Controversy surrounding Philadelphia Eagles fans Ryan Caldwell for booing a Packers fan during a game is just the latest incident of scandalously unbridled fan behavior in sports.
Other deranged fans got involved physical settlements with athletes, with one incident even resulting in an athlete being stabbed.
Fox News Digital recounts five of the most infamous fan moments in sports history.
5. A Cubs fan sabotages his own team and spreads the most infamous curse in MLB history
During Game 6 of the 2003 National League Division Series against the then-Florida Marlins, Chicago Cubs fan Steve Bartman reached out and grabbed a catchable ball.
At the time, Chicago was leading 3-0 and could clinch a trip to the World Series with a win. Bartman interfered with a foul ball hit by Marlins pitcher Luis Castillo that Cubs outfielder Moisés Alou was trying to catch for the out. But by snatching the ball out of the air before Alou could catch it, Bartman cost his own team a chance at a precious out. It would be the second exit from the change.
But instead, Castillo’s very next pitch was wild, and the Cubs defense suffered a collapse that resulted in eight runs. The Cubs then lost the series in Game 7, extending the franchise’s nearly century-long World Series title drought. Bartman’s incident became an infamous moment in what is considered one of the greatest curses in sports history.
The franchise’s lack of a championship from 1909 to 2016 has been linked to a superstition known as the “Curse of the Billy Goat,” which stems from an incident in 1945 when a fan was denied entry to a game because he had a goat with him.
Bartman’s actions were not rooted in malice, but the fallout, consequences and images of him in that game are what made the incident so infamous.
Details of Bartman’s personal life were made public, and he actively avoided public attention for years after the incident. He turned down numerous offers for interviews and opportunities to appear in documentaries.
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4. An Eagles fan fires a flare at other spectators during the game, sparking a series of fights and arsons
Caldwell is far from the first Eagles fan to exhibit questionable behavior at a game.
In 1997, during a Monday night game against the San Francisco 49ers, a mischievous Eagles fan fired a flare into the stands full of other fans, endangering multiple lives.
After the flare was fired, more fistfights broke out around the stadium as Eagles fans directed most of the violence towards 49ers fans.
“There was a lot of fighting and intimidation, many of which were directed at fans wearing 49ers jerseys,” the Philadelphia Inquirer wrote at the time.
After the game, Eagles owner Jeffrie Lurie was forced to denounce his own fans.
“Despite the fact that we feel we’ve made significant progress over the last few years in terms of fan behavior at Veterans Stadium, what we witnessed last Monday was undoubtedly a step backwards,” Lurie told reporters at the time.
The franchise’s former home, Veterans Stadium, had a courthouse and jail cells to deal with law-breaking fans.
3. Ron Artest brawls with Detroit Pistons fans in incident dubbed ‘Malice at the Palace’
A game between the Detroit Pistons and the Indiana Pacers in 2004 turned into one of the ugliest moments in NBA history when a player started attacking fans.
There were only seconds left in the game when the fight began, but conditions became so hostile that the game was never finished.
The whole fight started with a foul. After the players started arguing on the field, it wasn’t long before the fight escalated to the stands as spectators started throwing drinks and trash at the players. Pacers forward Ron Artest was at the center of the chaos as images of him swinging his fists at Detroit fans became a disturbing staple of NBA lore.
As the Pacers made their way back to the locker room, they had to cover their heads to protect them from the liquid and trash thrown their way.
Several fans were banned for life from Pistons games because of the incident. Nine players were suspended without pay for a total of 146 games, according to the source. Five players were charged with assault.
2. Cleveland Indians sell beer at $0.10 apiece, giving way to a violent drunken mob
A drunken fan is helped off the field after suffering a minor injury during a game between the Texas Rangers and the Cleveland Indians on June 4, 1974 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. (Paul Tepley Collection/Diamond Images/Getty Images)
In 1974, the Cleveland Indians (now the Guardians) held an event known only as “10-Cent Beer Night.” The team sold beer for $0.10 for the game against the Texas Rangers
The promotion drew a crowd of 25,134 fans to Cleveland Stadium, and many of those fans ended up on the field in a ninth-inning riot.
After the previous eight innings in which drunken fans set off firecrackers and painted naked on the field, Cleveland’s tying rally in the final inning caused chaos. After the game was tied, a fan ran onto the field to attempt to steal Rangers player Jeff Burroughs’ cap.
In response, Texans manager Billy Martin and his players ran onto the field to protect Burroughs, but that only provoked more drunken Cleveland fans to get involved. A horde of attendees armed with knives, chains and clubs made from torn pieces of seats rushed the Texas players.
Some fans even threw steel folding chairs at the players, and Cleveland relief pitcher Tom Hilgendorf was hit in the head by one.
Pitcher Tom Hilgendorf of the Cleveland Indians is helped off the field after suffering a minor injury during a game against the Texas Rangers on June 4, 1974 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. (Paul Tepley Collection/Diamond Images/Getty Images)
Cleveland players swung their bats to help defend the Texas players from their own drunken fans.
The teams fled the field in groups through the dugouts and then locked themselves in their clubhouses. But the riots on the field continued for at least another 20 minutes while the police and security tried to subdue the rioters. Only nine fans were arrested.
Referee Nestor Chylak eventually declared the game a surrender by Cleveland, awarding the victory to Texas.
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1. Female tennis star Monica Seles was stabbed by a rival fan after a big win
Yugoslavian female tennis star Monica Seles was stabbed by a fan of one of her biggest rivals at the 1993 Citizen Cup in Hamburg, Germany. (Norbert Schmidt/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)
Yugoslav tennis player Monica Seles was stabbed by a fan of one of her biggest rivals at the 1993 Citizen Cup in Hamburg, Germany.
During the break after winning the game in the quarterfinal match against Magdalena Maleeva, who was the number one tennis player in the world at the time, a fan of the German player Steffi Graf ran onto the court and stabbed Seles in the back while she was sitting courtside.
The man’s name was Günter Parche, and the police determined that he intended to injure Seles so that Graf could regain the No. 1 spot. Parche was eventually sentenced to two years of probation and psychological treatment.
Cover of Dnevnik from 01.05.1993 (Y Daily News Archive via Getty Images)
Meanwhile, Seles was rushed to the hospital and it took several weeks for her injuries to heal. However, it would be two years before she returned to tennis. She also vowed to never play in Germany again due to the fact that Parche received the minimum sentence.
“People seem to forget that this man stabbed me on purpose without serving any time for it… I wouldn’t feel comfortable going back. I don’t foresee that happening,” she said. he told the BBC.
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