Inter Miami鈥檚 Luis Su谩rez further damaged his reputation. Jalen Carter of the Philadelphia Eagles cost himself the chance to play in a season-opening game. Florida鈥檚 Brendan Bett gave South Florida a 15-yard gift on its drive that decided its win over the Gators.
Their transgression: spitting.
In the span of seven days from last Sunday through this past Saturday, there were three high-profile spitting incidents in sports. They were immediately condemned, including by those close to the offending parties such as the Florida coach who called such behavior 鈥渦nacceptable.鈥 The reviled responses show there are limits to allowable aggressions, even in the most heated competitions.
鈥淭here are a lot of written and unwritten rules about how you interact with others,鈥 said Dr. Peter Valentin, the chair of the forensic science department at the University of New Haven in Connecticut. 鈥淎nd in the sports world, you can have two opponents vie for supremacy and they go at each other very, very aggressively. But it鈥檚 done with a measure of respect. 鈥 The idea of spitting on your opponent communicates disrespect. And I would be shocked if that wasn鈥檛 the intent of that act, to just demonstrate disdain for your opponent.鈥
Su谩rez, who has been previously sanctioned at times in his career for biting opponents, spit on a member of the Seattle Sounders鈥 staff after Inter Miami鈥檚 3-0 loss there in the Leagues Cup final. 鈥 鈥 at Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott before the first play from scrimmage in the first NFL game of the regular season Thursday night. Bett spit at a South Florida player, and those 15 penalty yards helped the Bulls get a chip-shot field goal to win 18-16 on the final play of the game.
鈥淲e鈥檒l take a good look at it, but it鈥檚 unacceptable,鈥 Florida coach Billy Napier said. 鈥淎nd I think we have a lot of players in that room as well that have the same belief that it鈥檚 unacceptable. When a guy does something like that, he鈥檚 compromising the team.鈥
Around the NFL this week, the reactions to spitting were clear.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 just not professional,鈥 Arizona offensive lineman Paris Johnson said.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 do that,鈥 Green Bay defensive lineman Rashan Gary said.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 want to see anyone getting spit on,鈥 Tennessee offensive lineman Lloyd Cushenberry III said.
Su谩rez got a six-game suspension from future Leagues Cup matches and may still face further penalties from Major League Soccer. Carter got kicked out of the Eagles-Cowboys game and Bett was ejected for what became the final seven plays of the Florida-South Florida game.
鈥淚t was a mistake that happened on my side,鈥 Carter said. 鈥淛ust won鈥檛 happen again.鈥
Replays later revealed that Prescott spit first, but only in the general direction of the Eagles鈥 defense and not onto an opposing player. Carter, in response, spit on Prescott.
鈥淚 guess I needed to spit,鈥 Prescott said. 鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 going to spit on my linemen. I just spit ahead. 鈥 I don鈥檛 wish for anybody to get out of the game. I鈥檓 sure he probably regrets that to some extent. I鈥檓 pretty sure he knows I didn鈥檛 try to spit on him or wasn鈥檛 even aiming to spit on him.鈥
Players around the league could easily see how that sort of back-and-forth was going to escalate quickly.
鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to fight me at that point, spitting on another player,鈥 Tennessee Titans tight end Chig Okonkwo said. 鈥淚f you spit at his feet, I guess it鈥檚 just like talking. But spitting on another player like that is unacceptable.鈥
Saliva is critical for its role in promoting digestion, assisting with dental health, carrying antibodies and more. But public health officials 鈥 in lessons that were hammered home during the pandemic that started in 2020 鈥 also point out that saliva can carry and transmit diseases, everything from cold, flu, the Epstein-Barr virus, strep, some types of hepatitis and even herpes.
It鈥檚 also, well, icky.
In the way spitting occurred in and after those three games this past week, it was simply considered degrading. And there are few things that seem to trigger stronger reactions in sports than when someone intentionally spits on another person.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just a new level of disrespect, not only for your opponent, but for the game itself,鈥 Valentin said. 鈥淚 understand that the way that people behave around each other is very culturally significant. And you can imagine the culture in a league. The unwritten rules are important. Spitting has never been part of the culture. I am certain of that.鈥
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AP Sports Writers Brett Martel in New Orleans, Steve Megargee in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Pat Graham in Denver and Associated Press Writer Mike Kelly in Denver contributed to this report.
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