Teams asking disruptive fans to take lesson in class
Attention, drunk and disorderly NFL fans: If you’re ejected from a stadium this season, you might have to complete a four-hour online class on proper conduct to get back inside for future games. And you’ll have to pay for it out of your own pocket. Eight teams — the Buffalo Bills, Cleveland Browns, Indianapolis Colts, Atlanta Falcons, New York Giants, New York Jets, Green Bay Packers and New England Patriots — are asking ejected fans to complete the class, which educates them on the NFL’S Fan Code of Conduct policy, tolerance of visiting fans and responsible drinking, says Ari Novick, a psychotherapist specializing in anger management who created the program.
“It’s not about taking a test,” Novick says. “It’s about educating the fan on alcohol awareness, about disruptive behavior and the effect it has on other fans, and it teaches them coping skills for handling themselves more appropriately at the stadium. It’s educational. It’s not therapy.”
The conduct classes started in 2010 with the Giants, Jets and Patriots. More teams could ask unruly fans to take them during the 2012 season. The NFL is recommending the classes to all 32 clubs as part of its annual “best practices” suggestions for improving fan safety and enjoyment. The New York Post first reported the program Sunday.
Said NFL spokesman Brian Mccarthy in a statement: “This is part of the NFL’S ongoing effort to further improve the game-day experience for all fans. This program adds to the already comprehensive code of conduct policy.”
Ejected fans who sign up to complete the class at Fanconductclass .com pay about $75 to $100, with some of the money going to charity. Hundreds of fans have completed the class, according to Novick. There hasn’t been a repeat offender, he added.
More suits coming?
Four explayers who sued the NFL on Monday in a state court in Atlanta could be leading a wave of new suits that cite the New Orleans Saints’ bounty system for hard hits as evidence that pro football didn’t properly protect its players from concussions.
Legal experts and trial attorneys say they expect more complaints against the NFL to point to the Saints scandal after the ex-players filed suit contending the bounty system was another example that the league “explicitly relied on violence” and neglected to educate players about the dangers of concussions.
The claims would give the lawsuit “added vitality” if attorneys can use them to bolster the idea that there’s activity in the sport that goes beyond the typical violence associated with pro football, said Paul Haagen, co-director of the Center for Sports Law and Policy at Duke University.
Signings:
A month after landing wide receiver Laurent Robinson, the Jacksonville Jaguars signed Lee Evans to a one-year deal Monday, further trying to improve what might have been the league’s worst receiving corps in 2011. . . . Wide receiver Brandon Stokley is returning to the Broncos, signing a one-year deal Monday. He played for Denver from 2007 to 2009.