No Blood No Foul: the Standard of Care in Texas Owed by Participants to One Another in Athletic Constests
COLE.MACRO 8/4/2010 10:06 AM NO BLOOD NO FOUL: THE STANDARD OF CARE IN TEXAS OWED BY PARTICIPANTS TO ONE ANOTHER IN ATHLETIC CONSTESTS Matthew G. Cole* I. INTRODUCTION On October 1, 2006, during a football game between the Tennessee Titans and Dallas Cowboys, on a play in which running back Julius Jones scored a touchdown, Cowboys‘ offensive lineman Andre Gurode‘s helmet came off.1 Titans‘ defensive lineman Albert Haynesworth first kicked and then stomped on Gurode‘s exposed and unguarded face.2 Gurode required thirty stitches and complains of headaches and blurred vision.3 The league suspended Haynesworth for a record five games, costing him an estimated $190,000.4 On June 28, 1997, during the second round of a fight for the Heavyweight Championship of the world, Evander Holyfield inadvertently head butted Mike Tyson, opening a gash over Tyson‘s right eye.5 The referee warned Holyfield but did not penalize him.6 With forty seconds left in the third round, Tyson clinched with Holyfield, spit out his own mouthpiece, and bit off a piece of Holyfield‘s right ear.7 Holyfield immediately reacted, pulling away and jumping up and down in agony *J.D. Candidate, 2008, Baylor Law School; B.S., M.A., Columbia International University; awful golfer and suffering Cowboys fan. I would like to thank Professor Matthew C. Cordon, Professor Rory Ryan, and Joanne Cole for their particularly helpful contributions. 1 Tom Weir, Titan’s Haynesworth Suspended Five Games for Stomping Incident, USA TODAY, Oct. 2, 2006, available at http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/titans/2006-10-02- haynesworth-suspension_x.htm.
[Show full text]