barreling into NFL personnel. Other Denver and Oakland players got involved as well, pushing and punching each other. Talib, Crabtree, and Raider Gabe Jackson were tossed from the game, and both Talib and Crabtree earned two-game suspensions.

The Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Islanders played a testy game on Feb. 2, 2011. Pittsburgh’s Max Talbot delivered a concussing blow on New York’s Blake Comeau, and the game ended in a goalie fight that left Isles’ goalie Rick DiPietro with broken facial bones. When they met again nine days later, both teams were still ready to rumble. There were fights in every period, including several all-out scrums between multiple players. When the game was finally over, referees handed out 346 penalty minutes and eight ejections. New York won the game 9-3.

In the late 1990s, the Knicks and Heat developed a disdain for one another, repeatedly facing off in the playoffs. These physically punishing series were centered around New York’s Larry Johnson and Miami’s Alonzo Mourning. They were once teammates but had a falling out while playing together in Charlotte. As an especially physical game was seconds from ending, Mourning and Johnson got tangled up and started swinging wildly at one another. None of the punches landed, but both teams faced huge suspensions that marred the series. That fight is remembered to this day for Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy’s desperate attempt to stop the fight by grabbing onto Mourning’s leg. Mourning, Johnson, and New York’s Chris Mills were all suspended for the following game.

Baseball players take the unwritten rules of the game very seriously. So when the Tampa Bay Rays accused Boston Red Sox outfielder Coco Crisp of breaking them by intentionally trying to hurt an opponent, they also turned to on-field retribution. A day after Crisp slid into second baseman Akinori Iwamura, Rays pitcher James Shields plunked Crisp, who responded by charging the mound. The two exchanged wild haymakers, most of which missed, before their teammates came into the fracas, wrestling Crisp and Shields to the ground and exchanging some blows on the ground.

A relatively routine dustup in 1977 turned out to be one of the most shocking and dangerous incidents in American sports history. Los Angeles’ Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Houston’s Kevin Kunnert tussled near half court, and players came running to their aid. The Lakers’ Kermit Washington stood near the two and saw Houston’s Rudy Tomjanovich running toward him, so he wound up and punched Tomjanovich. It turned out to be a devastating hit — breaking Tomjanovich’s face in four places and causing spinal fluid to leak — putting his life in danger. Tomjanovich had to spend days in the ICU and go through several surgeries. Washington was suspended for a then-record 60 days.

Just two seasons after trading away Wayne Gretzky, all eyes were on the Edmonton Oilers as they traveled to Los Angeles to face Gretzky and the Kings. It was enforcers like L.A.’s Marty McSorley and Edmonton’s Mark Messier, however, that stole the show, brawling less than two minutes into the game. The teams would fight each other and play dirty throughout the entire game, earning an NHL record 86 total penalties. McSorley would eventually be ejected, along with Edmonton’s Steve Smith and Jeff Beukeboom. The Kings ended up winning the game thanks to Gretzky’s goal and two assists, but the Oilers got the last laugh, hoisting the Stanley Cup at the end of the season.

An ugly incident marred the end of what was a great Super Bowl between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks. Russell Wilson threw a goal-line interception with less than 30 seconds left in the game, so the Pats just needed to take a knee to end the game and start the celebrations. But the Seahawks defensive line launched into New England’s offensive line, leading to a massive melee at the end of the big game. Seattle’s Michael Bennett and Bruce Irvin got into it with New England tight end Rob Gronkowski. Irvin was ejected for hitting Gronkowski in the face, but the game eventually got back on track and the Pats clinched the title.

Though this Giants-Nationals brawl started as a result of a feud between Bryce Harper and Hunter Strickland, Mike Morse got the worst of it. Harper and Strickland had a years-long spat since 2014, stemming from Harper’s postseason home runs off Strickland. The two exchanged words through the media about baseball’s “unwritten rules” afterwards. In 2017, Strickland hit Harper with a 98 mph pitch, and Harper charged the mound but wound up getting punched by Strickland, which led to a huge scuffle. Giants pitcher Jeff Samardzija charged in to attack Harper, but slammed into Morse, his teammate, giving him a career-ending concussion. Strickland was suspended for six games, while Harper missed four.

The Windy City rivalry between the North Side Cubs and South Side Sox came to a head in 2006 after a collision at the plate. Catcher A.J. Pierzynski developed a reputation for antagonizing opponents, and he did just that with the White Sox. In a play at the plate, he ran over Cubs catcher Michael Barrett and emphatically slapped home plate and got in Barrett’s face. Barrett responded by winding up and slugging Pierzynski, and players came pouring out of the dugouts, starting a melee around home plate. For his role in the fight, Barrett earned a 10-game suspension. For the White Sox, outfielder Brian Anderson was banned for five games, and third base coach Joey Cora was suspended for two. All other combatants were fined.

Going into their final meeting of the 1997 regular season, the Detroit Red Wings and Colorado Avalanche were ready to fight. The two teams played a vicious postseason series the year before, capped off by an illegal check into the boards from Colorado’s Claude Lemieux that severely injured Detroit’s Kris Draper. Detroit was ready for vengeance. In the first period of their 1997 matchup, several simultaneous fights broke out, with Darren McCarty pummeling Lemieux. All in all, there were 10 fights and over two hours of combined penalty minutes. The Red Wings won 6-5 with McCarty notching the winning goal in overtime.

Juan Marichal is revered as a Hall of Fame pitcher, but an ugly incident in a 1965 brawl has marred his legacy and helped entrench the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants as fierce rivals. The game between the teams was already a heated affair, with Marichal and opposing pitcher Sandy Koufax throwing inside at batters. After Koufax threw near Marichal’s head, Dodger catcher John Roseboro and Marichal began arguing. Marichal infamously raised his bat and hit Roseboro with it — the only time an MLB player has struck an opponent with his bat intentionally. Willie Mays charged in and settled the players before things got even more out of hand. Roseboro needed 14 stitches to close the gash in his head. Marichal was suspended for eight days.

Down 119-100 with just over a minute remaining in their 2006 game with the Nuggets, the Knicks seemed to take exception to the fact that many of Denver’s starters were still in the game, potentially running up the score. As Nugget J.R. Smith tried to run for a breakaway dunk, he was hammered by New York’s Mardy Collins. Players pushed and shoved, and Smith wrestled New York’s Nate Robinson and they exchanged punches. After the fight seemed to die down, Denver’s Carmelo Anthony punched Collins in the face. The inciting foul seemed to be premeditated, as New York’s Robinson said after the game, “we’re not going to let guys keep dunking when they’re up 20.” Anthony received the largest suspension, at 15 games. Smith and Robinson missed 10 games; Collins was suspended for six; and New York’s Jared Jeffries earned a four-game ban.

The 2010 fight between the Titans and the Texans was really a matchup between two players — Tennessee cornerback Cortland Finnegan and Houston receiver Andre Johnson. Finnegan earned a reputation as a player who often crossed the line from physical to dirty, pestering and hitting opposing wide receivers. After playing against him all day, Andre Johnson had had enough, ripping Finnegan’s helmet off, slamming him to the ground, and punching him around the head. After the two were separated, the teams came together in the middle of the field for a scrum before being separated. Both players were ejected.

The Red Sox and Yankees are among the most ferocious rivals in sports and have a rich history of fisticuffs. One of the most infamous fights in the history of the rivalry was in 1973, when New York’s catcher Thurman Munson decked his Boston counterpart, Carlton Fisk, during a play at the plate. This led to a huge brawl with benches clearing and Munson and Fisk punching and kicking one another. In the 2003 ALCS, a relatively tame brawl became infamous after Yankees’ bench coach Don Zimmer, then 72, charged at Boston pitcher Pedro Martinez, who threw him to the ground. In 2004, another brawl occurred. This time Red Sox pitcher Bronson Arroyo drilled Alex Rodriguez with a fastball. The two yelled at each other as Boston catcher Jason Varitek intervened. The intervention was unhelpful, as Varitek and Rodriguez began fighting and benches cleared.

The massive melee between the Philadelphia Flyers and Ottawa Senators in 2004 holds the NHL record for the most penalty minutes in a single game. Philly came into the game with an axe to grind after Ottawa’s Martin Havlat nearly hit Mark Recchi in the head with his stick in their previous encounter. The game was fairly clean for the first two periods, with just 10 penalty minutes handed out. After a fight between Donald Brashear of the Flyers and Rob Ray of the Senators, a huge brawl broke out. Even the goalies fought each other. Officials tried to restart the game several times, but the players seemed to be interested only in fighting, repeatedly scrapping. When all was said and done, players had earned a whopping 417 penalty minutes — nearly seven hours worth.

The Miami-FIU brawl was so large that 31 different players were suspended for participating in it. The melee began when several FIU players seemed to be upset by a Miami player showboating after a touchdown. After the extra point, several FIU players began fighting with their opponents, leading to an all-out brawl among the two teams. A Miami player swung his helmet at several Golden Panthers, while an injured FIU player swung his crutches in the scrum. Miami earned 13 suspensions, while FIU received 18.

Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett received the longest suspension in NFL history for a single on-field act after an ugly incident against rival Pittsburgh Steelers. With just a few seconds left in their game, Garrett ripped off the helmet of Steelers QB Mason Rudolph. When Rudolph charged at Garrett in retaliation, Garrett smashed Rudolph on top of the head with it. Pittsburgh’s offensive lineman David DeCastro quickly took Garrett to the ground, while center Maurkice Pouncey punched and kicked him. The teams were separated after some additional pushing and shoving. After the game, 33 different players were punished, their fines totaling nearly $750,000. Three players were suspended, including Garrett, who sat out the rest of the season.

Perhaps the most infamous brawl in sports history was in 2004, between the Detroit Pistons and Indiana Pacers — an incident forever known as Malice at the Palace. Indiana’s Ron Artest, now Metta World Peace, committed a hard foul on Detroit’s Ben Wallace in the final minute of the game. Wallace shoved Artest, and the teams scuffled but were soon separated. The real drama began after someone in the stands threw a drink at Artest, and he charged into the stands and attacked a fan. Artest was suspended the rest of the season, which amounted to 73 regular season games and 13 playoff games — the NBA’s longest-ever suspension for a non-drug related incident. Eight other players were suspended a total of 60 games for the fight and fallout. Artest, Jermaine O’Neal, and Stephen Jackson — who also entered the stands — were all charged with assault and received a year of probation and mandated community service.