Fan dies at Gillette Stadium

[CodPiece XL]

Not related to being in the stadium but in the early 90’s before I moved from Scotland I was vacationing in Ft. Liquordale. I was staying at a hotel right on the beach. One afternoon, a bus dropped off a bunch of pasty white, overweight, mid 50’s + Patriots fans who were were staying at the hotel for the Miami game. About 20 of them started marauding onto the beach, I’m guessing drunk as hell as they kicked over kids sand castles and shouting obscenities. I’m thinking to myself what assholes, especially since a good proportion must have had kids themselves. About a year later I’m at the same hotel, different time of year. Exactly the same thing happens except it was Jet fans. So yeah, assholes in every fanbase- who should know better.

 

[8slim]

Seems like the NFL could crack down on a lot of this by having venues limit pre-game tailgating. Can’t imagine they will ever do that, although I’m somewhat surprised the league allows any activity like that to go in since they don’t really profit off of it.

It would be terrible to punish the *vast* majority of fans who are no problem whatsoever instead of dealing with the random idiots.

Tailgating IS football. It’s half the fun of the day. Sometimes more than half, when things don’t go your way during the game.

 

[8slim]

FWIW, the worse fan experience I’ve ever had was in the parking lots of the Rent. A completely no-stakes game between Syracuse and UConn, 7-8 years ago. My 8 year old son and I were in SU gear, and the verbal abuse we took walking to the stadium was unreal. If it were just me I wouldn’t have cared, and I’d probably have found it funny (you know, because UConn FOOTBALL fans had the nerve to taunt someone). But for grown men to unleash obscene taunts at an 8 year old? Fucking morons.

 

[Shaky Walton]

FWIW, the worse fan experience I’ve ever had was in the parking lots of the Rent. A completely no-stakes game between Syracuse and UConn, 7-8 years ago. My 8 year old son and I were in SU gear, and the verbal abuse we took walking to the stadium was unreal. If it were just me I wouldn’t have cared, and I’d probably have found it funny (you know, because UConn FOOTBALL fans had the nerve to taunt someone). But for grown men to unleash obscene taunts at an 8 year old? Fucking morons.

At a Jets game at Giants Stadium in 2001 or 2002, I had a Jets fan lean over to my then 8 year old daughter, who looked like she was no older than 6, and tell her "I want to fuck you." I told an usher who just shrugged and said "you're a Pats fan, what do you expect?"

I've had grown, older men taunt my kids with F-bombs at Yankee Stadium and MSG (Rangers games) over the years.

My kids cheer for their Boston teams but not overly loudly.

My wife now refuses to go to any games at Yankee Stadium, MSG or Met Life Stadium.

This behavior is everywhere and is not particularly new.

By the way, I am not disputing your post. Just kinda lamenting.

 

[scott bankheadcase]

At a Jets game at Giants Stadium in 2001 or 2002, I had a Jets fan lean over to my then 8 year old daughter, who looked like she was no older than 6, and tell her "I want to fuck you." I told an usher who just shrugged and said "you're a Pats fan, what do you expect?"

I've had grown, older men taunt my kids with F-bombs at Yankee Stadium and MSG (Rangers games) over the years.

My kids cheer for their Boston teams but not overly loudly.

My wife now refuses to go to any games at Yankee Stadium, MSG or Met Life Stadium.

This behavior is everywhere and is not particularly new.

By the way, I am not disputing your post. Just kinda lamenting.

It’s funny because you picked the three worst NY fan bases by far.

You definitely get better treatment as an opposing fan at giants/Knicks/Mets games.

But yes, assholes everywhere.

 

[DennyDoyle'sBoil]

But for grown men to unleash obscene taunts at an 8 year old? Fucking morons.

This happened to us once when DDB Jr. was about 10. It was at Cardinals Stadium. He was wearing a Larry Fitzgerald jersey and a grown up visiting Packers fan in the parking lot started really going after him -- it was fucking crazy. Gray hair, fancy tailgater. I started yelling at the guy, and his friends stepped in -- one actually had to grab the guy. Half of Cardinals stadium is visiting fans, so they kind of feel empowered but even so, adults yelling at kids is pretty fucked up.

 

[canderson]

My wife had a glass bottle thrown at her head during the 7th inning of the DiceK near no hitter at the Phillies. I’m a peaceful guy but wanted to beat that fucker. By the time I found who it was their security had him and were punching him in the neck until he dropped to the ground. I figured he’d be in worse hands with them than anything my weak ass could do.

It is a minor miracle we don’t hear of this type of death way more often in college and the NFL. A violent sport + men + alcohol is a recipe for fight and worse.

 

[Ale Xander]

This happened to us once when DDB Jr. was about 10. It was at Cardinals Stadium. He was wearing a Larry Fitzgerald jersey and a grown up visiting Packers fan in the parking lot started really going after him -- it was fucking crazy. Gray hair, fancy tailgater. I started yelling at the guy, and his friends stepped in -- one actually had to grab the guy. Half of Cardinals stadium is visiting fans, so they kind of feel empowered but even so, adults yelling at kids is pretty fucked up.

If Packers fans do it then every team has its share (obviously)

Best/nicest NFL fans in my experience by a significant margin

 

[Pablo's TB Lover]

It’s funny because you picked the three worst NY fan bases by far.

You definitely get better treatment as an opposing fan at giants/Knicks/Mets games.

But yes, assholes everywhere.

FWIW I sat above the corner of the winning Burress catch at the 18-1 game, and the large majority of Giants fans were pretty non-combative and just rooting for their team. They were kind of insufferable at the end but it was more due to the kind of elations like Pats fans experienced during the Rams SB win.

 

[scott bankheadcase]

FWIW I sat above the corner of the winning Burress catch at the 18-1 game, and the large majority of Giants fans were pretty non-combative and just rooting for their team. They were kind of insufferable at the end but it was more due to the kind of elations like Pats fans experienced during the Rams SB win.

Years back the Bears came into MetLife for back to back games in consecutive weeks, first against the Jets then against the Giants.

Thomas Jones was their running back and was asked after the second game what it was like playing in NY twice in a row.

He said something like “The Giants fans were nice and respectful and fun to play against and the Jets fans seemed like they wanted to stab you at all times”.

And for a week they played this quote on sports radio and both sets of fans took it as a compliment.

 

[PortlandSoxFan]

FWIW, the worse fan experience I’ve ever had was in the parking lots of the Rent. A completely no-stakes game between Syracuse and UConn, 7-8 years ago. My 8 year old son and I were in SU gear, and the verbal abuse we took walking to the stadium was unreal. If it were just me I wouldn’t have cared, and I’d probably have found it funny (you know, because UConn FOOTBALL fans had the nerve to taunt someone). But for grown men to unleash obscene taunts at an 8 year old? Fucking morons.

Great. I'm going Saturday to my first game in years...with a couple of Duke fans.

My best 'avoiding trouble' story is the Bloody Sock game. I was there, upper dec on the 3rd base side, full Sox jacket/hat/jersey. Thought the place was going to collapse when Arod got the 'hit'. Then thought I might be in trouble when the call was overturned.

Went down to the concourse, saw a beer vendor, and asked him how many beers I could buy. He asked how many I wanted. I bought 8; 2 for me, 2 for my buddy, and 4 for the Yankees fans around me.

After the game, another Yankee fan knocked my hat off my head walking out. One of those guys I bought a beer for got me my hat back, and beat the shit out of that guy. Best $40 I ever spent.

 

[Devizier]

My memory of games at Qualcomm involved a lot of Padres fans looking for a fight, especially when the Dodgers or Giants were in town. I had never really encountered a comparable fan experience before or since.

 

[8slim]

Great. I'm going Saturday to my first game in years...with a couple of Duke fans.

My best 'avoiding trouble' story is the Bloody Sock game. I was there, upper dec on the 3rd base side, full Sox jacket/hat/jersey. Thought the place was going to collapse when Arod got the 'hit'. Then thought I might be in trouble when the call was overturned.

Went down to the concourse, saw a beer vendor, and asked him how many beers I could buy. He asked how many I wanted. I bought 8; 2 for me, 2 for my buddy, and 4 for the Yankees fans around me.

After the game, another Yankee fan knocked my hat off my head walking out. One of those guys I bought a beer for got me my hat back, and beat the shit out of that guy. Best $40 I ever spent.

I’m sure you’ll be fine at the Rent. I’ve been other times and didn’t get any trouble. Unfortunately, as a CT resident it pains me to say that UConn fans are… not the best when it comes to obnoxious behavior. I think most fanbases are about the same, but they’re a tick over the line.

Funny thing is that I was at the bloody sock game too, but behind 3rd base in the first level. Also wearing Sox apparel. When the bottles started flying a NYC cop near me said “stay close”: Good guy.

 

[azsoxpatsfan]

I rarely go to any games with high stakes because I live in Arizona. But I was at the Butler game when I was like 16, and the Seahawks fans were so classy that it made me adopt them as a team to root for in the NFC. The entire section was Hawks fans other than me, my dad, and the two guys in front of us, and it was all “congrats,” “glad to see Brady win another,” etc. If the Pats had lost I wouldn’t have been anywhere near as courteous (I hope I would now, but that’s asking a lot from a teen). The only stadium I’ve felt like I might see a fight was at a White Sox game

 

[Groovenstein]

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/blue-versus-green-rocking-the-byzantine-empire-113325928/

 

[bigq]

John of Cappadocia would have been great in the role of NFL Commissioner.

 

[Jinhocho]

John of Cappadocia would have been great in the role of NFL Commissioner.

This, sir, is excellent.

 

[OCST]

If they set aside a block of seats like they do in European soccer then you'd have a massive block of seats that were basically empty when the Chargers came to town. Also, there are seven Prem League clubs in London alone so the culture of travelling to away games is far more practical.

England (not the whole UK, not the entire island of Great Britain, just England itself) is about 51000 Sq mi, or roughly the size of Louisiana.

 

[dcdrew10]

At a Jets game at Giants Stadium in 2001 or 2002, I had a Jets fan lean over to my then 8 year old daughter, who looked like she was no older than 6, and tell her "I want to fuck you." I told an usher who just shrugged and said "you're a Pats fan, what do you expect?"

I've had grown, older men taunt my kids with F-bombs at Yankee Stadium and MSG (Rangers games) over the years.

My kids cheer for their Boston teams but not overly loudly.

My wife now refuses to go to any games at Yankee Stadium, MSG or Met Life Stadium.

This behavior is everywhere and is not particularly new.

By the way, I am not disputing your post. Just kinda lamenting.

My first NFL game (I was 22) was the Namath/Kolber "I want to kiss you" game. My girlfriend had got me tickets for Christmas and we drove up from DC. It was cold, especially for my GF. We grabbed an old comforter out of a closet to wrap up in, and it happened to be forest green and I think that bought us some goodwill from the other folks in the upperdeck on the 50. We were surrounded Jets fans, mostly drunk, and I definitely cheered for the Pats, but wasn't obnoxious about it and we did not get any shit beyond comments about Brady's masculinity/sexuality. The guy behind me was in full Jets garb; baseball hat, jersey, athletic shorts, and winter gloves. He drank at least 10 beers, but was affable and congratulated me on the win.

I went into the game ready for getting a lot of shit and possibly getting into a fight, so I was shocked that nothing more than the Brady comments and my GF wasn't even sexually harassed. I don't know if it was because we missed tailgating or if it things were more chill pre-Rex Ryan bluster/expectations, but it was not an unpleasant experience.

 

[candylandriots]

Great. I'm going Saturday to my first game in years...with a couple of Duke fans.

My best 'avoiding trouble' story is the Bloody Sock game. I was there, upper dec on the 3rd base side, full Sox jacket/hat/jersey. Thought the place was going to collapse when Arod got the 'hit'. Then thought I might be in trouble when the call was overturned.

Went down to the concourse, saw a beer vendor, and asked him how many beers I could buy. He asked how many I wanted. I bought 8; 2 for me, 2 for my buddy, and 4 for the Yankees fans around me.

After the game, another Yankee fan knocked my hat off my head walking out. One of those guys I bought a beer for got me my hat back, and beat the shit out of that guy. Best $40 I ever spent.

That game had the most toxic atmosphere of any sporting event I’ve ever been to. I zipped up my jacket, took off my hat and didn’t say a word the whole game.

 

[Brohamer of the Gods]

They change the size of the section depending on away supporter fan-base. I'm a Portland Timbers season ticket holder and there's basically three sections: Timbers Army where you cannot wear the other team colors, the supporter section where you can not be a timbers fan and they have police escorts into and out of the stadium, and the rest.

Drunk Timbers fans sit in the army. Drunk opponent fans sit in their sections. Everyone else really don't care enough to fight over sports. Problem is 95% solved.

Not sure of the logistics of doing this in the NFL though

Oh sure. My sister used to travel for some US Men's Teams matches. Once in Mexico City, the Sam's Army crew was escorted in and out by police with riot shields.

 

[Huntington Avenue Grounds]

Was at game 3 of the 2003 ALCS and that was fucking wild, but never felt I was in harms way. Sitting 1st row bleachers for the Tek/Arod brawl was another story. After the fight, and the MFY's jumping out to a big lead, the mood turned very dark and ugly. Sox fans were at the end of their ropes and MFY fans were in full taunt. It was a parade of fans from both sides getting marched past us by security and the taunting between the jamokes and the crowd was beyond the typical banter. My buddy and I left around the 7th inning out of concern we were going to see something, and likley get involved in something, that was not going to end well.

 

[Jinhocho]

Was at game 3 of the 2003 ALCS and that was fucking wild, but never felt I was in harms way. Sitting 1st row bleachers for the Tek/Arod brawl was another story. After the fight, and the MFY's jumping out to a big lead, the mood turned very dark and ugly. Sox fans were at the end of their ropes and MFY fans were in full taunt. It was a parade of fans from both sides getting marched past us by security and the taunting between the jamokes and the crowd was beyond the typical banter. My buddy and I left around the 7th inning out of concern we were going to see something, and likley get involved in something, that was not going to end well.

I'll always remember the roar of the crowd that day when varitek got into it with aRod and the fight started. It was just an eruption.

 

[Reverend]

 

[Dan Murfman]

From last night’s game.

View: https://twitter.com/t_stephenson1/status/1705033790673023173?s=61&t=mLlSRkfq4VtgCm4CvSpAPg

 

[Dan Murfman]

But don’t worry security was on it.

View: https://twitter.com/t_stephenson1/status/1705124311638684030?s=61&t=mLlSRkfq4VtgCm4CvSpAPg

 

[DanoooME]

Was that guy the only one to own a Niners Richard Sherman jersey?

 

[Bergs]

The only stadium I’ve felt like I might see a fight was at a White Sox game.

I was walking out of that shithole* after the Sox predictably wiped the floor with them in '06 or '07. Some drunk ass punk (20-22 years old would be my guess) jumped in front of me and started acting like he wanted some...I smirked a little bit figuring it would be fun to fuck this kid up and took a step towards him. That was enough for his buddies to intervene and drag him out of there while apologizing. At the time I was in my mid-30's and no longer frequently involved in bar fights, but I would've absolutely crushed that kid. Every other time (5-6?) I've been to that park has been a perfectly pleasant experience.

I was (I think) accidentally on the other end of that at Fenway last month. I yelled over to "hey Tigers fans" next to me, and they seemed to think I was about to be a dick. I was just asking them if Miggy had officially announced his retirement because I wasn't sure. They appeared relieved, liked it when I called him a great ballplayer, and laughed when I told them it still pissed me off he won the triple crown because of Yaz.

Literally everywhere I've been, if you engage with the "enemy" talking about the actual sport, it's all good.

* In fairness, it's not a bad ballpark at all.

 

[Eric1984]

I've usually gone to 1-2 Pats games a year for the last 10 years and went to a couple at the old dump as well. I've never seen any real violence there (though I've seen security and police escort people out). But Philadelphia is something special.

We lived in NJ about 40 minutes outside of Philly for a couple years in the 80s when I was a teenager. A couple months after we arrived, my mom took my brother and me to see the Lions play the Eagles at the Vet. It was Buddy Ryan's first year as Eagles head coach. I was a Lions fan (I'd live in Michigan my whole life up to that point) and wore my hat but nobody gave us any shit because we weren't rude and to be honest, the Lions were such a nullity that nobody would get worked up about it. It was the worst football game I've ever seen other than the M00N game between Michigan and Northwestern a few years back (because the score was 0-0 almost the entire game so that was the score icon the whole time). But it was also the week they didn't allow beer sales in the stadium due to issues in previous weeks, so the subhuman apes who populated the 700 level at the Vet all got completely shitfaced before the game. They all reminded me of Rocky Balboa's brother in law Paulie. In addition to the worst language I've ever heard, I saw plenty of fights, mostly between Eagles fans. And people were screaming the "N" word at a young, ineffective Randall Cunningham who hadn't yet become what he would be. I was absolutely floored. And I realized why Curt Flood and Dick Allen wanted nothing to do with the place.

The next year our mom took us to see Eagles vs. Dallas for my brother's birthday -- he was turning 14 and looked 12. Again in the 700 level. He's a Dallas fan and was all decked out in his Cowboys Starter jacket. And he got heckled, threatened (not good-naturedly) and someone threw their sub (hoagie) at him. My mom, a lifelong Steelers fan, got a kick out of it and just kind of shrugged and said "that's what you get." She's not a Yinzer -- she's from Squirrel Hill -- but the Pittsburgh in her that made her take pleasure in the abuse of a Cowboy fan seemed to outweigh any protective maternal instinct that might have kicked in when the Cowboy fan is her kid (who was only a Cowboy fan in the first place because Pitt demigod Tony Dorsett ended up there). Lots of fights up there that day too -- Eagle fans against Eagle fans, Eagle fans against Cowboys fans and some Cowboy fans vs. Cowboy fans who all sounded like they were from Philly.

Then in the mid 90s I was visiting a friend in Philly and we were sitting in the 600 level of that dump for a meaningless Phillies-Rockies day game. A union was on strike and parading around the walkway between the 600s and 700s holding their signs. Some drunk guy heckled them and the shit jumped off and they all went into the crowd after him and it took 10 minutes to break it up. Players on the field stopped to watch the whole thing.

Pretty much every event I ever went to in Philly was like that (it's been years now since I've had the pleasure). Something in the water ("wooder:")?

 

[MattysDaddy]

Surprised no one has updated this thread yet.

https://www.boston25news.com/news/local/da-reveals-cause-manner-patriots-fans-death-charges-are-filed-against-2-men/R5VGQEO6LJATHNKR7XSBZILRJM/

Death ruled a homicide, but charges are assault and battery and disorderly conduct .

 

[Ale Xander]

Not involuntary manslaughter?

What am I missing?

 

[JOBU]

I think it’s because the coroner ruled he didn’t die because of the fight? He had pre-existing conditions and the fight just exacerbated everything?

 

[Rovin Romine]

I think it’s because the coroner ruled he didn’t die because of the fight? He had pre-existing conditions and the fight just exacerbated everything?

Pretty much. If the DA reviews all the evidence they have to put in front of a jury, and concludes they can't make a homicide charge stick beyond a reasonable doubt, they'll consider manslaughter. If they think that can't be proven beyond a reasonable doubt due to the medical evidence the jury will see, they'll charge what they can - in this case, assault, battery, disorderly.

We still don't have enough details, but, for example, what if the man who died was already showing signs of heart failure before the fight began? We don't know if he was or wasn't - I'm just throwing out a hypothetical where a reasonable possibility is that he was essentially "dying" before any punches landed. Therefore the fight itself wasn't the cause of his inevitable death. That's all the jury needs - a reasonable possibility/a reasonable doubt. But in that sort of situation, the defendants can still be charged with the fight itself.