“I won’t shy away from the bad with ignorance, but I also won’t minimize the good simply because that’s what the national conversation is implying I should do.”
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It hasn’t been easy being a fan of football these days.
We’re learning more and more about the reality of concussions and their impact on players’ physical, emotional, and mental health. The college academic expectations for players, or lack thereof, have always been cause for concern. There’s heated debate and discussion about Washington’s team name. Honestly, I started this piece when the Ray Rice video became the national conversation and before I could even finish it, we learn that Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings has been indicted for child abuse after hitting his son repeatedly with a switch. He sat out one game, was reinstated briefly and is now suspended again.
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I worked with youth who were assaultive on a regular basis. Getting punched, kicked, or bitten was sometimes literally a part of my job…and even though it once put me in the hospital, I would have defied anyone who told me I couldn’t do it.
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It makes me want to duck my head a bit. It suddenly feels like loving football is fast becoming my dirty little secret. A sucker for those grand, offensive passes, I’ll stand up as I anxiously wait to see if it lands in the receiver’s hands. Two years ago, if you were watching the game with me, you’d have likely heard me shouting “Hernandez!!!” in full glory as Aaron Hernandez, a favorite receiver for Tom Brady of the Patriots, took a pass for a touchdown.
Now Hernandez is in jail facing charges for not one, not two, but three murders. A name I shouted with enthusiasm is now doing jail time. Yes, it gives me more than one reason to sigh, shake my head, and feel frustration.
Here’s the thing, though. I’m not going to stop watching and I’m not going to feel bad about it.
I know the health risks and they worry me. However, when I worked in teen residential programs, I worked with youth who were assaultive on a regular basis. Getting punched, kicked, or bitten was sometimes literally a part of my job. I loved it. I was good at it and even though it once put me in the hospital, I would have defied anyone who told me I couldn’t do it.
Denouncing the game just isn’t the answer.
We don’t get to tell people not to do what they love. Every four years, nations watch their Olympians strive for their nation’s glory. Athletes have sacrificed their childhoods, have put families in debt, and have landed in hospitals more than any of us know or realize. Just think about the gymnasts and how many eating disorders likely exist in that community. We do, however, do our best to educate, inform, and support athletes as they manage the risks.
I haven’t yet decided just how responsible I think the NFL should be for being the moral authority on anything. They have to decide their brand, who they want to represent them, and acknowledge that if they want to stand up for what’s right, fair, and legal, they’ll have to let go of some top talent. If they don’t choose to police themselves and their brand, they have to be willing to accept that they’ll lose fans, players, and perhaps, the financial support of advertisers. Radisson Hotels just ceased their sponsorship of the Vikings. Anheuser-Busch, McDonald’s and Visa have all made statements expressing their concerns. I suspect there will be more advertisers reconsidering their relationship with the NFL.
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That being said, there are lot of inspiring, motivating, generous, and kind men within the NFL. They’re not all bad. Admittedly, the bad ones get the most press and it’s hard not to put more weight on a video where a player coldcocks his fiancée than a video of a player participating in a charity event or performing community service.
Steve Smith, like Rice, plays for the Baltimore Ravens. He was a receiver for the North Carolina Panthers when he first paired up with Samaritan’s Feet, a charity that provides thousands of homeless people with shoes and socks. Steve, in each city where he played an away game, literally washed the feet of each homeless person before giving them clean shoes and socks, which he also funded.
That video didn’t get much air time. Nor did this one: Every year for the past seven years, Andre Johnson, Houston Texans, gives twelve children chosen by Child Protective Services a Christmas shopping spree. The kids get to run through the store with their workers and fill up their baskets with as many toys as their carts can hold.
- Drew Brees of the Saints was instrumental in helping New Orleans recover after Katrina. His foundation rebuilt parks, academic and athletic facilities, child care centers, and after-school programs
- Charles Tillman of the Bears is believed to have helped the lives of over a million children through his foundation.
- Nnamdi Asomugha, Eagles, uses his foundation to improve the education of children here in the US and in his homeland, Nigeria. When he played for Oakland, he had a standing Mnday date with Oakland kids for mentoring and tutoring.
- Brandon Marshall, Bears, has publicly disclosed that he suffers from Borderline Personality Disorder and founded Project Borderline which works to spread the word, fight the stigma, and educate people about the disorder.
There’s no way us football fans can “yes…but…” our way out of this.
We can ignore the concerns and tell ourselves that they aren’t our problem. We can wax poetic about the good the NFL brings to fans with their charitable work and we can smile when we see their acts of kindness pass by our newsfeed. Or we can hold both. We can smile at this video of Derrick Coleman, the first legally deaf player for the NFL, when he visits another deaf girl who credits him for inspiring her, and we can also acknowledge the terrible statistics about violence and crimes committed by NFL players.
The New York Times broke down the numbers using a database maintained by USA Today:
- There are 32 teams; each team has 61 players (53 on the team with an 8 member practice squad).
- Since 2000, there have been 712 instances of reported crime events to the media.
- 1 in 40 players will be arrested in any given year
- NFL players are most commonly arrested for DUIs
- The Vikings have 44 players who were arrested, charged, or cited—the most in the NFL
- St Louis has the fewest run-ins with law, 11 reported incidents in the same amount of time
There’s bad. But there’s also good.
I won’t shy away from the bad with ignorance, but I also won’t minimize the good simply because that’s what the national conversation is implying I should do.
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