OPINION:
Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper was fined $300,000 by the NFL for going all “Real Housewives” on fans in Jacksonville during his team’s 26-0 loss to the Jaguars last Sunday.
Tepper was caught on video throwing a drink in the direction of fans from his suite in the stadium.
The NFL takes a dim view of throwing drinks at its customers.
“All NFL personnel are expected to conduct themselves at all times in ways that respect our fans and favorably reflect on their team and the NFL,” the league said in a statement. They once fined Tennessee Titans owner Bud Adams $250,000 for making an obscene gesture at Buffalo fans after his team defeated the Bills.
At least Adams apologized. “I need to apologize for my actions yesterday near the end of the game,” he said. “I got caught up in the excitement of a great day, but I do realize that those types of things shouldn’t happen. I need to specifically apologize to the Bills, their fans, our fans and the NFL.”
Tepper hardly apologized for his actions in his response. “I should have let NFL stadium security handle any issues that arose,” he said. “I respect the NFL’s code of conduct and accept the League’s discipline for my behavior.”
It was an expensive drink, but Tepper, who is worth more than $20 billion, can afford it.
Throwing a drink at someone is the move of the rich and the petty.
It’s apparently common practice on the “Real Housewives” programs. It’s called “drink-slapping” and is a gesture typically associated with women.
Sociology professor C. Lee Harrison told Vice.com, “Throwing a punch is not feminine, and drink-slapping has somehow become an acceptable feminine alternative,” says Harrington.
There is a whole psychology behind drink-slapping, according to Mel Magazine, which described it as “a deliberate, embarrassing, mortifying, insane choice to regress by reaching back in your most infantile bag of tricks. It’s weirdly stunted because we certainly know better, and yet, sometimes nothing gets the job done better than hurling produce to signify our discontent.”
Tepper certainly seemed infantile on video — and, let’s face it, a bit gutless. If he had issues with the fans that he felt needed his response, he should have put his drink down and confronted the fan, owner to fan.
That’s what former Philadelphia Eagles owner Jerry Wolman — a District native — did when he got into a fistfight with Redskins fans at an exhibition game in the mid-1960s.
And let’s not forget our own Ted Leonsis, who got into a fight with a fan at his arena in 2004. To his credit, Transparent Ted quickly apologized and invited the fan to his private box for a home game.
The fan did not press charges. He could have.
Is drink-slapping assault? It is in Florida.
In May, a woman threw a drink at U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz at a private event in Pensacola and was charged with battery — a felony in the state because he is an elected official. It’s at least the second time someone has been charged with throwing a drink at Gaetz.
In Tepper’s case, since it happened in Florida, if the fan wants to press charges, it would appear to be a misdemeanor.
Sometimes throwing a drink can result in chaos, multiple charges and wrecked lives. That’s what happened with perhaps the most infamous drink toss in sports history — the Diet Coke that John Green threw at Indiana Pacers forward Ron Artest, hitting him in the chest and starting the “Malice in the Palace” riot at The Palace in Auburn Hills, the home court of the Detroit Pistons.
That tossed drink led to fines and suspensions for nine NBA players, plus criminal charges of assault and battery against five players and five fans.
Given all the public displays of hatred toward former Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder, it’s remarkable he never sent a drink flying at a fan. Then again, that wouldn’t have been his style. He would have ordered someone to throw the drink.
You can hear Thom Loverro on The Kevin Sheehan Show podcast.
• Thom Loverro can be reached at tloverro@washingtontimes.com.
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