1. Ryan Reaves vs Ross Johnson
It s hard to piss someone off before a game even starts, but that s what happened during this February matchup between the Las Vegas Golden Knights and the New York Islanders. The fight broke out right after the puck hit the ice and both players landed some vicious haymakers.
Interestingly enough, Saturday Night s Alright for Fighting played in the background as these two absolutely went at each other. Both men ended up losing their helmet, Johnson went down at one point, and both ended up taking a few face shots as well.
2. Raiders vs Chiefs Brawl, 1986
There are some fights that just have everything, and this was one of them. Of course, things started out ordinary with the Chiefs completing a pass to a wide receiver for a decent-sized gain, but the camera quickly panned to what had become a dog pile on the field. Apparently, it was the result of some pushing and shoving between the teams. The Kansas City Quarterback even got a piece of the action.
That wasn t all that happened, however, as another player had to be restrained by a referee after landing a punch and still managed to have another player up in his face. After review, it was revealed that Howie Townsend of the Raiders ripped a player’s helmet off, which started the fight and got him ejected from the game.
3. Dan Hamhuis vs Max Pacioretty
There s not much to say about this one besides the fact that Max Pacioretty flew in like a bat out of hell and crushed Dan Hamhuis against the wall. It didn t take long for the two to start throwing punches at each other. Hamhuis got a few good hits in before everything was said and done, but nothing compared to the way Pacioretty hammered his opponent against the wall before going at him.
4. Michael Crabtree vs. Aqib Talib
Fights aren t a big part of football, which makes it even better when they happen. It’s like watching a football game that suddenly turns into a pro wrestling match. During this incident, Aqib Talib and Michael Crabtree got into it and the result was a disaster. In fact, several Broncos surrounded Crabtree after the original fight, and he had to fend them off himself.
Both Talib and Crabtree were ejected from the game after the incident and both served penalties for what they did on the field. If nothing else, the sight of watching Crabtree be surrounded by four burly Denver Bronco players was enough to just make your jaw drop. It also made for a very tense game.
5. Raider Nation vs The Las Vegas Raiders
There s going out with a bang and then there s going down swinging. Unfortunately for the Oakland Raiders at the time, their fans managed to do both things by getting into a string of fights during the final home game of the season. What made the situation even worse however was the fact that this would be the final game before the teams move to Las Vegas.
While this wasn t necessarily a fight, especially since fans’ anger was directed at the Raiders organization, it still resulted in fans charging the field, several injuries, and various items being thrown.
