Ikemefuna Enemkpali is out of the New York Jets, but his beating of quarterback Geno Smith hasn't hampered his career. Photo / AP
Ikemefuna Enemkpali is out of the New York Jets, but his beating of quarterback Geno Smith hasn't hampered his career. Photo / AP
US footballer joins list of bad guys who’ve dished out the heavy biff to teammates.
Don't be afraid to admit that until this week you'd never heard of Ikemefuna Enemkpali. Don't worry if you still haven't heard of him ... I'll briefly fill you in.
The third-string linebacker for the New York Jets is not enjoying his 15 minutes of infamy after "sucker punching" his quarterback, Geno Smith, over a reported US$600 ($918) debt, breaking his jaw in several places and leaving him sidelined for up to 10 weeks with the NFL season nearly upon us.
Enemkpali, 24, was subsequently released from his contract.
Smith is not among the upper echelons of NFL quarterbacks, arguably the most important position in all of professional team sports. He certainly doesn't occupy the rarefied heights of the likes of New England's Tom "Deflated Balls" Brady, Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers and Peyton Manning of the Denver Broncos.
The harsh might say, then, that when Smith singularly failed to duck a punch, the Jets might have dodged a bullet, as back-up Ryan Fitzpatrick is regarded by some as a better player.
Sympathy for Smith is in surprisingly short supply. Former NFL great Cris Carter, now an analyst, said the fact Smith found himself facing a punch showed a lack of leadership.
Sports Illustrated writer Robert Klemko said: "Enemkpali is a sixth-round pick with three career tackles, who, at 19, punched a police officer in a bar fight. That's the kind of guy you settle a $600 debt with post haste."
Smith will one day be back ... and so, believe it not, will be Enemkpali, who was immediately picked up by the Buffalo Bills.
They are in the same division as the Jets, so Enemkpali will get to face them twice should he make the playing roster.
Should he establish himself in the NFL, it wouldn't be the first time a sportsman has perpetrated ghastly violence on a teammate and gone on to a long and profitable career.
John Hartson was West Ham's most expensive signing and the red-headed Welshman was a consistent marksman.
But his most newsworthy strike came when he kicked teammate Eyal Berkovic flush in the face after an innocuous training ground scuffle in 1998. It can still be seen in all its savagery on YouTube.
Geno Smith.
Hartson left West Ham shortly after, but became Wimbledon's most expensive signing and then had an illustrious five-year stay at Glasgow Celtic before ending his career at West Bromwich Albion.
In the same league is Joey Barton, who earned a horrific reputation for random violence, often against teammates. In 2004 he stubbed a lit cigar out on Manchester City teammate Jamie Tandy's eye at a Christmas party. The club "considered" sacking him.
But Barton was just warming up. In 2007 he beat up Ousmane Dabo so badly at training he was unconscious and was hospitalised with head injuries and a suspected detached retina.
Barton received a suspended sentence that would eventually turn into jail time when he was further convicted of violence after a savage beating he meted out to a punter in downtown Liverpool at silly o'clock after a Boxing Day drink session that year.
Career-killer? Nah, not really. Barton has been a well-travelled pro in both the Premier League and France's Ligue 1, and was released by Queens Park Rangers just this year. He may well find another club should he choose not to retire.
Often a training ground scuffle can be a sign of passion. The Dallas Cowboys recently posted a video clip of two of their players getting it on at practice, believing it sent out a positive message. This year's winning coach in the NBA, Steve Kerr, made his mark at the Chicago Bulls by refusing to back down to Michael Jordan and instead getting into a scrap, earning the respect of teammates and the notoriously prickly Jordan.
Anton Oliver's description of the initiation of rookie players trying to take the back seat of the All Blacks bus is a classic of its type, highlighting how stupid most of these coming-of-age sporting rituals are.
But put a group of testosterone-loaded guys in a claustrophobic atmosphere for any length of time and you'll have spats and scraps. For every Enemkpali, Hartson and Barton, thousands more minor bust-ups go unreported.
A really bad teammate, most sportsmen and women will tell you, is not one with occasional anger issues, but one who either doesn't try or, even worse, is seen to be a fifth-columnist.
The best recent example of this, earning the unofficial WOS title for Worst Teammate in the World goes to ... Kevin Pietersen.
The brilliant batsman, supplier of some of the most audacious test innings in history, takes this title for sending text messages critical of his captain to opposition players during a series against South Africa in 2012. Andrew Strauss would have found it easier to deal with a Montecristo in the eye or a boot in the face.
