A History Lesson

December 15, 1968: Fans hurl snowballs at Santa Claus at an Eagles game.

December 28, 1975: In Bloomington, Minnesota, the Minnesota Vikings led the Dallas Cowboys 14–10 when Dallas quarterback Roger Staubach threw what would become known as the "Hail Mary pass" to wide receiver Drew Pearson for what would be the winning touchdown and a final score of 17–14. The Vikings protested, but field judge Armen Terzian ruled the catch and touchdown legal, and assessed Vikings defensive tackle Alan Page a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for arguing with officials. After the kickoff, with 14 seconds left to play, a whiskey bottle thrown by a fan hit Terzian in the head, creating a forehead gash requiring 11 stitches

October 1, 1989: During a game between the Cleveland Browns and the Denver Broncos at Cleveland Stadium, officials had the teams switch end zones in the fourth quarter to protect Denver players from batteries and other objects being thrown from the Dawg Pound. The switch put the wind at the Browns' back, and the Browns wound up winning on a field goal that barely cleared the crossbar

December 10, 1989: Cincinnati Bengals fans, angered by what they perceived as a bad call, threw beer bottles and various objects at officials and Seattle Seahawks players. After the Seahawks refused to play until the field was cleared (they were backed up deep in their own territory and therefore a fairly easy target), Bengals coach Sam Wyche addressed the crowd - alluding to the boorish reputation of their in-state rivals - angrily reminding Bengals fans that "You don't live in Cleveland, you live in Cincinnati!"

December 17, 1995: Knowing that they would lose their team to Baltimore for the next year, fans of the Cleveland Browns, especially those in the Dawg Pound area of Cleveland Municipal Stadium, were so hostile during the team's final home game against the Cincinnati Bengals that game play coming toward the Dawg Pound had to be directed towards the opposite end of the stadium. There was extensive damage to the stadium, as empty seats were torn and thrown onto the field, fires were set in the bleachers, sinks and stalls were torn from the bathrooms, and stadium security were also attacked.

December 23, 1995: With the San Diego Chargers leading 27-17 during the fourth quarter of a game between the New York Giants and the Chargers at Giants Stadium, intoxicated Giants fans threw hundreds of snowballs and chunks of ice at Chargers players and team officials, injuring fifteen people; Chargers equipment manager Sid Brooks was knocked unconscious and had to be removed from the arena on a stretcher. 15 people were arrested and a further 175 were ejected, with 75 fans having their season tickets revoked. Following this incident, the NFL mandated that seating areas be cleared of all snow and ice prior to the opening of the stadium gates.

January, 2010: A woman wearing a Troy Aikman jersey in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania (about 80 minutes outside Philly) was slashed across the face by two men wearing Philly Eagles gear.

This is obviously not a complete timeline of all incidents that have occurred, but it is enough information for one to gain a perspective on the amount, frequency, and type of violence that occurs. What is amazing is this type of behavior has been going on for over four decades and the NFL is just now trying to implement policies to curtail this type of fan behavior. The incidents outlined speak for themselves, what I find interesting is the lack of effort from the NFL in knowing the history of fan behavior but not doing anything about it immediately. Take for instance the very first incident noted is in 1968 and it involves Eagles fans throwing snowballs at Santa Claus. Then notice how in 1995 Giants fans rain snowballs down on Chargers players and team officials. In this incident one person was knocked unconscious, 15 people were arrested, 175 fans were ejected, and 75 fans had their season tickets revoked. The results of this incident caused the NFL to mandate that all stadiums are to remove snow and ice prior to the start of games. If the NFL would have taken note of the original 1968 incident and planned for that type of behavior to escalade, then the snow removal mandate would have been implemented before that horrible incident in 1995. History repeats itself, and evidently the NFL does not care.