Brutal fan violence breaks out in New Jersey and Miami

When We first moved to DFW, we actually bought season tickets for the Cowboys. This was in the old stadium, they were not that expensive, and we actually had decent seats. At one point we were even toying with buying a seat license - again, before the crash, and before the new monstrosity opened.

Then it seemed the tenor of the games changed. We actually left a Monday night game against The Eagles because we were afraid someone might get hurt. There was violence in the air, a lot of really drunk young men, cursing, screaming, vomiting - and this in the stands.

We discovered it made no sense to go to Monday night or holiday games (like Thanksgiving) when our regular seat mates would either give away or sell their tickets -- on those days, the crowd was exceptionally rowdy.

In fact, the crowd was becoming a little scary on "normal" Sundays. The mood among the tailgaters was less friendly, there was much more yelling (NOT cheering or rooting, but YELLING at other fans), and just a surly attitude, with folks ready to fight.

We let the tickets go, stopped going to games, and as more and more players are injured, maimed, concussed, torn up, I'm finding it much more difficult to watch football.

It's a difficult habit to break -- I've been watching college and pro football since my college days in the late 1950's. Rooting for Syracuse, against Notre Dame, watching the AFL, NFL, etc. It's becoming too much. Too many games, too many "exposes" - great players from the past unable to walk, think, function, because of the beatings they took to earn a living, and for our entertainment.

It's a culture of obedience, it's militaristic. It's our version of the Roman Gladiators.

Now, more and more fans are getting beat up by other fans. This is beyond "fandom" -- we seem to be getting into our version of "soccer hooligans", of "lad culture". Does our Government really want to start training potential soldiers so young? Do we have to make sport so coarse and cheap?

Anyway, this from Yahoo Sports - please follow link to original
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Brutal fan violence breaks out in New Jersey and Miami

By Kristian Dyer

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — It's becoming an epidemic around the NFL as fan violence becomes a growing concern. This past weekend in both Miami and East Rutherford, N.J., fans were beaten badly at NFL venues.

28-year-old New York Jets fan James Mohr was hospitalized and had to undergo surgery following a brutal beating by several Kansas City Chiefs fans who attended the game at MetLife Stadium. The assault on Mohr, a physical education teacher in New York City, came after the Jets' 37-10 win.

According to one report, Mohr was responding to a group of Chiefs fans telling him that "You all deserved what happened on 9/11," and screaming obscenities about New York in general. Mohr's sister Anna said that her brother was compelled to respond because "our other brother is a fireman, and my father is retired FDNY, so you can understand why a 9/11 comment would especially irk him. He was shocked anyone would actually say something like that."

Mohr's response that the comments were "disrespectful" apparently triggered the beating. He suffered a fractured jaw, cheekbone and eye socket, as well as bleeding on the brain.

A team spokesman told Yahoo! Sports in a statement that "We have reached out to James to wish him a speedy and full recovery. Our organization works hard to provide fans with a safe and secure environment and there is no place for this type of behavior. We are working with the stadium and New Jersey State Police to be certain that any and all perpetrators are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."

The Jets are promising support for Mohr, much like they did when Rob Formola was beaten in the wake of the AFC Championship Game two years ago in Indianapolis.
"I just found out about it today," Jets head coach Rex Ryan said. "I'll reach out once the young man is feeling better. I'll say this about our organization, I'm sure we'll do something for him when he's feeling better."

Mohr was reported as being in fair condition Wednesday at Hackensack University Medical Center. One suspect, thirty-five-year-old Merle Lee of Newton, is free on bond and has been charged with aggravated assault.

An altercation in the parking lot following the Miami Dolphins loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday afternoon left a Dolphins fan laid out, his head hitting the asphalt with a sickening thud. A fight seemed to be brewing between the two fans, who verbally went at it with a couple failed swipes taken between the two. Then a third person entered the fray with a punch to the head.

This is far from the first weekend of fan violence in the NFL this year. In August, two Oakland Raiders fans were shot following a preseason game against the San Francisco 49ers.