History Main / UnnecessaryRoughness

* In November 2019, during a game between the Cleveland Browns and the Pittsburgh Steelers, Browns defensive end Myles Garrett ripped the helmet off of Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph, then [[https://youtu.be/gLF0Xa3jc0I hit Rudolph in the head with Rudolph's own helmet]]. The act caused Garrett to be suspended indefinitely the following day, making him miss the rest of the regular season. At the time, it was the longest suspension in NFL history for a single on-the-field action (later eclipsed by Vontaze Burfict, see above.)

* A case of this led to one of the most classic [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKiuLgmYVus referee calls]] of all time when referee Ben Dreith decided to explain in a little more detail than just name-dropping the trope what had drawn the penalty call (the defender threw a couple of punches after taking down the quarterback), complete with miming the offending action. HilarityEnsued.

* The Rowdyruff Boys challenge WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls to a football game in "Anything Boys Can Do, Squirrels Can Do Better" (Cartoon Network Action Pack #1). After Bubbles is sidelined following a rather vicious hit from the Rowdyruffs, Twitchy (the squirrel Bubbles rescued in "Squirrely Burly") fills in and runs rings around the boys.

* Played for laughs during Animal Planet's ''Puppy Bowl'' events, where the referee steps in if a couple of pups are playing a bit too hard and punishes the main offender with "unnecessary [[IncrediblyLamePun ruff]]ness".

* ''[[Anime/EighthMan 8 Man After]]'' features a scene where the BigBad buys a football team and tries to ensure his victory by stocking the roster with cyborgs high on PsychoSerum. The team naturally gets brutally and unnecessarily violent until they turn on the referees and even start killing people in the audience.

* The Liverpool-Manchester United derby isn't quite as violent, but it lacks the MoralityChain of shared family ties that the Merseyside Derby has and is the footballing equivalent of ItsPersonal on the grounds that United and Liverpool are the two most successful teams in English history and the rivalry between the two cities is older than the clubs, going back most of two hundred years to the Industrial Revolution. In Spain, it is widely considered to be the equivalent of the Barca-Madrid 'El Clasico' for both these reasons, and it's nicknamed 'El Vitriol'. Fans usually end up taunting one another with the Munich Air Disaster of 1958 (which essentially destroyed the legendary 'Busby Babes' United side) and the Hillsborough Stadium Disaster of 1989 (which over-crowding aggravated by police incompetence killed 97 Liverpool fans and led to the Taylor Report which enforced all-seater stadia and banned fencing around fans. The youngest victim, 10-year-old Jon-Paul Gilhooley, was the cousin of legendary future Liverpool and England captain Steven Gerrard). Meanwhile, notable on-pitch incidents have included racial abuse by [[TokenEvilTeamMate Luis Suárez]] against Patrice Evra, and John-Arne Riise absolutely destroying Alan 'Smudge' Smith's leg in such a way as to sideline him for eight months, breaking it in two places - the original estimate was twelve months, and frankly, Smith was never quite the same afterwards. The latter, unbelievably, was actually ''by accident'' [[note]] Riise took a free-kick and had a left foot that regularly did passable impersonations of [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Mjolnir]]. [[ButtMonkey Poor old Smudge]] was in the way. [[/note]]. To add insult to injury, Liverpool fans were singing about Riise's shooting power while Smith was treated [[EveryoneHasStandards (though they stopped when it became apparent how serious the injury was).]] It should be noted that both of these happened in the last fifteen years. It should also be noted that the fans are generally worse than the players.

* ''Film/TheLastBoyScout'' takes the trope to its logical extreme (but ultimately a subversion because...well, it should be obvious why) when a football player gets high on PCP and then ''pulls out a gun and shoots 3 opposing players'' to score a touchdown before killing himself.

* In November 2019, during a game between the Cleveland Browns and the Pittsburgh Steelers, Browns defensive end Myles Garrett ripped the helmet off of Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph, then [[https://youtu.be/gLF0Xa3jc0I hit Rudolph in the head with Rudolph's own helmet]]. The act caused Garrett to be suspended indefinitely the following day, making him miss the rest of the regular season. At the time, it was the longest suspension in NFL history for a single on-the-field action.

* As noted in the page quote, the TropeNamer is UsefulNotes/AmericanFootball. Unnecessary roughness is a personal foul penalty that covers a large range of actions, such as hitting a ball carrier who is already out of bounds or violent contact with a player who is away from the ball. At the professional and college levels, the foul carries a 15-yard penalty and, if the foul is committed by the defense, an automatic first down. Severe instances (such as striking blows/fisticuffs) result in player ejections.

* In ''Series/DrQuinnMedicineWoman'' (episode "Travelling All Stars") we see a baseball match where the professional team's players deliberately injure members of the Colorado Springs team and receive no penalty. (Naturally, Colorado Springs wins anyway.)

** There's also the numerous baserunners who have used their cleats as weapons of war. [[JerkAss Ty Cobb]] was particularly famous for this.