On Sunday afternoon, a charity football game between New York City cops and firefighters broke out into a brawl at MCU Park in Coney Island. The fighting between members of the NYPD and FDNY reportedly started after a "vicious" tackle was made on a firefighter near the sideline during the waning minutes of the contest.
"They hit our quarterback out of bounds, and that’s how things started," FDNY coach Steve Orr told the New York Post. "There were a lot of hotheads there.”
Angel Zayas, a freelance photographer who captured the video above, told NBC New York the two teams were engaged in a post-game handshake when the fighting started.
"I think one of the FDNY guys exchanged words with the NYPD player and then from there, I couldn’t see what was happening, I just saw the crowds come around the player," Zayas said, before adding that cooler heads later prevailed. "At the end, they were all talking, it was like water under the bridge."
The game—which, oddly enough, is called the Fun City Bowl—was organized to raise money for the families of police officers who have died in the line of duty as well as firefighters' families in need of transportation to and from medical institutions.
While Bill Bratton, New York City's police commissioner, didn't say anything about the incident in a tweet he sent out after the game to congratulate both teams, the NYPD did allude to it in a statement. They used the same tired excuse we always hear when we see fights in sports.
"Football is a competitive sport," the statement said, "whether it is the NFL Super Bowl or the annual NYPD-FDNY challenge. It is part of the spirit of the sport, but it all ends on the field."
The field and, we should add, the rink. If you don't remember, the NYPD and FDNY were also involved in a brawl back in April 2014 during a charity hockey game. You obviously can't accuse them of not caring enough about the outcome of charity games.
Oh, and in case you're wondering, the NYPD won Sunday's game 29-13.
