Essay on Pro Athletes and Violent Crimes

In American society sports holds a social significance and it influences almost every aspect of our lives. Athletics generate billions of dollars each year, thus causing a huge positive economic impact on the U.S. economy. Tons of that money comes from companies purchasing advertisements and endorsements because of the effect sports can have on future sales. “The sports market in North America was worth $60.5 billion in 2014 (Forbes Magazine).” Sports also affects how individuals may act or conduct themselves to represent their stand on general societal issues. Since it is such a huge aspect in society, people may give a certain level of validity to those related to professional sport to. When athletes have off the field issues that arise such as domestic violence, criminal behavior,

As we constantly hear of professional athletes being involved in domestic violence and other violent crimes, it is important to notice a trend. There is always some athlete being accused of some form of domestic violence. True sociological issues need to be addressed when violent issues such as the O.J. Simpson case arises. Simpson was influenced by a variety of sociological factors that created him into a violent person, such as the way in which African Americans are portrayed by the media, racial socioeconomic disparities, and racial labeling, that are all still evident in our society today.

Most people understand that football is a violent sport, and one must be very tough in order to compete. Injuries NFL athletes suffer can affect, not only the player, but also the fans and family members watching. Over time, many have become increasingly disturbed by the violence that routinely occurs in

It is not clear if on-field violent behavior leads to off-field violence. It would be somewhat logical to assume that people who become accustomed to using physical intimidation and violence in sport naturally revert to those behaviors when facing conflict outside of sport. However, sport may not be the cause of violence, but rather a result of the athletes’ upbringing or natural disposition, which led them to choose a violent sport to begin with. Drug and alcohol use should also be noted, since they and not sport may be the cause of violence. Alcohol consumption and binge drinking add to the problem of

American football is very popular in American culture today. Professional football games bring a lot of people together and are something little kids dream to play when they are older. When it comes to the topic of Professional football, most will agree that it is a violent sport. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of is it worth playing or not. Some are convinced that it is and others feel that the sport is too dangerous. However people feel they usually still watch NFL football in person or on television. Even though the NFL is exciting to watch and America’s favorite past time, it comes with a physical cost to the players.

From my perspective, most cases of violence in sports are a part of the game. Hockey, for example, thrives on the fights that take place on the ice. However, violence in sports can be taken too far. When an athlete is intentionally injured, for any reason, the violence has crossed a line. Sports produce violent acts that are inherent risks of the game. However, this does not give athletes a free pass to behave in a violent manner that intentionally hurts another

There are over 8,000 identified sports in the world but most crime comes from basketball, soccer, football, baseball, boxing, and hockey. The NCAA and professional sports are getting more and more strict with a policy that has to do with crime. More and more cases of substance abuse are the cause of most suspensions in professional sports since 2006. In 2014 alone there have been over 20 athletes in college and professional leagues that have been suspended. From charges being as little as theft to murder. Every sport is getting more and more strict with a zero tolerance policy; it has not been stopping the players from committing the crimes, but only resulting in more and more suspensions.

In other words, she agrees with Golden that selective implementation, the act of choosing when and how to enforce league regulations, on the part of league officials has created an environment in which punishments are determined based on the “caliber of athlete” (par.5). However, Withers argues that regardless of what the league does to condone or neglect misconduct, at the end of the day unscrupulous athletes are responsible for their own actions and should henceforth be held accountable for the recurring violence that has plagued professional sports, as well as the negative influence they have on fans. To support this claim, she draws attention to the case of Aaron Hernandez, the New England Patriots tight end who found success in the NFL, despite of his consistent off-field drug usage and violent demeanor, before eventually being indicted on murder charges for the death of Odin Lloyd (par. 5). She argues that this type of repetitive criminal behavior is indicative of a sociopath and only succeeds in sending a negative message to today’s youth. Therefore, she believes that in order to address this issue, individuals must recognize the level of

Sports are organized social organizations that have positive effects but can often create a mob mentality for those individuals that participate in organized sports. Drug abuse and gambling are issues that run rampant within the social area for those that participate within sports. There are many things that contribute to a negative connotation when it comes to sports culture. Athletes often go along with the flow and allow anything to happen as long as it is okay with the other players. Many of the negative things that athletes participate in are due to lack of an individual mind because many athletes often think about the overall instead of individual with can have a positive or negative outcome. There are many positive for organized sports but unfortunately the negatives over overshadow

Combine selective enforcement of the league’s policy and potential bias on the part of law enforcement and juries with the fame and glory of being a professional athlete, and we create a class of individuals who feel above reproach. It is one thing for a team to give someone a second chance. It is another to repeatedly ignore, and thus implicitly condone, violent off-field conduct.

College, professional, and high school sports can highly competitive. The environments athletes play in can be very aggressive and violent, especially in contact sports such as football, basketball, and hockey. Results from one study suggest that the participation in aggressive high school sports is one of the multiple developmental pathways leading to relationship violence (Forbes). Contact sports teach athletes physical aggression and dominance, extreme competitiveness, physical endurance and strength, insensitivity to others’ pain, and a tolerance for pain. Through sports athletes are taught to use force to settle conflicts. Many sports have become more violent due to advances in safety equipment. In some sports, after a violent play that helps the team gain an advantage in the

Mitch Abrams, who authored the book Anger Management in Sports, chalks up the violence issue in sports to coaches and players not being able to successfully deal with anger. Anger is not something that is practiced or even thought about until after there has been an issue. Anger is something that athletes in general should be able to deal with effectively, to prevent problems such as domestic violence, or any anger outbreak.

High profile sportspeople do not deserve a second chance or any other form of special treatment when they enact inappropriate activities such as drug doping, drink driving or even murder that may or may not hold relevance to the sport itself. This is believed for a multitude of reasons; firstly, these sportspeople are seen as role models by many and by enacting such activities and then being able to swiftly evade the consequences, they are essentially purging them of the ones they look up or in the more extreme cases, giving them the incorrect mentality that what they are doing is in fact, respectable; secondly, being given this special treatment will merely lead to them being given a sense of invincibility, a sense that they

Throughout the article, “George Huguely, Ben Roethlisberger, Lawrence Taylor -- male athletes encouraged to do the wrong thing,” author, Sally Jenkins makes it very clear that the article is not to “demonize scores of decent, guiltless men [male athletes].” To prove this point, Jenkins never once blamed male sports as a whole for the violence that occurs, but used specific examples of male athletes acting violent. For example, she uses Ben Roethlisberger’s sexual assault against a female to show that there is a problem that needs to be addressed. Additionally, she uses the statistics of Jay Coakley, which state “Certain types of all-male groups generally have higher rates of assault against women than the average [group].” Jenkins use of outside

“These people want to hurt you. It’s frightening. You feel like you’re in a cage out there”. Reggie Smith, (Berger, 1990). Spectator violence at sporting events has been recorded throughout history. People who have power over the events, often team owners, indirectly influence the amount of spectator violence by encouraging the factors contributing to violence, in order to benefit themselves. Sale of alcohol, encouraging crowd intensity, creating rivalries, and targeting social groups, are factors affecting the degree of spectator violence and can be proven to be influenced by the owner’s actions. Therefore the blame for spectator violence can be attributed to whoever has power over the sport.