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Nine Times Sports Rivalry Games Got Out of Hand

by Gabriel Rauch - 12/26/2024

Sports rivalry games that got out of hand Ohio State vs Michigan football

The best rivalries span decades in sports, years and years of hate all boiling down to sometimes as little as a couple of hours a year when players, coaches and fans are allowed to blow off some steam. These rivalries remind us that although sports are more data-driven than ever, there will forever be a human element behind it.  More than anything, the human element will be what we remember.

So, before athletes get phased out of sports by our tech bro overlords because robots are more cost effective, it’s time to look back at some of the more human moments in sports rivalries, where players and coaches showed they care just as much as the fans do. 

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Michigan vs Ohio State 2024 The Game

We start off with the most recent game between the 100+ year rivals Michigan and Ohio State, widely considered one of the best rivalries in sports. Ohio State coach Ryan Day had never beaten Michigan and was facing an UNRANKED 6-5 team. Ohio State were undefeated and #2 in the country. Ohio State were 19.5-point favorites. At home. Jim Harbaugh was gone. The stars were aligned perfectly for Day to get over the Michigan hump and set his team up with confidence and momentum for the playoffs. And…

They lost. However, when you lose at home to your rival as the #2 ranked team in the country, you don’t just get to go home. Before the dust had settled, Michigan fans had gone onto the field and planted a Michigan flag Baker Mayfield style. The flag got picked up and thrown by four-year Ohio state linebacker Jack Sawyer, who never got a chance to beat Michigan during his time there. Fights ensued, players were pepper sprayed, and all Ryan Day could do was watch as a brawl broke out in his home stadium. 

Yankees vs Red Sox 2003 ALCS Game 3 The Don Zimmer vs Pedro Martinez Tussle 

Just missing out on the top spot is a fight we will likely never see again in American sports, especially not baseball. The Yankees were playing the Red Sox in one of the oldest rivalries in the MLB in Game 3 of a huge playoff series. In the middle of a frustrating inning, Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martinez throws at (and hits) Yankees batter Karim Garcia. This action, in retrospect, was the beginning of what escalated into a bench-clearing brawl later on in the game, when Red Sox batter Manny Ramirez was thrown at (or at least believed he was). During the fight, Yankees coach and 72-year-old baseball lifer Don Zimmer, decided it was in his best interest to run directly at Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martinez. Pedro used Zimmer’s momentum and tossed him to the ground, ending a crazy and unforgettable night. 

Kansas State vs Kansas 2020 De Souza and the Chair

Unlike the previous games on this list, this college basketball game was decided early as No. 3 Kansas was up 21 points with a few seconds left at home against rival Kansas State. As Kansas big man Silvio de Souza was dribbling out the clock, Kansas State guard DaJuan Gordon stole the ball from him, heading toward the basket to get a garbage time bucket. De Souza didn’t appreciate that very much, and, as Gordon went up for his lay up with the clock expiring, De Souza chased him down and swatted his lay up with an emphatic block and followed it up by walking over to Gordan and staring him down. 

A full-on fight ensued between both teams, culminating with the iconic image of the night with De Souza holding a stool over his head, only to drop it seconds later. 

Steelers vs Browns 2019 The Helmet Swing

Shockingly, this is only the first of two games on this list where a player hits another in the head with a helmet.

This 21-3 Browns NFL win over the Steelers in Cleveland was trending toward going down as one of the most forgettable primetime games ever. The story was going to be about how this game likely wrapped up the Steelers season and how even a heated AFC North rivalry game couldn’t give us any entertaining moments…until the last 16 seconds. 

Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph threw a garbage time screen pass and almost immediately got bulldozed by superstar defensive end Myles Garrett on the Browns. The two were tangled up and began fighting trying to get out from each other's grasp. And before anyone knew it, a fight had broken out. But this was not just any type of fight, it was a fight where Rudolph’s helmet came off (by Myles Garrett) and Garrett hit Rudolph over the head with his own helmet! Garrett stated afterwards that Rudolph called him a racial slur before Garrett hit him. However, the audio was never released to verify this by the NFL. 

FIU vs Miami 2006 The Crutch Attack

Two schools, only play nine miles apart, what could go wrong? Tensions were high for the potential new college football rivalry, and all it took was a scruff during an extra point to get things going. Players were kicked in the head, punched in the back of the head, and hit over the head with a helmet. The finale, though, came from injured FIU player A’mod Ned, who started swinging on players on the field…with his crutches! 

FIU has played Miami only three times since then, winning once in 2019. 

Rangers vs Devils 2012 and 2024 Line Brawls

NHL fights so nice they made this list twice. 

The March 2012 brawl broke out into three fights to start the game (Ryan Carter vs Stu Bickel, Cam Janssen vs Brandon Prust and Eric Boulton vs Michael Rupp), with Rangers players landing more hits in their matchups. Line brawls happen in other hockey matchups as well. However, what rarely happens is when one breaks out between two teams TWICE in different decades. 

The April 2024 brawl between the same teams in the same arena opening the game with all 10 starters tossing their gloves off into the ice. This game had EIGHT players ejected. However, the biggest and longest fight was between Rangers Matt Rempe and Devils Kurtis MacDermid, who had almost fought in a previous game a month earlier in the season. 

Knicks vs Bulls 1994 Big City Rivalry

It might seem strange now, but fighting used to be much more commonplace in the NBA. A few rule changes and a corporatization of NBA players has phased most of it out. However, we will always have this fight (among others) from the 90s. 

With Chicago and New York already having a rivalry between cities (and the Bulls getting the better of them in the 90s), this Michael Jordan-less playoff matchup was a great way for players on both teams to let out some long-held frustrations. It started between Bulls Jojo English and Knicks Darren Harper, whereas Harper said in an interview many years later, Jojo walked up to him and said in Harper’s words “He told me, he was gonna whoop my ass,” and the fight broke out right after. The fight escalated into a bench-clearing brawl that even involved some fans. 

White Sox vs Guardians 2024 Anderson vs Ramirez

We end with a knockout, as this MLB brawl is perhaps the cleanest fight on the list. Guardians Jose Ramirez ran to second base after a single from his teammate in the sixth inning and slid under Tim Anderson’s tag attempt. It looked like Ramirez was asking to be helped up, and Anderson refused. Ramirez told reporters after the game “He said he wanted to fight and I had to defend myself” as the two squared up for an old-fashioned boxing match. The ref even backed away to let them handle it!

It was a quick fight, as other players got involved trying to break it up. However, within 10 seconds, punches had already been thrown and Ramirez managed to knock Tim Anderson out with a shot to the face as he was falling away. 

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