No Fight League? Lions and Giants feel steep punishment for camp fights

Football is undoubtedly a forceful and vicious sport. 

Extraordinarily sized humans are running at full speed, trying to tackle one another in pursuit of a ball. Those who've never heard of the game having it described that way may consider it barbaric. But for fans, it's part of the appeal --hence the NFL being the most popular of the four American sports organizations (by far).

Despite the natural aggression that comes with football, the league formally conducts itself as a business first and foremost. Wednesday's verdict regarding recent fights breaking out at joint training camp practices between the New York Giants and Detroit Lions is a harsh reminder.

Per NFL Network's Mike Garafolo, the Lions and Giants received $200,000 fines for getting into "multiple" skirmishes during their collaborative training sessions.

No Fight League? Lions and Giants feel steep punishment for camp fights

As Garafolo points out, the NFL warned teams about this in a notice they sent to teams last month. Any "fighting and unprofessional conduct at joint practices would not be tolerated." And based on the massive price Detroit and New York must pay for violating that policy, the league isn't messing around.

Naturally, tensions began flaring as the Giants and Lions competed during their combined practices. But evidently, both sides took things too far in the eyes of the league.

Detroit superstar wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown found himself at the center of the initial chaos on Monday. He got into it with Giants rookie cornerback Dru Phillips, leading to a multi-player brawl. 

Then, the drama spilled into the next day. New York's prized offseason addition and rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers was in the thick of it, exchanging haymakers with Lions defensive back Kerby Joseph.

Ultimately, the optics of scuffles like these aren't the best for the NFL, so it makes sense they're trying to limit them. Nonetheless, they're inevitable, specifically in head-to-head settings like joint practices. Moreover, the physicality of the sport is also why people love it, so maybe ease up on the restrictions?

Yes, player safety is the utmost priority. But taking a no-nonsense approach to any confrontation sucks some of the fun out of football. Heavily penalizing athletes for having an edge and competitive spirit is disappointing, albeit reasonable, to some degree. But, like most things, there's a happy medium to these matters.