When sports turn violent, it can lead to legal action

Gladiators suddenly were in vogue recently with the release of "Gladiator II," a big-budget motion picture sequel. Those ancient combatants entertained large crowds, but were they engaged in a sport?

Today, it can actually matter whether an activity is a game, sport or contact sport. And that, as it happens, could be of interest to severely injured players like NFL quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who ended up with a concussion because of a dirty hit Dec. 1.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a sport as a mostly physical activity engaged in for recreation or pleasure. Other sources emphasize the competition and entertainment elements, some adding skill and rules to the equation.

Gladiator battles would check most of the boxes, except the recreation part, as does contemporary football. Both are violent, although most gladiator matches were not fights to the death as often portrayed. Promoters did not develop star combatants only to risk losing them. Money talks, even in bygone Rome. This is why there are now so many NFL rules designed to protect the quarterbacks.

Pickleball is a sport. Fishing, too. Both fulfill the recreation element. Baseball is certainly a sport, notwithstanding John Kruk, a career .300 hitter during the 1980s and '90s who once quipped, "I’m not an athlete, I’m a baseball player." What about scripted professional wrestling? An intriguing question, because negligence rules do not apply to most injuries incurred during a contact sport.

Pro wrestlers, boxers and football players are engaged in a very physical "full-contact sport." Therefore they, along with basketball and hockey players, among others, are not liable for most injuries they cause. But this is not as simple as it sounds. On Dec. 1, Lawrence took a questionable targeting-like hit while sliding. He suffered a concussion, severely injured a shoulder and is out of football for the rest of this season.

Voluntary participants injured in a contact sport do not have a claim for damages unless they are the victims of "willful and wanton" conduct. Was the hit on Lawrence "willful and wanton?" Perhaps. The perpetrator was suspended by the league for three games.

Technology changes the game

Courts are finding that to be deemed a sport, the activity needs rules and common understandings. Even young people playing an ad hoc game of kick the can in a dormitory hallway are engaging in a "sport" if there are enough informal rules to comprehend the game and assess the risk. If rough physical contact is expected, no one is liable for foreseeable injuries, even when caused by negligence.

These distinctions are relatively new. In 1986, the Green Bay Packers defender Charles Martin famously blindsided the Bears’ quarterback Jim McMahon, drilled him into the ground and ended his season, even though McMahon was no longer in the play.

Was this an unnecessary malevolent act? Yes, especially since several Packers that day had towels listing targeted players, including McMahon. But in those days, courts were loath to second guess on-field altercations.

Now the law has evolved largely due to an important change: technology.

In May 2003, many Glenbrook North High School girls participated in a traditional "powderpuff" football game. It was not a school event, nor did it take place on school grounds. It did, however, have the usual rules and understandings about flag football, and the participating girls assumed that risk.

Then the “game” devolved into violent hazing as upper-class girls abused and injured many of the freshmen. The victims were not assuming those enhanced risks, so the abuse was not deemed a sport, which led to 12 girls and three boys facing misdemeanor battery charges. And there were videos. That made a difference.

With television replay, camcorders and now cellphones, virtually all sporting events from Little League to the Major Leagues are caught on tape. Courts will now analyze on-field injuries simply because they can.

Skiing and golf are not contact sports, but a Wisconsin court once found that competitive cheerleading is.

Professional wrestling poses a different issue. It is highly choreographed with the outcomes predetermined. In many ways it is more like a "reality show" than a genuine sporting event. But unlike the typical semi-scripted reality program, pro wrestling demands athleticism, skill, strength and much violent contact. If it is a sport, it surely is a contact sport. Wrestlers assume a lot of risk, but if competitive cheerleading is a contact sport, then pro wrestling certainly is.

Sports should not be a license to maim. If a combatant steps over the line, even in wrestling, it can be actionable. That is also true of football.

Thanks to NFL replay, cellphones and eager parents, contemporary courts do not have to look the other way. That opens the door for Trevor Lawrence and other players victimized by wanton violence. Money still talks, just as it did in those gladiator days.

A faculty member at IIT/Chicago-Kent College of Law, teaching sports, law and justice. He is the author of five books on the role of sports history in America.

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