Bengals and Steelers fans at NFL wild card game urinated on each other and punched women

COMMENTATORS labelled it a disgrace — and that was before they realised just how repulsive this NFL crowd became.

Wild Card Round - Pittsburgh Steelers v Cincinnati Bengals

WHILE the Bengals were busy embarrassing themselves on the field during their 18-16 AFC Wild Card game loss to the Steelers on Saturday night, a small number of fans at Paul Brown Stadium proved to be an even bigger embarrassment.

The Cincinnati Enquirer reported Sunday that at least six fans were arrested on a variety of assault charges, with allegations including this scary case report.

“Martin Cooke, 33, of Germantown, Kentucky, was arrested after police said he urinated on the person in front of him in Paul Brown Stadium. Cooke, who wore a Bengals hoodie, is accused of fighting with the man and punching him in the face, court documents state,” the newspaper reported.

“He is facing disorderly conduct and assault charges. Cooke is scheduled to appear in court Monday.”

You know it’s bad when fans are prepared to throw away beer.

Unfortunately, that may be the tamest of all the allegations, which include three different men charged with hitting women in the face or head.

Don’t just point fingers at Cincinnatians. Some of the arrests involved Steelers fans — according to the Enquirer report, police identified one of the men charged with punching a woman as a Steelers fan, a second as wearing a Bengals jersey, and the third as a man in a Steelers jersey.

The NFL not only seems to have a problem with a small number of its players — the Bengals lost the game after two personal fouls on one play put the Steelers in field-goal position in the closing seconds — but a minority of its fans are out of control, too. Certainly that was the case in both respects Saturday night.

The Enquirer also reported the match could have been a record for the number of people arrested at a Bengals home game.

Cincinnati Police Captain Mike Neville told the newspaper six people were arrested — three Bengals fans and three Steelers fans during Sunday’s game.

Just four people had been arrested during Bengals-Steelers matches in Cincinnati since 2010, before their wild card game.

Most Bengals games involve two or three arrests for disorderly conduct.

“This was an anomaly compared to what we’ve seen in the past,” Neville said.

“We know that certain games would bring intensity into the stadium and we prepare for that.

“We know that we were going to have tens of thousands of people floating around Downtown that night so we prepared for that too,” Neville said, adding that some officers worked overtime in the hours after the game.

“We don’t go home just because the game is over. We had the incidents in the stadium. We had minimal incidents outside throughout the night, so we feel comfortable with saying that that was a success.”

It got out of hand.

Meanwhile, beleaguered Cincinnati coach Marvin Lewis is said to be safe, at least for now, despite yet another NFL playoff loss.

The Bengals are not planning to make a coaching change, ESPN reported on Sunday, after the team’s latest postseason failure — a heartbreaking 18-16 capitulation to the Pittsburgh Steelers in an AFC wild-card game in Cincinnati.

Lewis is the first coach in NFL history with an 0-7 postseason record.

The 57-year-old has held the job since 2003. He has a 112-94 record during the regular season but has never won a playoff. The Bengals’ last postseason win came 25 years ago - the longest drought for any NFL team.

They frittered away a late lead against the Steelers on Saturday night after linebacker Vontaze Burfict and cornerback Adam Jones were penalised in the final minute, putting Pittsburgh in position to kick the winning field goal.

The Bengals, the AFC North champions, finished the regular season with a 12-4 record.

They played Saturday’s game without starting quarterback Andy Dalton who has a broken thumb.

— with Reuters

Originally published as Bengals and Steelers fans at NFL wild card game urinated on each other and punched women