Spit Happens: From Penalty Flags to Legal Claims

Football is back, and the season wasted no time reminding us that emotions—and tempers—run high.

In the NFL’s opening game Thursday night between the Dallas Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles, a defensive lineman for the Eagles was ejected just six seconds into the game for spitting on the opposing quarterback. Cameras caught the moment clearly: spit flying, flag thrown, player gone.

Not to be outdone, college football served up its own spit-tastrophe on Saturday night. A Florida defender was tossed for spitting in an opponent’s face during a game-deciding drive, handing South Florida the chance they needed to complete a stunning upset against the nation's 13th-ranked team.

Two very different games, but the same response: Disgust from fans, outrage in the headlines, and swift penalties on the field. And that sets up the bigger question: Why do we react so strongly to spit? And more importantly for law students, what does the law have to say about it?

From the Field to the Courtroom

On the gridiron, spitting at an opponent sometimes results in “unsportsmanlike conduct.” The punishment is swift and handled internally—yardage penalties, fines, suspensions, or immediate ejection.

But step off the field and into the courtroom, and the act takes on a different name: Battery.

Everyday life doesn’t come with referees, but it does come with rules that protect personal dignity. If you spit on someone in a parking lot, a grocery store, or a crowded bar, you might be sued or even arrested.

That’s not to say sports are immune from tort law. Courts have recognized that players sometimes can bring claims for conduct that goes beyond the scope of what they signed up for. One famous example is Hackbart v. Cincinnati Bengals, where a player pursued a tort claim for a blow that went outside the bounds of the game. Football players consent to hard tackles and even the occasional cheap shot, but they don’t consent to everything that could happen on the playing field.

The lesson is simple: Sports rules may shape the immediate consequences, but the law stands behind them, ready to step in when conduct crosses the line.

What Battery Really Means

So what exactly is battery in everyday terms? At its core, it’s one of the simplest intentional wrongs. Common law tort battery happens when:

• Someone acts,

  
  

• With intent—either to cause a result or knowing it’s substantially certain to occur, and

  
  

• The act causes harmful or offensive contact with another person.

Notice the word “offensive.” Battery isn’t just about broken bones or bruises. It’s about protecting personal dignity. That’s why a shove, an unwanted kiss, or having something snatched from your hands can all qualify. The law says you don’t have to tolerate contact that violates basic respect. And when it comes to spit, the offensiveness speaks for itself.

Now we can see why spitting is treated so harshly. It’s deliberate. It's degrading. And It's undeniably contact. Spitting in someone’s face is the classic example of battery: No one consents to it, and everyone understands it as offensive. Even spitting on someone’s clothing counts, because it still violates personal dignity.

But spitting near someone, without any contact? That’s different. It may be rude or threatening, but unless the spit lands, there’s usually no battery. The line is crossed when intent and contact come together.

Why This Matters Beyond Football

You might be thinking, “Okay, but nobody’s filing lawsuits every time spit flies in a football game.”

True enough.

Sports usually police themselves. But the rule of battery applies everywhere, and sometimes even to athletes when conduct falls outside the ordinary rough-and-tumble of the game.

For law students, spitting is a sticky but memorable way to grasp key distinctions: Harmful vs. offensive contact, intentional vs. accidental acts, and the importance of context. It reminds us that the law doesn’t just guard against broken bones. It also safeguards dignity.