Most recently, there has been a rash of events of domestic violence in the lives of NFL http://www.nfl.com/ players. I am not going to rehash the stories here. I am going to write about the role of the professional athlete and their place in public as a role model.
Professional athletes are not perfect, and never have been. Babe Ruth http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babe_Ruth was reportedly a womanizer who drank to much alcohol. Lance Armstrong http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lance_Armstrong. tried to beat the drug testing authorities. Mickey Mantle http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mickey_Mantle drank too much, for years. Ted Williams http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Williams was criticized for not being present at the birth of a child. In times past, the press allowed them their transgressions. More or less.
NASCAR has their bad boys. They have played down the "rum runner" history of Junior Johnson http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junior_Johnson. Currently, Tony Stewart http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/16/us/tony-stewart-grand-jury/index.html, who has a history of anger problems, is under scrutiny for his part in the on track death of Kevin Ward Jr, at Canandaigua Race Track earlier this year.
Michael Vick was castigated, and expelled from the NFL, for his part in dog fighting http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Vick. Michael Vick was "rehabilitated" and welcomed back into the NFL, such was his talent.
Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Phelps has had his share of legal and social problems.
Charles Barkley http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Barkley famously said that he is not a role model. Maybe he did not get into professional sports to be a role model, but guess what, when someone becomes a superstar, they are cast as a role model, whether or not they like it.
Pennsylvania State was embroiled in a child abuse scandal http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penn_State_child_sex_abuse_scandal from which they could not extricate themselves, and which took down the (formerly) beloved Coach Joe Paterno.
Don Sterling http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Sterling former owner of the Los Angeles Clippers was banished from the NBA for his racist comments. Atlanta Hawks Bruce Levenson http://www.nba.com/2014/news/09/07/hawks-owner-statement-on-team-sale/index.html voluntarily resigned based on years old emails that had racist comments.
So now, the NFL has several players who are being investigated for domestic abuse incidents: http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/15/us/nfl-fallout/index.html Ray Rice, Ray McDonald, Adrian Peterson, and Greg Hardy, if not others.
The NFL authorities keep talking about "getting it right." But what is "getting it right." I fully support the "innocent until proven guilty" philosophy of our country. So, I am not sure what the NF response should be. I think the "deactivate status" works: a player cannot play, but is still on the payroll. It is equivalent to some local situations in which school officials have been charged with child abuse, and "suspended with pay." This keeps them (ostensibly) away from the students, but allows them a livelihood until a verdict is achieved.
But first and foremost, their response should be that they have zero tolerance for domestic violence of any kind. I am comfortable with the response that they do not know if someone is guilty of domestic violence, but they need to contain the situation and the involvement of the player in their sport until the situation has been resolved.
But really, what is our expectation of professional athletes? Realistically or not, we expect them to present a positive role model that presents their team and their sport in a positive light.
Is that fair? Is that realistic? Babe Ruth's transgressions were generally downplayed As were Junior Johnsons, and Michael Phelps. Why do we forgive some athletes, and crucify others?
Years ago, the press was more forgiving of our sports heroes. But they sure got into the lives of our entertainment stars. Should the public scrutiny be the same, for sports heroes, entertainment stars and political bigwigs. I think it should.
People do not accidently find themselves in the role of sports hero, entertainment star or political bigwig. It is a career path down which they purposefully, and dutifully roll.
Entertainment stars have long been known for their scandalous behavior. And, many survive the publicity, usually because a newer, juicier story comes along.
Sadly, in this day and age, people do not always get into politics for the common good. Often, politicians are drawn by greed for wealth and power. And, our politicians may not start out with wealth and power, but they usually end up with both, at least while in office. Our leaders just are not noble anymore. (If they ever were.)
So, why do we hold our sports stars to such higher standards and ideals? I am not sure. But I think it is in part because we pay large sums of money to these athletes so they can continue to play the games we love. And, because they are playing, it is as if we think they continue to be young innocents.
I think it is also in part because these athlete perform wonderful feats of strength and daring do, and garner our admiration. And because they do have our admiration, we endow them with special powers and character traits that make them special. We want them to be special, good, innocent and right. We want them to be superheroes, and lift them upon a pedestal of goodness and right.
Is that realistic? Probably not.
I think it is amazing that we hold our athletes to codes of conduct that some of their fans violate on a regular basis. Because we violate those codes, does that mean they should or can without recrimination? I believe the sports heroes should be subject to the same laws as the rest of us, and should not be given a "bye" because of their fame and fortune. Granted, there wealth gives them access to better legal representation than most of us could even think to hire.
And, there are always those who will hang on to stars for the secondary gains that association with the wealthy, powerful and famous provides us.
O J Simpson escaped conviction when accused of killing his ex-wife Nicole Simpson, and waiter Ron Goldman http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People_of_the_State_of_California_vs._Orenthal_James_Simpson.
It was like the jury bought into Simpson's fame and gave him a pass for his involvement or behavior. Not so, years later, when he was arrested for robbery in Nevada http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Nevada_v._Orenthal_James_Simpson,_et_al. The American public could not be bought off by his fame twice.
And, since then, sports figures have been held to that higher standard. Should they be? I think the law should be applied equally to all, and if domestic violence is not tolerated by sports figures, it should not be tolerated any where in our society. Child abuse, and sexual exploitation should not be tolerated anywhere in our society, no matter the perpetrator.
I know that is not going to be the case. I believe there is currency for prosecutors to go after sports figures when they commit crimes, especially domestic violence crimes. The prosecutors benefit from the publicity. I wonder how vigorously these same prosecutors are pursuing the others in their jurisdictions accused of the same crimes.
So, should their sports sanction these accused? Well, as I said, innocent until proven guilty. But, being accused brings shame on the sport, and the sport does have the right to sanction players for bringing bad publicity to the sport. (To avoid sin, avoid the near occasion of sin.) We cannot keep our sports pure, but we can insist that the mess their athletes create be cleaned up quickly and thoroughly, but judiciously.
If the accused are found not guilty, they can be given second chances, as would any common citizen. (Do we give people found not guilty of heinous crimes a second chance? Sometimes.) Of course, it is not that easy. But these accused must go on, as we all must, when we make mistakes. Accept the responsibility, accept the consequences, including punishment or re-integration as the verdict requires or allows. The Michael Vick case is an example of that, good or bad.
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