A Journey to Acceptance

Today, modern sports fans do not consider the significance of the first black player, who broke the color barrier similar to Jackie Robinson. Fritz Pollard ended the many years of segregation in the NFL as he started a new trend of black players in the league. About 20 years later, the progress of African Americans in the NFL increases to 30% and now it is more than twice the amount. Modern day fans today, idolize African American players and their ability to make spudtacular plays on the field. Before 1946, kids would be foolish to imagine themselves as an African American player and now, kids of all races wish to play exactly like the African American superstars when they grow up. During an interview of Jim Brown, former professional running back, he talks about how he was made fun of on the field as player. He has memories of fans who would aggravate him by calling him names and telling him to dance like a fool. To embrace it, Jim responded to the people who told him his fame will increase if he would dance by simply saying “I don’t really dance”. This resulted in The influence and help from players such as Jim who evolve the sport into a more suitable environment for players to feel comfortable and more importantly accepted. Similar to the NFL, many examples of racism are found in the NBA, yet unlike the players who responded to the situations by holding back their emotions and opinions players

For the last decade, the Detroit Lions have struggled both in terms of on-field performance and in terms of their public appeal in the recession-blighted Michigan region. This futility peaked in 2008, when the Lions became the first team in NFL history to lose all 16 regular season contests. However, as per the strategy of the National Football League's college draft formula, a series of favorable drafts have allowed the Detroit Lions to enter into a place of contention. Indeed, with the additions of 2009 #1 overall draft pick, star quarterback Matt Stafford and 2010 #2 overall pick, star defensive tackle, Ndamukong Suh, the Detroit Lions would make the 2011 playoffs. It was the franchise's first such berth in 12 years and would mark its first cause for optimism in several generations of player. However, this accomplishment is today overshadowed by the array of Public Relations (PR) challenges before the Detroit Lions. For an organization enduring a considerable uphill climb in order to gain appeal and interest with its fans, the personnel issues which seem to follow many of its players may well haunt the organization going forward.

1 Peter 5:6-7 “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you”.

Though this NFL conduct is in the light, it is unnecessary because the U.S. criminal justice system has the ability to end the professional sports careers of society’s worst criminals. Everyone asked themselves how could such a successful, talented person throw their opportunity away like this? Crimes from the past always catch up and come to light in the justice system. The NFL from now on is trying to prevent incidents like this from happening from making their off field standards stronger, and making consequences stronger that come with

An increasingly popular topic in the realm of sports fans has begun to unravel. The National Football League recently has begun to introduce new rules and regulations for their athletes to start abiding by to ensure the continued safety of the player’s health. Although most find this change in the game of professional football as a positive step forward, others see this as a diminishment of the sanctity of NFL football. New rules and regulations that have been introduced into NFL are vital to athletes involved in the sport and help them to play with lowered risks of long term injuries that could possibly affect not only them but also the league in the future as well. The reasons for these

Domestic violence is one of the most common crime among male athletes. The statistics are staggering. Ray Rice, Greg Hardy, Ray McDonald – three standout NFL players who have been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons over the last 12 months. The acts of the men, particularly Rice, who was caught on camera punching his then fiancée and now wife, Janay in the elevator of an Atlantic City casino, brought domestic violence and sexual assault into sharp focus, in particular how the NFL handles players who commit such dreadful acts (and yes, we can all agree that the justice systems responsible for these cases failed terribly).

The National Football League (NFL) or as some people may say, “Not for long” is responsible for some of the greatest athletes. Excellence appears to be their one goal, which is to win Super Bowl championships. Some players perform at a high level for a while, whereas others don’t have a chance at experiencing actual playing time on the field at all. NFL players are less and less likely to have a definitive long-term career in the NFL. On average their career may span for about 3 ½ years (Stradley, 2011). (Workman Pub Co, 2002) The NFL has added several new teams, provided innovative equipment, additional rules, distinctive

This article talks about 10 NFL players who made the transformation from the world of playing football and making a living on the gridiron into the world of politics. In this article review we will talk about 3 NFL players that this article talks about whose story really caught my attention and intrigued me. We will discuss how they went from wearing shoulder pads and helmets to work to wearing suits and ties to work. The first NFL player that went from the gridiron to politics that we will talk about whose story caught my eye is Byron White. Byron was a top-tier running back in the NFL and the highest paid player at the time during his very short stint with

The NFL rationalized that it’s okay to take a chance on a handful of people’s lives, such as the football players, for the greater good of the community. Rationalization is another ethics trap found throughout this movie. Dr. Ronald L. Hamilton

First and foremost, the only proven medical diagnosis about Solomon is he has clinical depression and at one point in time suffered a temporary concussion. Depression of any kind is no laughing matter. As a person with this mental illness myself, this is a life changing disorder that can affect any individuals. In Solomon’s case, there is no history of antidepressants or counseling while he played in the league. Which, would have at least helped his case as providing a tangible link to NFL causing him trauma, but the former NFL player himself states that the depression symptoms did not begin until 2007. Two doctors agree with this medical diagnosis;

“We are encouraging players to see it, as a teaching tool for them about the not-so-ancient history of how the league mismanaged a serious and safety issue, and why it’s crucial for the union to be aggressive on these issues,” George Attalah, the executive director for the NFLPA’s external affairs said (Vrentas). When the film was first released, former and current NFL players were able to receive free admission so long as they showed their NFL Association Card. The MMQB screened the movie for 70 former NFL players. Several of them had emotional

According to Psychologist Abraham Maslow in “Self-actualization and Beyond,” self-actualization is a process in which one identifies his inner ability to do something productive. Once this inner talent comes out, that’s when a person actualizes himself. He believes that every individual self-actualizes, and while doing so one might make many wrong choices. Sonny and his older brother are faced with several obstacles while being on a journey to self-actualization in “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin. However, these obstacles not only come from their surroundings, but within themselves as well. The narrator himself and his younger brother, Sonny struggle with, and gradually develop their own

After the controversy of how Michael Sam’s football carrier will be affected because he came out about being gay, Dale Hansen responded with a commentary expressing, “You beat a woman and drag her down a flight of stairs, pulling her hair out by her roots? You are the fourth guy taken in the NFL draft. You kill people while driving drunk? That guy is welcome. Players accused of rape and pay the woman to go away? You lie to police trying to cover up a murder? We are comfortable with that. You love another man? Well, now you have gone too far!” This quote assists in comprehending the view people have of gay people. The thought of having a gay person on a football team bothers people more than the thought of having an abusive man or murderer. People talk about gay marriage as if it is such an issue. The prejudice many have toward gay people is truly inhumane, and more states should allow them to be together.

“My concern is about the people who are gay in groups that aren’t accepted as gay, specifically, in my mind, male athletes. I don’t think that there’s enough room or acceptance at this point in the world and at Wayland High School for those people to feel comfortable being out,” Rosenthal said.

NFL players have a staggering crime rate when compared with other professional team leagues . Since 2000, there have been 767 NFL player arrests, mostly DUI related . Most of these cases superficially appear minor, when alcohol is in “play," so too is the likelihood for violence. While girlfriends, wives and children receive