Law on the Sports Field - Bountygate and Beyond

Sports fans and athletes are oft to invoke the old adage 'what happens on the field, stays on the field'. But some actions are so egregious that the criminal law is inevitably thrown into the mix.

Gregg Williams, the man at the centre of Bountygate (Image: USA Today

Take the recently uncovered 'Bountygate' scandal in the National Football League. The NFL has begun a serious investigation into allegations that over the past few seasons coaches for the New Orleans Saints have employed a bounty system, rewarding thousand-dollar sums for hits that cause significant injury to opposing players. For example, "knockouts" were worth $1500, while "cartoffs" were valued at $1000, with premiums added during playoff games. The Defensive Coordinator in charge of the bounty system has since admitted to and apologized for the bounties.

The League, as one would hope, will undoubtedly charge significant fines and apply lengthy suspensions to any players, coaches and management caught up in the scandal. Considering the League's recent focus on head injuries, these penalties may be especially punishing. But the penalties may come from beyond the league.

Michael McCann, Sports Illustrated's legal analyst, recently broke down the potential legal fallout from the bounty system. Keeping in mind the legal differences in the USA, specifically Louisiana, McCann outlines two major criminal implications coming out of the bounty system.

First, the actions could very well qualify as battery - i.e. the intentional use of force upon another person without that person's consent. Admittedly, football players inherently consent to some level of physical contact. But arguably, since NFL players do not reasonably expect to have someone try to injure them (such action is widely criticized in most sports), there is a notable absence of consent. Moreover, it could qualify as second-degree battery: intentionally inflicting serious bodily injury, including causing another person extreme physical pain, unconsciousness, or risk of death. Intending to knock someone out seems to fit the bill. And such charges come with a prison sentence up to five years. Coaches and management could be swept up in this by conspiring to commit the crime.

Second, other coaches and management could be implicated by criminal negligence. If they knew what was going on but did nothing about it, they could be liable to criminal charges.

But as McCann correctly points out, the courts rarely step onto the sports field. Instead, they tend to leave it to the respective leagues to deal with through the use of fines, suspensions, etc. And not too long ago, even the leagues would step away and let the players take care of it themselves. Look at the National Hockey League. Hockey is arguably one of the most violent and gladiatorial of the major sports, as fighting and attempts to injure run rampant - contrary to many provisions of our Criminal Code. But pests and dirty players were often left to be dealt with by the on-ice enforcers. If you went knee-on-knee with a guy or sucker-punched someone, on-ice justice wasn't too far behind. The job of enforcers has diminished over the last while, being replaced by hefty League fines and suspensions as the NHL struggles to polish the sport's reputation. But rarely have the courts gotten involved.

McSorley slashes Brashear (Image: barsbyal.com)

And in cases where an on-ice incident has attracted the attention of the courts, it is in especially egregious circumstances. For example, Marty McSorley, a notorious NHL tough guy, was convicted of assault in British Columbia in 2000 when he decided it would be a good idea to slash fellow enforcer Donald Brashear with a two-handed chop to the head. In a 2004 incident, McSorley's former teammate on the Vancouver Canucks, Todd Bertuzzi, received a conditional discharge after pleading guilty to assault causing bodily harm when sucker-punched former NHL player Steve Moore. The act broke multiple vertebrae in Moore's neck and brought an abrupt ending to his NHL career.

Of course, the criminal law is not the only avenue the courts have used to get involved. Although it is rare for athletes to bring civil actions for injuries sustained, it is possible. A civil action resulting from the Steve Moore incident continues to be resolved, and it has implicated Bertuzzi, former Canucks management, coaches and even owners. McCann suspects some NFL players who have been seriously injured as a result of the bounty system might not hesitate to pursue civil claims.

The Steve Moore Incident (Image: LitterBoxCats)

So how involved should the courts get? Is sport, particular those of the violent nature, an arena the courts should even be wading in to? Should some sports be exempt from most criminal and civil liability standards? After all, there is little question that the character of hockey could drastically change if it had to operate according to the most basic legal standards.

The answers to these questions are controversial and remain to be seen. But there are some actions that are just so out of line to extend beyond the scope of sport. Where that line is is murky at best. But one worrisome answer would involve applying different standards to different sports. It is well-known in the NHL that coaches (less common now than in the past) have been known to subtly encourage certain players to take opposing players out. Is this really any different from the Saints' bounty system?