NFLVideoWeird But True

Two 73-Year-Old Former Football Players Got Into An All-Out Brawl

Is there any incident in your life that happened years and years ago, something that reason indicates you should be over by now…but you just can’t move past it? Sure, you go about your business, live your life, etc. But when you get a reminder of this one event, your blood boils all over again.

If this all sounds familiar, you can identify with Joe Kapp. Kapp, a former quarterback in the CFL and NFL (as well as Cal’s football coach for a spell during the 1980s), played in the Grey Cup for the CFL’s championship back in 1963 with the BC Lions. The Lions lost that game to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 21-10, but what really sticks out in Kapp’s mind, it seems, is one play by Hamilton defensive tackle Angelo Mosca.

Mosca put a hit on BC running back Willie Fleming that many thought was dirty, Kapp included. Apparently, Kapp wouldn’t shake Mosca’s hand after the game. Hence, bad blood. 48 years’ worth of bad blood, to be exact. Because when Kapp and Mosca crossed paths at a CFL alumni event leading up to this year’s Grey Cup, well, this happened:

OK, so maybe one would hope that rational adults could handle their long-simmering feud a little better than this, causing a scenario where someone could easily get seriously hurt. But also: apparently no one did get seriously hurt, so: Fight! Fight! Fight!

It’s hard not to love a fight where a cane is used as a weapon (also used as a weapon: fists), not to mention one fueled by nearly a half century of passion. It does look like Kapp did the most to initiate things, though once Mosca somewhat forcefully shoved the flower out of his face, there was no going back. And apparently, when it comes to late hits in high stakes games, there’s no moving ahead, either. In this case, we’re glad.