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The helmet-to-helmet hit is pro football's new cheap shot, penalized by a $50,000 fine and one-game suspension (in the NFL) or a slap on the wrist (CFL), depending on which league's balls are bigger, i.e., which commissioner carries a bigger stick.
Hits this past week by New York Jets safety Eric Smith and Edmonton Eskimos linebacker Agustin Barrenechea got us to thinking about the worst cheap shots in sports.
Today's list honours -- make that dishonours -- the worst examples of unfair play we could think of.
These are undisguised attempts to injure, plain and simple, outside of the normal action of the sport.
They make our latest football collisions, serious as they were, look like child's play.
They are the Top 10 Cheap Shots in Sports.
NO. 10. JIMMY MANN/PAUL GARDNER, NHL
It's no surprise our nod to shame features plenty of hockey, since it's a sport with a ready weapon in everybody's hand. On Jan. 13, 1982, Winnipeg Jets tough guy Jimmy Mann did it the old-fashioned way, though: with his fists. It's true, Paul Gardner had earlier delivered a vicious cheap shot of his own, breaking his stick across Doug Smail's jaw. But Mann's idea of retaliation -- sucker-punching Gardner from behind during a stoppage in play -- went way over the line. Mann received a 10-game suspension, while Gardner was left sucking through a straw for weeks.
NO. 9. MARTY MCSORLEY/DONALD BRASHEAR, NHL
Who can forget the image of the Vancouver Canucks' Brashear, prone on the ice, twitching from the effects of the stick-to-the-head attack delivered by Boston's McSorley, Feb. 21, 2000. McSorley served a 23-game suspension and pleaded guilty to an assault charge, effectively ending his career. The attack was so uncalled for, even Brashear's teammate, noted rule-breaker Todd Bertuzzi, was disgusted. Little did we know Bert would redefine the cheap shot years later.
NO. 8. BILL ROMANOWSKI/MARCUS WILLIAMS, NFL
Football is loaded with cheap shots, many of them hidden from the cameras. The 'roided up Romanowski perfected most of them, including spitting in an opponent's face and throwing the ball at another's, uh, balls. But against a teammate? In practice? During an Oakland Raiders scrimmage in 2003, Romanowski landed a punch so hard to the face of Williams it crushed his eye socket and forced him to retire. He sued Romanowski, settling for $340,000.
NO. 7. CHRIS SIMON/RYAN HOLLWEG, NHL
They say players are tough if they can take a hit. What does that make Simon, who reacted to a clean hit from Hollweg by two-handing the Buffalo forward across the face, March 8, 2007. Simon, who could have made a few appearances on this list, served a 25-game suspension, including five playoff games.
NO. 6. BOBBY CLARKE/VALERI KHARLAMOV, SUMMIT SERIES
We don't care if you're the biggest flag-waving Canadian puck fan of all time -- you can't condone Clarke's two-handed slash across the ankle of the Soviet Union's top player in Game 6 of the 1972 Summit Series. It was dirty, outside of the game and, in all likelihood, unfairly affected the outcome of the most important series in Canadian sports history. "If I hadn't learned to lay on a two-hander once in a while, I'd never have left Flin Flon," Clarke was quoted as saying. Bull. The end does not justify the means.
NO. 5. DALE HUNTER/PIERRE TURGEON, NHL
To make this list, you need to produce one of those "did you just see what I saw?" moments, and Hunter's certainly qualifies. The silky smooth Turgeon had just scored in Game 6 of the '93 Islanders-Caps series, his arms in the air in celebration, when Hunter blindsided him into the boards. Turgeon was sidelined with a separated shoulder, while Hunter, claiming to have simply finished his check, was hit with a then-record 21-game suspension.
NO. 4. MITCH COZAD/RAFAEL MENDOZA, COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Talk about redefining the cheap shot. Cozad, the backup punter for Northern Colorado two years ago, wanted the starting job so bad, he dressed in black, put a hood over his face and attacked the team's No. 1 punter in a parking lot -- with a knife. Mendoza suffered a deep gash to his kicking leg. Instead of the starting job, Cozad got seven years in prison.
NO. 3. MIKE TYSON/EVANDER HOLYFIELD, BOXING
You know the gory details -- the bite, the blood, Tyson spitting a piece of Holyfield's ear to the canvas. But did you know Tyson's former trainer, Teddy Atlas, had predicted, the day before the fight, that Tyson would do something to get disqualified in his rematch with Holyfield? Atlas, and others, say Tyson has always been a coward, which gives him something in common with the next person on our list.
NO. 2. TONYA HARDING/NANCY KERRIGAN, FIGURE SKATING
January 6, 1994 -- the day the cheap shot entered the world of figure skating. The daytime soaps couldn't have come up with a more bizarre script. Preparing for the U.S. Championships, Kerrigan is attacked by a man with a club -- an attack, it turned out, that was orchestrated by Kerrigan's skating rival, Tonya Harding. Kerrigan would recover to win a silver medal at the Olympics the following month. Harding placed eighth, then pleaded guilty three weeks later.
NO. 1. TODD BERTUZZI/STEVE MOORE, NHL
Bertuzzi raises the bar for hockey cheap shots, with his devastating attack on Moore, March 8, '04, in Vancouver. Unlike the Simon, Hunter or Mann incidents, Bertuzzi couldn't blame the heat of the moment. Three weeks separated his attack and the incident that sparked it: Moore's unpenalized hit on Canucks captain Marcus Naslund. Bertuzzi served a 20-game suspension, in addition to the lockout year, and pleaded guilty to an assault charge. Moore, who suffered three fractured vertebrae, won't likely play again. But he is hitting back with a lawsuit.