Football's Image Problem
Friday September 12th, 2014
As anyone who knows me will tell you, I'm a HUGE sports fan, especially when it comes to football. Though I never played, I've loved football ever since I was a little kid. I'm in a fantasy league with a bunch of friends and I usually hang out with them at a bar to watch the games every Sunday. Football is frequently the medium through which my Dad and I communicate. As far back as I can remember, my Dad and I could always talk about the Eagles. I even remember my dad patrolling the sidelines of my soccer games with a little radio in his ear so he could listen to the Birds while watching me play. And between halves and whenever I came out of the game, I'd always ask for updates. Even as I've grown into an adult, my Dad and I can always talk about football, often at the expense of heavier or more emotional things.
But this week, more than any other I can remember, I don't wanna talk about football. It just seems wrong. See...football has a SERIOUS image problem right now. Though it's been building for the last few years with all of the new information that's come to light on concussions and the long-term effects of the game on the men who play it, I wonder if with this week's events we might not have reached a tipping point. As if the situation in Baltimore wasn't bad enough, there are equally troubling situations going on in Carolina, San Francisco, and now Minnesota. As I said above, I LOVE this sport. I really do. But the fact is that I'm in my mid-30's now & most of my friends are married and have small children. I have 2 beautiful goddaughters and am "Uncle Seth" to several other friends of mine's children. So things that may not have affected me 5-10 years ago, resonate VERY strongly with me now.
I WANT to believe that most of the guys who play in the NFL are decent men. Polite, family oriented men who happen to be elite athletes that play a game for a living. And the core values that the game teaches - brotherhood, friendship, selflessness, team building - are GREAT values that can teach many a lesson. But I'm not naive. I don't expect all football players to be saints or even model citizens. Every profession has assholes and idiots and I don't expect football players to be any different. I don't even want them to all be perfect upstanding gentlemen all the time. That's not realistic. Football is a violent, emotional sport and so there are bound to be fights and disagreements and things of that nature. That's fine. It's part of the game and that threshold between violence and elite feats of athleticism is what makes the game so exciting.
But there HAS to be a line. There has to be a line that everyone from the commissioner to the owners to the fans to the PLAYERS THEMSELVES recognizes as a line you do not cross. Assaulting women or assaulting children are actions that we should all agree CROSS THAT LINE. We shouldn't stand for it and we shouldn't abide by it and we sure as SHIT shouldn't let gentlemen that engage in those activities continue to play this sport.
I've lost what little faith I had left in the commissioner this week so my hope is that the NFLPA will begin to do something about it. Instead of the knee-jerk defense at all costs of any member of it's union, perhaps the NFLPA will step up and set forth a new set of guidelines. I'm not sure exactly what they should be or how they should be constructed but any player accused of beating a woman or a child should suffer some serious consequences. The NFLPA need only examine the reactions this week of several current and former players to the events surrounding the Ravens as a place to start. Maybe just maybe, somehow, some way, the NFLPA will take the lead in policing its own members.
And if it still needs a reason to act, the NFLPA need only look to Major League Baseball for a reference. The so-called "Steroid Era" has tainted an entire generation of players. Now anybody that played in those years, even the "clean" players, still suffer the consequences and the repercussions. The players who didn't use steroids (and I'm sure there really were many of them) will forever have their numbers & achievements questioned. But they're not without blame - they all knew what was going on but chose to do nothing about it.
Don't misunderstand me - I'm not equating steroid use with domestic violence. But the apathy of "clean" baseball players during the steroid era mimics the apathy of the law-abiding football players now. Football has entered the Violence Era. What started as the "concussion era" has progressed to an era where the lines between on-field conduct and off-field behavior have begun to blur. In this day and age, with the unparalleled level of scrutiny all public figures are under, it was a matter of time before a week like this happened. Unless the players choose to police themselves, then they will suffer the same fate as the baseball players of the "Steroid Era." Instead of saying, "Ah, they were all cheaters anyway," people will look back at football players in 15-20 years and say, "Ah, they were all criminals and wife-beaters anyway."
But here's the thing...maybe it's not too late to change the script. Maybe what has been one of the worst (if not THE worst) weeks the NFL has ever seen can be the dawning of a new era. An era where off-field conduct is just as important as on-field behavior. An era that brought about change and discussion and shed light on just how wrong domestic violence really is. Maybe the NFL can use some of its billions of dollars to become a force for change and for good. Release a joint statement with NFLPA. Admit you screwed up. Answer questions. Be forthright and open and honest about how you intend to fix the current problem. Tell your millions and millions of fans around the world you know you've made mistakes but that you intend to do better. Create player-owner conduct committees, appoint an independent panel to review these kinds of cases. Whatever it takes - but be proactive, dammit!! Stop being so reactive. Stop refusing to admit you have a serious image problem and maybe, just maybe, you can turn this horrendous week into something positive.
I wanna end with one such positive story - that of Devon Still and the Cincinnati Bengals. Here's an instance where the team bent over backwards to help him care for his sick daughter. They kept him employed so he never lost his health insurance. They sold his jerseys and donated the money to cancer research. In addition to the local fans buying a record number of jerseys in a 24 hour period, a rival coach (Sean Payton of the Saints) even bought 100 jerseys with his own money just to help the cause!! That's the power of the National Football League. That's what SHOULD have been the overriding story of this week. Instead, it was merely a footnote.
Here's hoping the NFL & the NFLPA have gotten the message. Because the longer they wait, I fear it will only get worse.
-SDR