That Saints-Cowboys Brawl Was Workplace Violence, And the NFL Needs to Fine Its Way Out of It

Tuesday was wild, right? We all saw it: that absolute melee between the Saints and Cowboys during their joint practice made it all the way to NBC Nightly News. Seriously, NBC Nightly News! That’s how out of hand this stuff is getting, and honestly, the NFL has a super simple fix right at their fingertips to shut it down.

NFL Fights Are Workplace Violence, Period.

It’s joint practice fighting season, apparently, and it’s getting ridiculous. When two teams clash, and punches are flying, kicks are landing, and helmets are swinging *after the whistle*, that’s not just part of the game, folks. Mike Florio hit the nail on the head: that’s basically workplace violence. Yeah, the sport is built on violence, but there’s a line, and these post-play brouhahas sprint right past it. The league lets individual team practice scraps slide, sure, but when you’ve got two different teams getting together, the NFL absolutely has to step in and make sure the hitting stops when the play ends. Our Seahawks play in a physical league, we get that, but this is a whole different ballgame.

Fines Are The Only Answer

Here’s the deal: there’s a simple fix for this mess. The NFL needs to exercise jurisdiction over these joint practices and start issuing fines, or even stronger discipline, for every fight. Think about it. That would end it, wouldn’t it? Give these guys a strong, *financial* reason for cooler heads to prevail when things inevitably get heated. Because right now, if the teams aren’t doing anything about it, the league has to intervene. What happens the moment some player gets seriously injured in one of these preventable brawls? You know what happens: the victim’s lawyer will be all over the NFL for failing to remove a “clear and preventable occupational hazard.” The league needs to protect its players and its own backside. Stop the fighting, fine the fights. It’s that simple.

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Originally reported by Pro Football Talk.