BrooklynPaper/YouTube
A charity football match between New York City policemen and firefighters turned bloody when two brawls broke out on the field in the final minutes.
The game took a violent turn after a NYPD officer tackled a FDNY player near the end of the 44th annual Fun City Bowl - which benefits foundations for the families of first responders.
Firefighters rushed to the aid of their teammate when the scuffle broke out near the NYPD sideline.
“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.”
Coaches and referees were able to break up the initial bout, but moments later a second brawl erupted in the middle of the field.
A freelance photographer for the New York NBC affiliate, Angel Zayas, captured video of one FDNY player emerge from the fracas with a bloody ear and torn jersey.
“He was pulled out of the crowd, the FDNY guy,” Mr Zayas said. “It was trickling out the side, you could see the blood on the side of his head.”
“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,” he said. “I heard it happening before I saw it happening.”
The NYPD alluded to the mayhem in a statement released Monday.
“Football is a competitive sport, whether it is the NFL Super Bowl or the annual NYPD-FDNY challenge,” they wrote. “It is part of the spirit of the sport, but it all ends on the field.”
New York Police Commissioner Bill Bratton was reportedly at the game, but had left before the melee, the Post reported.
Mr Zayas said that once the second brawl dispersed, things seemed like they were back to normal.
“At the end, they were all talking, it was like water under the bridge,” he said.
The NYPD’s Finest beat the FDNY’s Bravest 29–13.