History Main / UnnecessaryRoughness

** Another Real defender, Sergio Ramos, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnF_guJHPeE also tends to be violent]]. Most notably, he basically won the 2018 Champions League Final against Liverpool, first by dislocating star Liverpool striker Mohamed Salah's arm in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mi7fXtGTwbc a judo flip]]. And not just that - it was an ''illegal'' judo flip. [[https://twitter.com/europeanjudo/status/1000741984590553088 The European Judo Union]] and other Judoka commenting on the match made that very explicit - even ''MMA analysts'' were appalled. Then, he [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhuiH-b0DbM elbowing goalkeeper Karius in the side of the head]]. Karius was later diagnosed with a concussion and subsequently went from a confident keeper with the best defensive record in the Champions League, holding Real at bay to making two of the worst howlers in Champions League history (he conceded a third goal, but it's generally accepted that ''no one'' would have stopped Gareth Bale's bicycle kick) in the following minutes. Ramos, meanwhile, got away clean with another winner's medal.

** Another Real defender, Sergio Ramos, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnF_guJHPeE also tends to be violent]]. Most notably, he basically won the 2018 Champions League Final against Liverpool, first by dislocating star Liverpool striker Mohamed Salah's arm in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mi7fXtGTwbc a judo flip]]. And not just that - it was an ''illegal'' judo flip. [[https://twitter.com/europeanjudo/status/1000741984590553088 The European Judo Union]] and other Judoka commenting on the match made that very explicit - even ''MMA analysts'' were appalled. Then, he [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhuiH-b0DbM elbowing goalkeeper Karius in the side of the head]]. Karius was later diagnosed with a concussion and subsequently went from a confident keeper with the best defensive record in the Champions League, holding Real at bay to making two of the worst howlers in Champions League history (he conceded a third goal, but it's generally accepted that ''no one'' would have stopped Bale's bicycle kick) in the following minutes. Ramos, meanwhile, got away clean with another winner's medal.

* In college basketball, Duke University's Grayson Allen has become synonymous for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cTs4zpI3CQ tripping opponents]]. He did it at least twice in the 2015–16 season, and after another instance in December 2016, he was [[GroundedForever suspended from the team indefinitely]]... which apparently meant [[http://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/dukes-grayson-allen-returns-from-suspension-after-missing-just-one-game/ one game]].

*** NSW Waratahs fullback Duncan [=McBride=] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oj-F0NyHt7c punching]] [[KickThemWhileTheyAreDown Lions flyhalf Ronan O'Gara while he's down]], in a match between the Lions and the regional team New South Wales Waratahs during the 2001 tour of Australia. It was so vicious, it spawned a rumour that O'Gara had slept with McRae's wife. [=McRae=] received a red card and a 7-week ban, but he didn't miss any matches since it happened during the off-season.

** Perhaps the worst example in this sport came in an April 2022 junior college[[labelnote:*]]two-year college, with most students entering immediately after high school[[/labelnote]] game in Texas. In the top of the sixth inning of a scheduled seven-inning game between North Central Texas College and Weatherford College, NCTC's Josh Phillips hit a go-ahead home run. As Phillips was nearing third base, the pitcher who had given up the homer, Owen Woodward, threw down his glove and sprinted toward Phillips, violently tackling him just after he rounded third. A bench-clearing brawl ensued, umpires immediately suspended the game, and the game was declared a forfeit for both teams. The pitcher was suspended for 4 games and faces potential expulsion from the school, but most of the punishment was levied against NCTC, with almost all of their team and several assistants drawing 2-game suspensions for going onto the field. Four other Weatherford players and coaches also drew 2-game suspensions. [[https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/33779754/multiple-players-suspended-junior-college-pitcher-tackles-opponent-hit-homer Story (with video) here]].

** Perhaps the worst example in this sport came in an April 2022 junior college[[labelnote:*]]two-year college, with most students entering immediately after high school[[/labelnote]] game in Texas. In the top of the sixth inning of a scheduled seven-inning game between North Central Texas College and Weatherford College, NCTC's Josh Phillips hit a go-ahead home run. As Phillips was nearing third base, the pitcher who had given up the homer, Owen Woodward, threw down his glove and sprinted toward Phillips, violently tackling him just after he rounded third. A bench-clearing brawl ensued, and umpires immediately suspended the game. [[https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/33774895/junior-college-pitcher-tackles-opponent-hit-homer-game-weatherford-college-north-central-texas-college Story (with video) here]].

* Funnily enough though, the Vancouver/Calgary fight is ''not'' a line brawl notable enough to get its own Wiki/TheOtherWiki entry, no, that dubious honor goes to these five fights (in chronological order):

* The 1956 Hungary-Soviet Olympic water polo match is a classic example of this trope. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_In_The_Water_match The other wiki]] has details, but the simple fact that it's known as the "Blood in the Water match" gives an idea of what happened.

* In UsefulNotes/AustralianRulesFootball, players can be reported for "Rough Conduct" (formerly "Unduly Rough Play"), which covers any incident that isn't a specific offence (such as striking)

* The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOtL1m1o_ok Battle of Santiago]] (Chile vs. Italy, 1962) has to be one of the finest examples. Eight years prior, there was also the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCauFkyuU6w Battle of Bern]] (Hungary vs. Brazil, 1954).

-->'''Referee:''' We have a personal foul on number 99 of the defense. After he tackled the quarterback, he was (''punching fist gesture'') givin' him the business down there, that's a 15-yard penalty!

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

** Another player who became infamous for this is defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh; he ranks slightly below Burfict on the notoriety scale because he wasn't ''endangering'' his opponents (almost all of Burfict's incidents involved potentially dangerous hits to a player's head), but he had more than his share of dirty acts, mostly in the form of kicking or stepping on opposing players and often long after a play was blown dead. Suh did ultimately start keeping it clean in the later years of his career, but by then he was so known for dirty plays that he may never be able to fully shake off that reputation even if he never commits another ugly penalty again.

** 32 years later, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERtmPK7ve9c another German goalkeeper hit an advancing striker]] during the final with Argentina. And yet that wasn't the biggest moment of violence - mostly committed by the Argentinians, who seemed intent in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VenZoBf9JFc getting Bastian Schweinsteiger out in a stretcher]].

** Another Real defender, Sergio Ramos, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnF_guJHPeE also tends to be violent]]. Most notably, he basically won the 2018 Champions League Final against Liverpool, first by dislocating star Liverpool striker Mohamed Salah's arm in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mi7fXtGTwbc a judo flip]]. And not just that - it was an ''illegal'' judo flip. [[https://twitter.com/europeanjudo/status/1000741984590553088 The European Judo Union]] and other Judoka commenting on the match made that very explicit - even ''MMA analyst''s were appalled. Then, he [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhuiH-b0DbM elbowing goalkeeper Karius in the side of the head]]. Karius was later diagnosed with a concussion and subsequently went from a confident keeper with the best defensive record in the Champions League, holding Real at bay to making two of the worst howlers in Champions League history (he conceded a third goal, but it's generally accepted that ''no one'' would have stopped Bale's bicycle kick) in the following minutes. Ramos, meanwhile, got away clean with another winner's medal.

** The guy who breaks everyone's arms IS insanely strong and has managed to pass it off as just being a result of that... Everything else is just unnecessary roughness, including throwing punches and even martial arts moves, not to mention linebackers throwing the small protagonist around the field.

* The Merseyside Derby, contested by Liverpool and Everton, used to be known as 'the friendly derby' up until the mid-eighties. It helped that fans of both teams are often drawn from the same families - indeed, local players have sometimes grown up supporting the other team, with the most notable recent example being former Liverpool vice-captain Jamie Carragher, and as a result, it's one of the few that doesn't enforce total fan segregation. This has since changed dramatically and is now a twice-annual fixture that generally consists of nothing ''but'' this trope, to the point where it has racked up the most red cards in the Premier League era and has been referred to as "the most ill-disciplined and explosive fixture in the Premier League." This comment was made after a match in 2010 when both sides had a player sent off. Both sides are usually expected to collect at least two yellow cards apiece, and it is rare for a season to go by without at least one player being sent off in at least one of the two meetings. As of December 2020, the last fixture was a bad-tempered draw, where two Liverpool players (star centre-back Virgil van Dijk and new midfielder Thiago Alcântara) were very badly injured. The latter earned a rightful sending off. The former didn't even get a booking, as the referee and VAR official both seemed to be convinced that the fact that van Dijk was narrowly offside obviated the small matter of Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford almost destroying his leg.
* 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. 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), while 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]]. It should be noted that both of these happened in the last ten years. It should also be noted that the fans are generally worse than the players.

* The Intercontinental Cup (a competition contested between the winners of the Copa Libertadores and UsefulNotes/UEFAChampionsLeague to decide the "world champion") in the 1960s became infamous for its amount of violence in the field, especially by the Argentinian and Uruguayan teams. The 1967 match between Argentina's Racing Club and Scotland's Celtic resulted in three players from Celtic and two from Racing being sent off (a fourth from Celtic was sent off but managed to stay due to the chaos). The 1969 match between Milan and Estudiantes became especially infamous: Estudiantes fans started by pouring hot coffee on the Italians leaving the tunnel, and their players kicked and threw balls into Milan players during warm-ups. After the game started, Estudiantes' Eduardo Manera pushed around Milan's goalkeeper Fabio Cudicini, then he ''bit'' Milan's Saul Malatrasi. Aguirre Suárez (one of the most violent players) assaulted three players before he was sent off, one was Néstor Combin, who was pummeled by Suaréz and his bloody unconscious body had to be removed by stretcher. On his way to the hospital on a stretcher, the police arrived and ''arrested him'' for ''draft-dodging'' [[note]]Corbin was born in Argentina but left early to Europe and became a French national[[/note]]. On their way back in the tunnel into the locker room after the first half, the players exchanged punches and kicks. Estudiantes goalkeeper Alberto Poletti kicked Italian striker Pierino Prati into the ground -- the latter would also be headbutted by Suárez later in the match, which resulted in him getting a mild concussion and being unconscious for 20 minutes; many other Estudiantes players would also push, punch and kick their opponents. At least 3 players from Estudiantes got arrested and charged for assault after the game.

** Another Real defender, Sergio Ramos, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnF_guJHPeE also tends to be violent]]. Most notably, he basically won the 2018 Champions League Final against Liverpool, first by dislocating star Liverpool striker Mohamed Salah's arm in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mi7fXtGTwbc a judo flip]] (and not just that - an ''illegal'' judo flip. [[https://twitter.com/europeanjudo/status/1000741984590553088 The European Judo Union]] and other Judoka commenting on the match made that very explicit - even MMA analysts were appalled) and then by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhuiH-b0DbM elbowing goalkeeper Karius in the side of the head]]. Karius was later diagnosed with a concussion and subsequently went from a confident keeper with the best defensive record in the Champions League, holding Real at bay to making two of the worst howlers in Champions League history (he conceded a third goal, but it's generally accepted that ''no one'' would have stopped Bale's bicycle kick) in the following minutes. Ramos, meanwhile, got away clean with another winner's medal.
** To make matters worse, Karius looked so miserable afterwards that no one could bear to blame him: when he went to the Liverpool fans to beg forgiveness, [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments they responded by singing the club anthem 'You'll Never Walk Alone' at him.]] While Salah recovered and Liverpool went on to win the Champions League the next year - in Madrid, no less, at the home of Real's arch-rivals (this was felt to be poetic justice) - Karius was not so lucky. Instead, he went from a promising (if raw) young keeper with a bright future in one of the most exciting young teams on the planet to a shattered wreck who even after the departure of Liverpool's other senior goalkeeper, Simon Mignolet, dropped down the pecking order to become Liverpool's fourth choice goalkeeper behind the newly acquired [[TheAce Alisson Becker]], veteran Adrian, and promising academy keeper Caomihn Kelleher, going out on loan to increasingly obscure clubs in the Turkish and German Leagues. It's got to the point where even his most staunch critics among the Liverpool fanbase just feel kind of sorry for him.

* Still on soccer, we have Brazilian defender [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8x5sRGn3k4 Júnior Baiano]]. He reached memetic levels for his violent, reckless tackles. In the early nineties. Before internet was popular.

** 32 years later, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERtmPK7ve9c another German goalkeeper hit an advancing striker]] during the final with Argentina. And yet that wasn't the biggest moment of violence - mostly committed by the Argentinians, who seemed intent in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyzsw4qt6y8 getting Bastian Schweinsteiger out in a stretcher]].

* The Philadelphia Flyers for some time in the 1970s were known as "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_Flyers#1972.E2.80.931978:_The_Broad_Street_Bullies Broad Street Bullies]]" - a team so violent that ''TheSimpsons'' included it among the JuryOfTheDamned in one HalloweenEpisode.

** Another player who became infamous for this is defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh; he ranks slightly below Burfict on the noteriety scale because he wasn't ''endangering'' his opponents (almost all of Burfict's incidents involved potentially dangerous hits to a player's head), but he had more than his share of dirty acts, mostly in the form of kicking or stepping on opposing players (often well after a play was already blown dead). Suh did ultimately start keeping it clean in the later years of his career, but by then he was so known for dirty plays that he may never be able to fully shake off that reputation even if he never commits another ugly penalty again.

* In ''Film/TheWave'', fascist methods apparently gave the water polo team more team spirit than ever. The supporters really cheer them, they work as a team… but lose shortly anyway. So one of them tries to drown the adversary captain. Yeah, fascist training leads to team unity, but not to fair play.

* While American Football as played outside North America has a reputation of being less physical (as evidenced by media commentary on the drafting of a German player without college experience along the lines of "Wait till he gets hit by an NFL tackle") rough play and injuries are a common occurrence in the European leagues as well. The fact that teams that play in "stadiums" no US high school team would be caught dead with and have an ambulance on call (and facilities to allow it to drive onto the field) should tell you all you need to know.

** Another player who became infamous for this is defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh; he ranks slightly below Burfict on the noteriety scale because he wasn't known for ''dangerous'' hits (almost all of Burfict's incidents involved hits to a player's head), but he had more than his share of dirty hits, mostly in the form of kicking or stepping on opposing players (often well after a play was already blown dead). Suh did ultimately start keeping it clean in the later years of his career, but by then he was so known for dirty plays that he may never be able to fully shake off that reputation even if he never commits another ugly penalty again.

** Another player who became infamous for this is defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh; he ranks slightly below Burfict on the noteriety scale because he wasn't known for ''dangerous'' hits (many of Burfict's incidents involved hitting players in the head), but he had more than his share of dirty hits mostly involving kicking or stepping on opposing players, often well after a play was already blown dead. Suh has calmed down in the later years of his career, but he was so known for this in those early years that he may never be able to fully shake off that reputation.

* Dwayne Johnson (yes, The Rock) was recruited by the University of Miami to play football, but injuries kept him out of the starting lineup for most of his college career. His biggest moment in a game was when he became involved in a bench-clearing brawl (Miami vs. San Diego State) and was shown on ESPN chasing the San Diego mascot screaming "I'll kill you!"

* During the 1970 NFL season, the then-defending UsefulNotes/SuperBowl champion Kansas City Chiefs were playing [[TheRival the Oakland Raiders]]. Late in that game with the Chiefs leading 17-14, quarterback Len Dawson scrambled for a first-down that would have enabled the Chiefs to run out the clock, gaining additional yardage after a cheap shot from Raider defensive end Ben Davidson. It didn't end there, however, as [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otis_Taylor_(American_football)#Ben_Davidson_incident receiver Otis Taylor]] jumped in and retaliated, resulting in offsetting penalties. Kansas City had to punt, Oakland ultimately knocked a field goal through to deadlock the game 17-all (no regular-season overtime until 1974). Taylor's antics came back to haunt the Chiefs, as with only four postseason slots in that time, that cost Kansas City a division title and left them as the odd team out in the AFC playoffs.

* While American Football as played outside North America has a reputation of being less physical (as evidenced by media commentary on the drafting of a German player without college experience along the lines of "Wait till he gets hit by an NFL tackle") rough play and injuries are a common occurrence in the European leagues as well. The fact that teams that play in "stadiums" no US High school team would be caught dead with have an ambulance on call (and facilities to allow it to drive onto the field) should tell you all you need to know.

* The Merseyside Derby, contested by Liverpool and Everton, used to be known as 'the friendly derby' up until the mid-eighties. It helped that fans of both teams are often drawn from the same families - indeed, local players have sometimes grown up supporting the other team, with the most notable recent example being former Liverpool vice-captain Jamie Carragher, and as a result, it's one of the few that doesn't enforce total fan segregation. This has since changed dramatically and is now a twice-annual fixture that generally consists of nothing ''but'' this trope, to the point where it has racked up the most red cards in the Premier League era and has been referred to as "the most ill-disciplined and explosive fixture in the Premier League." This comment was made after a match in 2010 when both sides had a player sent off. Both sides are usually expected to collect at least two yellow cards apiece, and it is rare for a season to go by without at least one player being sent off in at least one of the two meetings. As of December 2020, the last fixture was a bad-tempered draw, where two Liverpool players (star centre-back Virgil Van Dijk and new midfielder Thiago Alcantara) were very badly injured. The latter earned a rightful sending off. The former didn't even get a booking, as the referee and VAR official both seemed to be convinced that the fact that Van Dijk was narrowly offside obviated the small matter of Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford almost destroying his leg.
* 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. 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 96 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), while notable on-pitch incidents have included racial abuse by [[TokenEvilTeamMate Luis Suarez]] 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]]. It should be noted that both of these happened in the last ten years. It should also be noted that the fans are generally worse than the players.

* The Intercontinental Cup (a competition contested between the winners of the Copa Libertadores and UsefulNotes/UEFAChampionsLeague to decide the "world champion") in the 1960s became infamous for its amount of violence in the field, especially by the Argentinian and Uruguayan teams. The 1967 match between Argentina's Racing Club and Scotland's Celtic resulted in three players from Celtic and two from Racing being sent off (a fourth from Celtic was sent off but managed to stay due to the chaos). The 1969 match between Milan and Estudiantes became especially infamous: Estudiantes' fans started by pouring hot coffee on the Italians leaving the tunnel, and their players kicked and threw balls into Milan players during warm-ups. After the game started, Estudiantes' Eduardo Manera pushed around Milan's goalkeeper Fabio Cudicini, then he ''bit'' Milan's Saul Malatrasi. Aguirre Suárez (one of the most violent players) assaulted three players before he was sent off, one was Néstor Combin, who was pummelled by Suaréz and his bloody unconscious had to be removed by stretcher. On his way to the hospital on a stretcher, the police arrived and ''arrested him'' for ''draft-dodging'' [[note]]Corbin was born in Argentina but left early to Europe and became a French national[[/note]]. On their way back in the tunnel into the locker room after the first half, the players exchanged punches and kicks. Estudiantes' goalkeeper Alberto Poletti kicked Italian striker Pierino Prati into the ground -- the latter would also be headbutted by Suárez later in the match, which resulted in him getting a mild concussion and getting unconscious for 20 minutes; many other Estudiantes' players would also push, punch and kick their opponents. At least 3 players from Estudiantes' got arrested and charged for assault after the game.

** There's a REASON why the infamous Portugal vs. Netherlands match in the 2006 Germany World Cup was nicknamed [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Nuremberg_%28association_football%29 The Battle of Nuremberg]]. Four red cards, '''sixteen''' yellow cards, Luis Figo [[UseYourHead headbutting the Hell out of Marc Van Bommel]]...

* Although many British soccer teams in the late 1960s and early 1970s had at least one player with a reputation for violent tackling and otherwise dirty playing, [[Literature/TheDamnedUnited Leeds United under Don Revie]] could fill an entire first eleven with such players, so when they met Chelsea, who had a number of similarly savage players in their first eleven, in the replay of the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1970_FA_Cup_Final 1970 FA Cup final]], the inevitable result was one of the most violent matches in the history of the tournament (in 1997, referee David Elleray watched the match and said the two sides should have received a total of twenty yellow cards and ''six'' red cards):

* On a similar note, though Leeds United fans may remember the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1975_European_Cup_Final 1975 European Cup final]] mostly for some questionable refereeing decisions which denied them possible penalties (indeed, many of the club's hardcore fans refer to the club as European champions to this day), Bayern Munich fans may remember it instead for the savagery of the Leeds players which brought a premature end to the careers of ''two'' of their players. Three minutes into the match, a particularly vicious tackle by Terry Yorath on Bjorn Andersson led to the latter having to be substituted and only playing a further handful of matches at senior level. Uli Hoeness, who described the tackle on Andersson as "the most brutal foul I think I have ever seen", was himself taken out of the match after a tackle by Frank Gray resulted in a serious knee injury from which he never fully recovered.

* In the first round of the 2012 UsefulNotes/OlympicGames women's soccer tournament, the US was playing Colombia. Partway through the game, one of the US players, Abby Wambach, collapsed on the field, clutching her face and kicking her legs in apparent agony. Given [[MinorInjuryOverreaction the penchant for theatrics in the sport]], the commentators sounded somewhat skeptical - up until she removed her hands from her face and sat up, revealing that her right eye was rapidly swelling shut. As it turned out, she was running down the field ahead of a Colombian player, Lady Andrade. When Wambach slowed down, Andrade came up next to her and ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCMyvd12i3o sucker-punched her in the eye]].'' Amazingly, the referee missed it completely - through Andrade did not get away with it. The US requested that FIFA review the footage after the game, and they banned Andrade from her next two matches - which amounts to an Olympic ban as Colombia failed to win any of their group games and did not advance to the next stage.

** Another Real defender, Sergio Ramos, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnF_guJHPeE also tends to be violent]]. Most notably, he basically won the 2018 Champions League Final against Liverpool, first by dislocating star Liverpool striker Mohammed Salah's arm in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mi7fXtGTwbc a judo flip]] (and not just that - an ''illegal'' judo flip. [[https://twitter.com/europeanjudo/status/1000741984590553088 The European Judo Union]] and other Judoka commenting on the match made that very explicit - even MMA analysts were appalled) and then by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhuiH-b0DbM elbowing goalkeeper Karius in the side of the head]]. Karius was later diagnosed with a concussion and subsequently went from a confident keeper with the best defensive record in the Champion's League, holding Real at bay to making two of the worst howlers in Champion's League history (he conceded a third goal, but it's generally accepted that ''no one'' would have stopped Bale's bicycle kick) in the following minutes. Ramos, meanwhile, got away clean with another winner's medal.

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kermit_Washington#Infamous_punch The Other Wiki]] details the Rudy Tomjanovich-Kermit Washington incident from December 1977:

** During the 2009 Bulls-Celtics playoffs during game five, Rajon Rondo fishhooked Brad Miller's face as Miller went for a layup. Rondo's hand was three feet away from the ball, and all Rondo got was a personal foul. He should have drawn a flagrant one at least. Official review upheld the decision. (Because to do otherwise would be like going on national television and saying, "Bulls, we may have cost you guys the game.") Can be seen [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6JpEx_CqOc here]].

* There's an old joke about UsefulNotes/IceHockey's general level of violence: "I went to a brawl and then a hockey game broke out"

* Behold, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIcdbxzrtbI Vancouver Canucks versus Calgary Flames, January 18, 2014]]. The second the puck hits the ice, instead of going for the puck, the Flames ''tackle'' the Canucks, who respond in kind with fists. Notably, ''The Flames were planning this'' and [[ProperlyParanoid Vancouver saw it coming]] as Calgary started the game with their Fourth line, leading them to respond in kind, expecting dirty play. Similar events happen enough for there to be a term for it, "line brawl".

* Former Oakland Raiders safety Jack Tatum once mused: "I like to think my best hits border on felonious assault." Although he would also indicate that he never actually intended to ''hurt'' anyone (something other players have been caught doing); the one time that one of his hits did lead to a serious injury, he was genuinely horrified.

** The guy who breaks everyone's arms IS insanely strong, and has managed to pass it off as just being a result of that... Everything else is just unnecessary roughness, including throwing punches and even martial arts moves, not to mention linebackers throwing the small protagonist around the field.
** One of the worse offender is probably Mr. Don, the American best lineman who made a time out to declare to the audience he will kill a linebacker and then proceed to savagely tackle said linebacker. He also try to sack the quaterback out of commission like the other player in the first play. However more than the liberties about the contact rules Mr.Don is the president's son (not of the league , of the U.S.A) so he might get away with a lot.
** There is one attempt at a subversion during the Death March arc. Sena accidentally enters a tryout session for an American football club. Once he demonstrates his speed and evasion skills, the opposition get obsessed with crushing him, literally. The examiner has to point out that they would get disqualified if they tried to carry out their threats -- not that Sena lets them try.

* Subverted amusingly in the manga ''Manga/MyGirl'' when Masamune decides to run barefoot in the Fathers' Relay Race at his daughter's school athletics carnival. One of the other fathers deliberately treads on his foot just as the starters pistol goes off, causing him to trip- so [[PayEvilUntoEvil Masamune grabs the guy's heel and drags him down as he gets up to run.]]

* ''Literature/TanteiTeamKZJikenNote'' series: Onozuka, a leader of JapaneseDelinquents in ''The Valentine Knows'', was a member of [[AcademicAthlete KZ Soccer Team]] half a decade prior to PresentDay. At the time he was infamous for this, and was forced out of the team as a result.

* Anytime a group of superheroes decide to have a "friendly" game during their downtime then eventually they breakout the superpowers and violent HilarityEnsues. A specific example would be the Students vs Teachers football game in ComicBook/AvengersAcademy.

* ''Film/TheBlindSide'': The defensive lineman of the [[OpposingSportsTeam Lions]] deliberately kicks Michael when he's down and after the play has already ended, and the referee not only ignores the kick, but penalizes the Wingate Crusaders after [[PapaWolf Coach Cotton complains]].

** Though in this and the following examples case, the games are exhibition games between guards and prisoners - they may very well have decided to allow roughness for the sake of it.

* Probably one of the worst offenders is ''Film/LittleGiants'', where the assistant coach of the OpposingSportsTeam tells his son to injure the quarterback by any means necessary. He does so ''well'' after the whistle. In real life, not only would he be ejected, but he'd likely never be able to play in Pop Warner again (these are 12 year olds, by the way). In the movie? Just 15 yards, and the assistant coach getting dressed down by the head coach. Also, the impetus for the [[YouGoGirl star girl football player]] to come from [[TenMinuteRetirement cheering her team on]] to getting back on the field and kicking some butt. For their own part, the Giants commit so many fouls of their own (Not even a false start for Zoltec turning around and farting?) that it makes you wonder what the refs were even doing.
* The evil Iceland team from ''Film/TheMightyDucks II'' sends its captain to take a vicious slash at Banks, breaking his wrist. Despite that such an obvious attempt to injure would get him ejected from the game (at minimum), he only gets a 2 minute minor penalty and Lampshades it on the way to the penalty box.

* ''Sleepers'' provides a rare example of unnecessary roughness being perpetrated by the protagonists and morally justified in context. Hey, it isn't a sports film. The inmates of a juvenile prison play a game of football against the guards. The guards have made and will continue to make the boys' lives a living hell, including but not limited to the sexual molestation of the four main characters. The boys see this as a chance to turn the tables for one day. Their gameplan is simple: brutalize the guards, who can't resort to such tactics themselves in public, and give the ball to Rizzo, a college star. [[spoiler: Rizzo pays with his life; his death is avenged many years later]]

* There's a famous scene in ''Film/TheKarateKid'' where Evil Sensei orders his charge to sweep Daniel's already wounded leg. The kid is reluctant, but ultimately goes along with it.

*** The UU team are amateurs so the professional players of A-M United have every advantage. The smarter pros realize that and are also aware that the opposing team are actually ultra powerful wizards who will likely enact their own Unnecessary Roughness after the game. The Librarian alone is known for beating people to a bloody pulp for calling him a monkey (he is an orangutan).
* Subverted in the ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'' short story ''Three Points of Pride''. When Clan Ghost Bear invaded a planet with no armed forces, [[MakeGamesNotWar the local All-Star American football team challenged them instead]], thinking that the Clanners wouldn't know how to play and lose the game through fouls. Unfortunately for them, it turned out Clan Ghost Bear's SuperSoldier Elementals regularly play American Football to keep in shape and were well-acquainted with the rules and how to play. The resulting game is extraordinarily clean because the Clanners [[LetsFightLikeGentlemen refuse to get rough]] (not that they'd need to; the elementals are 250 cm, 100+ kilo slabs of solid muscle and pretty much plow through the defenders by default).

* Most auto-racing depicted on TV features more contact between cars than a demolition derby. In reality even slight damage to a race car can result in such a huge performance loss that drivers usually avoid contact at all costs. Anyway, every major organized motorsports competition has strict rules against deliberate vehicle contact, and will disqualify or even ban an offending driver who's being reckless. And if it resulted in someone getting injured or worse in a wreck then that's the least of their problems!

* ''Series/MurdochMysteries'': In "Hot Wheels of Thunder", Miss James is competing against the Buffalo Queens roller racing team. During the first race Miss James is unfairly knocked out of the race with an ankle injury.

* Where to begin? Well...closed fists, attacking before the bell, small joint manipulation, scratching, hair pulling, eye poking, facial stretches (fish hooking the mouth, bending the nose, pulling the ears), biting, airway chokes, grabbing the opponent's ring gear and contact with a wrestler in contact with, below, or above the ropes, are generally considered illegal. You could watch wrestling matches constantly for 50 years and not see a single instance where any such action resulted in a disqualification. At most, a referee will just get between the two wrestlers and admonish the offending one not to do it again. Greasing your skin, groin strikes, ''removing'' your opponent's ring gear, foreign objects and outside interference generally do get the referee to call for a DQ, though. [[EasilyDistractedReferee If they see it happen.]]

** Then there's Blood Bowl. This is what happens when you take the over-the-top ridiculous aspects of Warhammer, and replace the GRIMDARK with American Football. Based on the tabletop gaidengame, you can choose between "classic" mode (taking individual turns and rolling a crap-ton of dice like said tabletop) or "arcade" mode (standard real-time football, except instead of "downs" you play from kickoff/snap until you either score, or the enemy gets the ball and HE scores.)

* Most hockey minigames in the ''Franchise/SpyroTheDragon''-series involves breathing fire at your opponents. The ones that don't take place in worlds where Spyro's BreathWeapon has been changed to something else.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures: ACME All-Stars'', it's possible to run over other players baseketball and soccer games with a car.
* ''VideoGame/MutantFootballLeague'' is the SpiritualSuccessor to ''Mutant League Football'' and carries on in its tradition. Some dirty plays involve guns and chainsaws, and most tackles are made with pro wrestling slams. You can force a forfeit by killing enough opposing players! One of the very few penalties in the game is the equivalent to unnecessary roughness: unnecessary ''manslaughter''. It's rarely even called. According to Brickhead Mulligan, late hits are one of the leading causes of death for mutants over 25.

* The WesternAnimation/{{Classic Disney Short|s}} ''WesternAnimation/HockeyHomicide'' features all sorts of comically over-the-top violence at a hockey game, such as the team captains constantly getting sent to the penalty box for fighting and the referee getting run over so many times he resorts to wearing a suit of armor. At the climax the fighting between the players degenerates into [[HockeyFight an all-out brawl among the spectators]], which the players end up sitting back to watch as the cartoon ends.
* The ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' short "Gone Batty" has the entire lineup of the Sweetwater Shnooks knocked out by comically over-the-top violence on behalf of the opposing team, one of whom ''breaks a bat'' over the ''head'' of a Shnook baserunner ''in front of'' the umpire, who's only action is to call the runner most definitely "out". In "Baseball Bugs" the Gas House Gorilla's catcher ''punches out'' the umpire for calling a pitch a ball, the ump has just enough time to apologize and change the call to "strike" before he falls unconscious.

* While many players have drawn penalties of this type at one point or another in their career, some players have developed a reputation for making these kinds of plays far too often. The most notorious of them all is likely Vontaze Burfict (Cincinnati Bengals/Oakland Raiders), whose NFL career ultimately ended because his propensity for drawing costly penalties (including one which infamously cost the Bengals a playoff game they otherwise had in the bag) and lengthy suspensions meant that no team would sign him. He was so known for this that when he ended up on the receiving end of a dirty hit in a 2017 game, many called it an act of LaserGuidedKarma.
* There's an image of Matt Millen sucker punching another player during the post game handshake. Karma eventually paid Millen back, he later became General Manager of the ButtMonkey Detroit Lions when they went ''winless'' for an entire NFL season.

** Same with Larry Csonka. Most of the time. [[http://i.imgur.com/t232JQi.gif He did get a 15 yard penalty once for throwing a forearm that was more like a right cross.]]
* There was a game between the Carolina Panthers and the Atlanta Falcons where, after a late hit on Mike Vick, an on field brawl started. Despite several punches being thrown, some hard enough to knock players helmets off, no penalties were called, and no one was ejected.

* During the 1970 NFL season, the then-defending UsefulNotes/SuperBowl champion Kansas City Chiefs were playing [[TheRival the Oakland Raiders]]. Late in that game with the Chiefs leading 17-14, quarterback Len Dawson scrambled for a first-down that would have enabled the Chiefs to run out the clock, gaining additional yardage after a cheap shot from Raider defensive end Ben Davidson. It didn't end there, however, as [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otis_Taylor_(American_football)#Ben_Davidson_incident receiver Otis Taylor]] jumped in and retaliated, resulting in offsetting penalties. Kansas City had to punt, Oakland ultimately knocked a field-goal through to deadlock the game 17-all (no regular-season overtime until 1974). Taylor's antics came back to haunt the Chiefs, as with only four postseason slots in that time, that cost Kansas City a division title and left them as the odd team out in the AFC playoffs.
* A case of this led to one of the most classic [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKiuLgmYVus referee calls]] of all time, when the referee decided to explain in a little more detail than just name-dropping the trope what had drawn the penalty call (the defender had punched the quarterback several times after he was already down), complete with miming the offending action. HilarityEnsued.

* In 2012, [[http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/redskins/washington-redskins-offered-bounties-for-big-hits-under-former-assistant-coach-gregg-williams/2012/03/02/gIQAH0RlnR_story.html an illicit arrangement in which Washington players were paid bonuses for deliberately injuring opposing players to take them out of the game]] was discovered. They appealed the charges and won, resulting in no penalties or suspensions from the ever more vigilant NFL Executive Office. The New Orleans Saints, whose bounty-program supported by the coaching staff meant to encourage defensive players to injure opponent players in exchange for cash bonuses started the whole investigation after a pre-game speech by their defensive coordinator, Gregg Williams, before the 2011 NFC Divisional Game was leaked (in which he calls for taking their rivals' starting RB, Frank Gore, out of the game and make their starting receivers fear catching the ball by hitting them hard at the beginning of the game), ended with money fines, lost draft picks, and coach\player suspensions that at times extended to the entire 2012 season.

* The Merseyside Derby, contested by Liverpool and Everton, used to be known as 'the friendly derby' up until the mid-eighties. It helped that fans of both teams are often drawn from the same families - indeed, local players have sometimes grown up supporting the other team, with the most notable recent example being former Liverpool vice-captain Jamie Carragher, and as a result, it's one of the few that doesn't enforce total fan segregation. This has since changed dramatically and is now a twice annual fixture that generally consists of nothing ''but'' this trope, to the point where it has racked up the most red cards in the Premier League era and has been referred to as "the most ill-disciplined and explosive fixture in the Premier League." This comment was made after a match in 2010 when both sides had a player sent off. Both sides are usually expected to collect at least two yellow cards apiece, and it is rare for a season to go by without at least one player being sent off in at least one of the two meetings. As of December 2020, the last fixture was a bad-tempered draw, where two Liverpool players (star centre-back Virgil Van Dijk and new midfielder Thiago Alcantara) were very badly injured. The latter earned a rightful sending off. The former didn't even get a booking, as the referee and VAR official both seemed to be convinced that the fact that Van Dijk was narrowly offside obviated the small matter of Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford almost destroying his leg.
* 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. 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 96 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), while notable on-pitch incidents have included racial abuse by [[TokenEvilTeamMate Luis Suarez]] 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]]. It should be noted that both of these happened in the last ten years. It should also be noted that the fans are generally worse than the players.
** The Manchester United - Arsenal fixture got this reputation in the 1990's and 2000's, with one game in particular degenerating into a mass fight. It does seem to have calmed down in the second decade of the new century, though.

* The Intercontinental Cup (a competition contested between the wineers of the Copa Libertadores and UsefulNotes/UEFAChampionsLeague to decide the "world champion") in the 1960s became infamous for its amount of violence in the field, especially by the the Argentinian and Uruguyan teams. The 1967 match between Argentina's Racing Club and Scotland's Celtic resulted in three players from Celtic and two from Racing being sent off (a fourth from Celtic was sent off but managed to stay due the chaos). The 1969 match between Milan and Estudiantes became especially infamous: Estudiantes' fans started by pouring hot coffee on the Italians leaving the tunnel, and their players kicked and threw balls into Milan players during warm-ups. After the game started, Estudiantes' Eduardo Manera pushed around Milan's goalkeeper Fabio Cudicini, then he ''bit'' Milan's Saul Malatrasi. Aguirre Suárez (one of the most violent players) assaulted three players before he was sent off, one was Néstor Combin, who was pummelled by Suaréz and his bloody unconscious had to be removed by stretcher. On his way to the hospital in a stretcher, the police arrived and ''arrested him'' for ''draft dodging'' [[note]]Corbin was born in Argentina but left early to Europe and became a French national[[/note]]. On their way back in the tunnel into the locker room after the first half, the players exchanged punches and kicks. Estudiantes' goalkeeper Alberto Poletti kicked Italian striker Pierino Prati into the ground -- the latter would also be headbutted by Suárez later in the match, which resulted in him getting a mild concussion and getting unconscious for 20 minutes; many other Estudiantes' players would also push, punch and kick their opponents. At least 3 players from Estudiantes' got arrested and charged for assault after the game.

* In the 2014 World Cup quarter final between Brazil and Colombia, a record 54 fouls happened (with only 4 yellow cards, showing the referee was condescending). The defeated Colombians had both the game's punching bag in James Rodriguez (who even managed to get a penalty kick, which he scored) and the dirtiest player in Juan Zuñiga ([[https://twitter.com/mtesperon/status/485211893561577472 who stomped Hulk's knee]], and kneed Neymar's back, breaking his vertebra and sidelining the striker from the remaining games).
* In the first round of the 2012 UsefulNotes/OlympicGames women's soccer tournament, the US was playing Colombia. Partway through the game, one of the US players, Abby Wambach, collapsed on the field, clutching her face and kicking her legs in apparent agony. Given [[MinorInjuryOverreaction the penchant for theatrics in the sport]], the commentators sounded somewhat skeptical - up until she removed her hands from her face and sat up, revealing that her right eye was rapidly swelling shut. As it turned out, she was running down the field ahead of a Colombian player, Lady Andrade. When Wambach slowed down, Andrade came up next to her and ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCMyvd12i3o sucker punched her in the eye]].'' Amazingly, the referee missed it completely - through Andrade did not get away with it. The US requested that FIFA review the footage after the game, and they banned Andrade from her next two matches - which amounts to an Olympic ban as Colombia failed to win any of their group games and did not advance to the next stage.

* Former Real Madrid defender Pepe is an infamous example of this. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKt4IBxD5oo During the 2008-2009 season La Liga home match against Getafe]], after committing a foul by pushing Javi Casquemiro down in the penalty box, he then kicked the already down Getafe striker twice, pushed his head on the grass ''and'' stamped on him several times. Then in the following brawl, he punched another Getafe player's face before having to get escorted off the pitch by his team mate as he received a red card. In the aftermath of this match, Pepe received a ''ten game suspension'', which is a record length in the history of La Liga.
** Another Real defender, Sergio Ramos, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnF_guJHPeE also tends to be violent]]. Most notably, he basically won the 2018 Champions League Final against Liverpool, first by dislocating star Liverpool striker Mohammed Salah's arm in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mi7fXtGTwbc a judo flip]] (and not just that - an ''illegal'' judo flip. [[https://twitter.com/europeanjudo/status/1000741984590553088 The European Judo Union]] and other Judoka commenting on the match made that very explicit - even MMA analysts were appalled) and then by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhuiH-b0DbM elbowing goalkeeper Karius in the side of the head]]. Karius was later diagnosed with concussion and subsequently went from a confident keeper with the best defensive record in the Champion's League, holding Real at bay to making two of the worst howlers in Champion's League history (he conceded a third goal, but it's generally accepted that ''no one'' would have stopped Bale's bicycle kick) in the following minutes. Ramos, meanwhile, got away clean with another winner's medal.

--> "Washington saw Tomjanovich running toward the altercation. Not knowing that he intended to break up the fight, Washington hit Tomjanovich with a roundhouse punch. The blow, which took Tomjanovich by surprise, fractured his face about one-third of an inch (8 mm) away from his skull and left Tomjanovich unconscious in a pool of blood in the middle of the arena. Jabbar likened the sound of the punch to a watermelon being dropped onto concrete. Tomjanovich had a reputation around the league as a peacemaker. [...] Reporters heard the sound of the punch all in the way in the second floor press box, and some rushed to the playing floor in disbelief. [...] besides having the bone structure of his face detached from his skull and suffering a cerebral concussion and broken jaw and nose, he was leaking blood and spinal fluid into his skull capsule. His skull was fractured in such a way that Tomjanovich could taste the spinal fluid leaking into his mouth. He later recalled that at the time of the incident, he believed the scoreboard had fallen on him. The doctor who worked on Tomjanovich said "I have seen many people with far less serious injuries not make it" and likened the surgery to Scotch taping together a badly shattered eggshell."

** And of course, the actual fistfights, which happen quite often, and in fact, are considered a major part of the game. The penalty for a fight is five minutes, which applies to both players. It's rather telling that there's a specific penalty called just for "fighting" and the only punishment is that five minute trip to the box. Other sports would charge players openly fighting with violating more generalized personal misconduct rules and almost certainly eject them.
** One of the various Unofficial roles in a Hockey team is the "[[TheBrute Goon]]" or "[[TheBigGuy Enforcer]]" who's entire job is to stop Unnecessary Roughness by the other team, mostly by the threat of beating anyone who tries into a paste, especially if said roughness was directed at a star player.

** Half the series was played in Canada, and the other half in the Soviet Union. Overseas, the Canadian team suffered from a severe case of CantGetAwayWithNuthin, while the Soviets [[ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem had the Russian referees on their side]], despite an agreement to use neutral Swiss umpires to judge the game. The Canadians may have played a more physical game than the Russians were expecting, but they were called on it on both sides of the Pacific, and especially in the USSR.

* The Philadelphia Flyers for some time in the 1970's were known as "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_Flyers#1972.E2.80.931978:_The_Broad_Street_Bullies Broad Street Bullies]]" - a team so violent that ''TheSimpsons'' included it among the JuryOfTheDamned in one HalloweenEpisode.

* On February 18 2004, Steve Moore of the Colorado Avalanche checked Vancouver Canucks captain Markus Naslund in the head, giving him a concussion when he hit the ice, and no penalty was called. Two games later, Canucks enforcer Todd Bertuzzi clubbed Moore from behind, knocking him to the ice. The Avalanche jumped on Bertuzzi, breaking three of Moore's cervical vertebrae and giving him a concussion when they all fell on him. Moore has not played since, and would later sue Bertuzzi for damages (which was settled out of court). Bertuzzi pled guilty to assault causing bodily harm and got probation, and was suspended from playing hockey for 17 months.

** Eye-gouging. It's a serious offense that will get you banned from the sport for weeks, months or even ''years'' depending on its severity - justifiably so, because players can and ''have'' lost their eyesight because of it.

*** The 99 call - code for "[[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown everyone, beat the crap out of the nearest opposition player]]" used in the 1974 tour of South Africa. The matches in that tour was notoriously filled with violence, and the Lions captain Willie [=McBride=] came up with the call so that when ''one'' Lions player retaliates, ''all'' players retaliate. It succeeded, because the referee couldn't identify a single instigator and send him off. (Nowadays, [[TechnologyMarchesOn video replays]] would mean these kind of tactics will just result in the whole team getting banned.)

*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTVhckB3juk The "clear out"/"spear tackle"]] (depending on whom you ask) by New Zealand captain Tana Umaga and hooker Keven Mealamu on Lions captain Brian O'Driscoll, during 2005 tour of New Zealand. O'Driscoll dislocated his shoulder because of it, ending his tour, and commentators observed that it could have killed him. The Lions subsequently lost the series 0-3 while Umaga and Mealamu received no sanctions. Even now, this incident is a FlameBait for rugby fans and everyone has different opinions on the degree to which it was intentional, what penalty (if any) it should have incurred and the effect it had on the whole tour.

** A case of this is why AFL now has trial by video, in 1985, then-Hawthorn captain Leigh Matthews broke opposing player Neville Bruns' jaw behind the play, sparking a brawl in which he himself received a broken nose. Because it was behind the play the umpires weren't watching, but it was caught on film, showing the brutality of the hit. The public were outraged and the AFL, responded by bringing in the AFL Match Review Panel. Matthews retired at the end of the season and was criminally prosecuted for assault, being initially convicted but later having it quashed on appeal.

* UsefulNotes/FormulaOne world champion Michael Schumacher had a pair of these incidents in his early career - first at the 1994 Australian Grand Prix, where he attempted to force Damon Hill off the track, breaking Hill's suspension and putting them both out of the race and granting him the championship, and again at the 1997 European Grand Prix where he attempted the same move, ramming his car into Jacques Villeneuve to keep him from finishing the race. The latter move was in fact so blatant that when Villeneuve was able to pull away leaving Schumacher beached in the gravel with broken steering, commentator Martin Brundle remarked simply "That didn't work, Michael; you hit the wrong part of him," and it lead to Schumacher being disqualified from the entire season.
* The Unified Rules Of UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts established in 2000 have almost every restriction seen in the professional wrestling folder, with the same reluctance from referees to [[LifeImitatesArt actually disqualify the violator]]. Where Unified MMA differs however is that every fighter is given ten points by default at the start of each round, loses a point for every foul caught by the referee during the round and is not allowed to drop below seven points, meaning the referee, in theory, disqualifies a fighter if they acknowledge more than three fouls by one in a single round and the judges will in theory give the cleaner fighter the round by decision after two fouls since the round's losing fighter is allowed up to nine points for surviving. While Unified MMA doesn't share professional wrestling's restriction on closed fists, it adds restrictions to headbutts, which were notoriously used by wrestlers in early MMA and often caused [[BloodIsTheNewBlack severe lacerations]] that forced fights to end early. Downward pointing elbow strikes, strikes to spine, strikes to back of head, and strikes throat are also fouls. Similar to rope rules, grabbing the fence in any manner is barred as is [[RingOut moving the opponent outside of fighting area]], cage or otherwise. In addition to biting, ''any'' offense relying on the mouth is barred, including spitting (fighters can even be fouled for "foul language" though they almost never are). In addition to eye pokes, a finger in any orifice or cut is illegal, and all forms of eye gouging are fouls. In addition to facial stretches, raking is also a foul. Curiously, scratching specifically is not banned by claw holds of all kinds, any kind of clawing motion, pinching and twisting of the flesh, including Indian burns, can lead to point deductions, as can grabbing the trachea. Kicks and knees to head of grounded opponents were barred due to the prevalance of soccer kicks in Japanese MMA and stomping a grounded is also a foul. All head drops, including piledrivers, were made illegal. Should the referee force a break, an opponent cannot attack until told to resume. Any attacks after the round bell can lead to point deduction and disagreeing with the referee can earn a foul(though it rarely does). Finally, Unified MMA encourages fouls on all instances of unsportsmanlike conduct, including the groin strikes that are worthless due to a combination of glove, foot wrap and protective cup requirements. Needless to say, there were many fighters who were [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks highly displeased]] with these unified rules, but use of them has been steadily spreading since their adoption by the California athletic commission. They were the most common ruleset of mixed martial arts by the mid 2010s.

* In 2015, Matt Kenseth was put out of contention in a race at Martinsville due to an early wreck severely damaging his car. When Joey Logano later went to pass the off-pace Kenseth, he deliberately turned in on Logano and both cars went hard into the wall, knocking them out of the race completely. While the incident earned Kenseth a 2 race suspension, it had the desired effect of also ruining Logano's chance at the Championship that year. Given how the fans in attendence ''cheered'' as it happened, concensus was that Logano [[AssholeVictim had it coming]] since he'd spun Kenseth out for the lead at Kansas earlier in the year.

* A "friendly" match between Portugal and England in May 2016 saw [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxR7MoVHXCg Bruno Alves jump-kicking Harry Kane in the head]].

** To make matters worse, Karius looked so miserable afterwards that no one could bear to blame him: when he went to the Liverpool fans to beg forgiveness, [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments they responded by singing the club anthem 'You'll Never Walk Alone' at him.]] While Salah recovered and Liverpool went on to win the Champion's League the next year - in Madrid, no less, at the home of Real's arch-rivals (this was felt to be poetic justice) - Karius was not so lucky. Instead, he went from a promising (if raw) young keeper with a bright future in one of the most exciting young teams on the planet to a shattered wreck who even after the departure of Liverpool's other senior goalkeeper, Simon Mignolet, dropped down the pecking order to become Liverpool's fourth choice goalkeeper behind the newly acquired [[TheAce Alisson Becker]], veteran Adrian, and promising academy keeper Caomihn Kelleher, going out on loan to increasingly obscure clubs in the Turkish and German Leagues. It's got to the point where even his most staunch critics among the Liverpool fanbase just feel kind of sorry for him.

* In a 2008 Tae-kwon-do Olympic match, one Cuban competitor got so angry at losing that he kicked the umpire's face. You can see the picture [[http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3056/2791042840_bd4123a23b.jpg here]], and the video [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdYg-VqSB9M#t=45s here]].

* Former Oakland Raiders safety Jack Tatum once mused: "I like to think my best hits border on felonious assault."

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPxkrWKG3W8 Pittsburg Steelers Antonio Brown kicked Cleveland Browns punter in the face trying to leap over him.]] Comparisons to ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' were swift and immediate.
* In 2012, [[http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/redskins/washington-redskins-offered-bounties-for-big-hits-under-former-assistant-coach-gregg-williams/2012/03/02/gIQAH0RlnR_story.html an illicit arrangement in which Washington Redskins players were paid bonuses for deliberately injuring opposing players to take them out of the game]] was discovered. They appealed the charges and won, resulting in no penalties or suspensions from the ever more vigilant NFL Executive Office. The New Orleans Saints, whose bounty-program supported by the coaching staff meant to encourage defensive players to injure opponent players in exchange for cash bonuses started the whole investigation after a pre-game speech by their defensive coordinator, Gregg Williams, before the 2011 NFC Divisional Game was leaked (in which he calls for taking their rivals' starting RB, Frank Gore, out of the game and make their starting receivers fear catching the ball by hitting them hard at the beginning of the game), ended with money fines, lost draft picks, and coach\player suspensions that at times extended to the entire 2012 season.

* The Unified Rules Of UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts established in 2000 have almost every restriction seen in the professional wrestling folder, with the same reluctance from referees to [[LifeImitatesArt actually disqualify the violator]]. Where Unified MMA differs however is that every fighter is given ten points by default at the start of each round, loses a point for every foul caught by the referee during the round and is not allowed to drop below seven points, meaning the referee, in theory, disqualifies a fighter if they acknowledge more than three fouls by one in a single round and the judges will in theory give the cleaner fighter the round by decision after two fouls since the round's losing fighter is allowed up to nine points for surviving. While Unified MMA doesn't share professional wrestling's restriction on closed fists, it adds restrictions to headbutts, which were notoriously used by wrestlers in early MMA and often caused [[BloodIsTheNewBlack severe lacerations]] that forced fights to end early. Downward pointing elbow strikes, strikes to spine, strikes to back of head, and strikes throat are also fouls. Similar to rope rules, grabbing the fence in any manner is barred as is [[RingOut moving the opponent outside of fighting area]], cage or otherwise. In addition to bitting, ''any'' offense relying on the mouth is barred, including spitting (fighters can even be fouled for "foul language" though they almost never are). In addition to eye pokes, a finger in any orifice or cut is illegal, and all forms of eye gouging are fouls. In addition to facial stretches, raking is also a foul. Curiously, scratching specifically is not banned by claw holds of all kinds, any kind of clawing motion, pinching and twisting of the flesh, including Indian burns, can lead to point deductions, as can grabbing the trachea. Kicks and knees to head of grounded opponents were barred due to the prevelance of soccer kicks in Japanese MMA and stomping a grounded is also a foul. All head drops, including piledrivers, were made illegal. Should the referee force a break, an opponent cannot attack until told to resume. Any attacks after the round bell can lead to point deduction and disagreeing with the referee can earn a foul(though it rarely does). Finally, Unified MMA encourages fouls on all instances of unsportsmanlike conduct, including the groin strikes that are worthless due to a combination of glove, foot wrap and protective cup requirements. Needless to say, there were many fighters who were [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks highly displeased]] with these unified rules, but use of them has been steadily spreading since their adoption by the California athletic commission. They were the most common ruleset of mixed martial arts by the mid 2010s.