# Any professional athletes been charged for violence on the field?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-professional-athletes-been-charged-for-violence-on-the-field/456409>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 14, 2008, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-professional-athletes-been-charged-for-violence-on-the-field/456409 "2008-07-14T06:13:03Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\
**Post date:** [August 1, 2008, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-professional-athletes-been-charged-for-violence-on-the-field/456409/41 "2008-08-01T02:43:57Z")

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[QUOTE=FoieGrasIsEvil]  
Marty McSorley immediately springs to mind.

> **[Marty McSorley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marty_McSorley)**
>
> Martin James McSorley (born May 18, 1963) is a Canadian former professional hockey player, who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1983 to 2000. A versatile player, he could play both the forward and defense positions. He was also head coach of the Springfield Falcons of the American Hockey League from 2002 to 2004. He was a valued teammate of Wayne Gretzky when they played together for the Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings, serving as an enforcer.
> In 2000, his assault of Donal...

[/QUOTE]  
A family member of mine was defended by the same lawyer that handled the Marty McSorley case.

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**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\
**Post date:** [August 1, 2008, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-professional-athletes-been-charged-for-violence-on-the-field/456409/42 "2008-08-01T03:17:37Z")

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Heavyweight boxing champion Jess Willard won the title from Jack Johnson in 1915, and lost it to Jack Dempsey in 1919.

One of his fights was against William “Bull” Young, who died as a result of injuries suffered in the bout.

Young’s father filed charges against Willard, who was arrested, but released after charges were dropped. Boxing had not that long before been a shady sport, often outlawed.

(I read this in either the Roger Kahn bio of Jack Dempsey, or the Jack Cavanaugh bio of Gene Tunney).

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