Gladiators suddenly became fashionable recently with the release of “Gladiator II,” a big-budget movie sequel. These veterans entertained large crowds, but did they play a sport?
Today, it may be important whether an activity is a game, a sport, or a contact sport. And that, as it happens, could be of interest to seriously injured players like NFL quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who suffered a concussion from a nasty hit on Dec. 1.
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a sport as a primarily physical activity performed for recreational or pleasure purposes. Other sources emphasize the elements of competition and entertainment, with some adding skills and rules to the equation.
Gladiator combat would meet most of the criteria, except for the recreational part, as contemporary football does. Both are violent, although most Gladiator fights were not fights to the death as it is often described. Promoters didn’t develop star fighters just to risk losing them. Money talks, even in the Rome of yesteryear. This is why there are now so many NFL rules designed to protect quarterbacks.
Pickleball is a sport. Fishing too. Both fulfill the recreational element. Baseball is certainly a sport, despite John Kruka career .300 hitter in the ’80s and ’90s who once quipped, “I’m not an athlete, I’m a baseball player.” » What about scripted professional wrestling? An intriguing question, because the rules of negligence do not apply to most injuries sustained during contact sports.
Professional wrestlers, boxers and football players play a very physical “contact sport”. Therefore, they are not responsible, just like basketball and hockey players, among others, for most of the injuries they cause.
But it’s not as simple as it seems. On December 1st, Lawrence suffered a questionable targeting hit while sliding. He suffered a concussion, seriously injured his shoulder and will not play football for the remainder of the season.
Voluntary participants injured in a contact sport cannot claim damages unless they are victims of “willful and gratuitous” behavior. Was the blow to Lawrence “voluntary and gratuitous?” ” Maybe. The author was suspended by the league for three games.
Technology is a game changer
The courts believe that to be considered a sport, this activity requires rules and a common understanding. Even young people who play a game of chance kicking down a dorm hallway play a “sport” if there are enough informal rules to understand the game and assess the risk. If rough physical contact is expected, no one is responsible for foreseeable injuries, even if caused by negligence.
These distinctions are relatively new. In 1986, Green Bay Packers defensive end Charles Martin Jim McMahon, the famously blinded Bears quarterback, drove him into the ground and finished his seasoneven though McMahon was no longer in the room.
Was this an unnecessary malicious act? Yes, especially since several That day, the Packers had napkins listing targeted playersincluding McMahon. But at that time, courts were reluctant to question on-field altercations.
Today, the law has evolved in large part due to one important change: technology.
In May 2003, many girls from Glenbrook North High School participated in a traditional “Powderpuff” football game. It was not a school event and did not take place on school grounds. There were, however, the usual flag football rules and agreements, and the participating girls assumed that risk.
Then the The “game” turned into violent hazing as upperclassmen girls mistreated and injured many freshmen. The victims did not assume these increased risks, so the abuse was not considered a sport, leading to 12 girls and three boys facing battery charges. And there were videos. It made a difference.
With television rebroadcasts, camcorders, and now cell phones, virtually every sporting event, from Little League to the Major Leagues, is captured on tape. Courts will now analyze injuries on the field simply because they can.
Skiing and golf are not contact sports, but a A Wisconsin court has already ruled that competitive cheerleading East.
Professional wrestling poses a different problem. It is highly choreographed with predetermined outcomes. In many ways, it’s more of a “reality show” than a real sporting event.
But unlike the typical semi-scripted reality show, professional wrestling requires athleticism, skill, strength and lots of violent contact. If it’s a sport, it’s probably a contact sport. Wrestlers take on a lot of risk, but if competitive cheerleading is a contact sport, then professional wrestling certainly is.
Sport should not be a license to mutilate. If a fighter crosses the line, even in wrestling, it may result in action. This is also true for football.
Thanks to NFL replays, cell phones and eager parents, contemporary courts don’t have to look away. This opens the door to Lawrence and other players becoming victims of gratuitous violence. Money still talks, like in the days of the gladiators.
Eldon Ham is a faculty member at IIT/Chicago-Kent College of Law, where he teaches sports, law and justice. He is the author of five books on the role of sports history in America.
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