The Monday Night Football game between the Los Angeles Chargers and Dallas Cowboys produced a pregame skirmish on the field and a fan brawl in the concourse. Fights in the stands and concourses seem to go viral every week, but former NFL defensive end Chris Long has a solution.
On the "Green Light Podcast," Long gave the NFL an outside-the-box idea to help quell some of these fan fights -- or at least make them more entertaining. The two-time Super Bowl champion suggested erecting UFC cages in each stadium to allow fans the opportunity to settle their beef on a level playing field.
"We've got to put a cage in these stadiums where we get these f--king fans in there, and they fight a fair one," Long said. "There's no higher ground. There's no grabbing onto each other's Dak Prescott jerseys. There's no any of it. It's just mano a mano, or woman on woman, and we find out who wants it more."
In fact, Long asserted that his idea could also be a new revenue source for the league. With the rise in popularity of sports betting, fans could put some money on the fights if the game on the field is out of hand near the end of the fourth quarter. Maybe the broadcasts could start covering the bouts too.
"A lot of these games, there's nothing going on down on the field late in the game," Long said. "Let's head to the cages. Cris Collinsworth. Al Michaels. 'Now here's a guy who can't fight drunk.' Tony Romo is all excited. He's like, 'We're going to the cage, Jim!' I can see it now in the fourth quarter of a game. Split screen. Mike White throwing a pick-six against the Panthers. We're up in the f--king corner of Hard Rock Stadium watching two Dolphins fans go at it, and I would bet those fights."
The NFL may not go for fans throwing haymakers in league-sanctioned fights, but it is a highly unique idea nonetheless. Besides, it might even discourage fans from stirring the pot during the game if the end result was them ending up in the octagon with millions of people watching from home.
