Fighting Can Be a Positive For Football Team

There was a report going around last week that Bill Belichick, when he was a coach for the Cleveland Browns, had paid a player to start fights in practice.  Not only do I not have a problem with this, but i think Belichick needs to renew the practice in New England immediately.  A little fight every now and then can do wonders for a team.

Chad Eaton was a practice player on the Cleveland Browns in 1995 when he claims that he was paid by Belichick to start "skirmishes" in practice.  This practice is by no means new nor is Belichick the last coach to use it.  When you feel that your team is talented but soft, you need to have a way to bring out the toughness in those players.  The best way to do this is by having another player get under their skin.  Eventually this will start a fight between those 2 players, but the idea is to have the 2 sides support each other.  If a fight starts between 2 guys, 5 guys will try and finish it.  It helps build comradery amongst your starts by letting the players know that everyone else has your back out their.

Fighting isn't just used in pro football either.  When I played on the practice squad in college my freshman year, we were encouraged to start a "fight" everyday.  We got out of conditioning everyday we got the starting defense to take a shot at us.  We weren't told to start throwing punches or do anything cheap.  It was our jobs to prepare the starters for that weeks game and if we weren't doing everything we could to win each battle then the team wouldn't be prepared.  So, we had to step up the intensity by blocking past the whistle, holding, talking a little trash, and occasionally through an extra shove in after a play was over.  We also had a rule that if any guy got into a fight by himself he didn't finish it by himself.  We weren't the best offensive squad, but there was no question that we were tight.

The Patriots look like they need to get in a fight on the defensive side of the ball.  They are the worst in the NFL right now and they don't look like they know how to hit anyone in the mouth.  Belichick needs to find a way to light a fire under their asses.  Maybe a little "skirmish" can bring the fight out of that defense and spark a solid run into the playoffs.