Ray Rice As Role Models In The NFL

If Rice was convicted, he would face up to five years in jail rather than a fine. Two months after his incident, Rice was accepted into a pretrial intervention program focused on rehabilitation (Elliott). As a result, Rice’s case never went to trial, and his aggravated assault charge would be dropped if he completed the program. Rice was originally suspended for two games without pay and fined $58,000 because of his aggravated assault charge but then he was suspended for six games due to the NFL’s policy on assault, battery, domestic violence and sexual assault (Elliott). Ray Rice will likely never play another game in an NFL uniform because of the fact that he was caught on camera abusing his wife (Tyler).

The spectator of this sport has an obligation to the players of the sport, to make sure that the organization is protecting and looking out for them. Yet not only should the viewer be held accountable for the lack of communication in consequences between the player and the pro scene, but the organization of the NFL needs to make sure that their players have a full understanding of what is going on and how they need to protect the players. The current situation that is understood, contents contain implied knowledge that all parties of this table are in uniform knowledge and agreement to what comes of playing football. Finally, this should also happen at the youth level when kids are just getting into the sport, as it would better inform the parents and the kid if they understood the full

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

There’s no doubt that concussions in football has become a major problem, not just for the professional athletes, but for kids of all ages from age 8 to 19. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has shown that concussion have doubled in the last decade and The American Academy of Pediatrics says that, “emergency room visits for concussions in children ages 8 to 13 years old has doubled, and concussions have risen 200 percent among teens ages 14 to 19 in the last decade” (Keith Dunlap, The Oakland Press). This shows that the seriousness of concussions is not just an issue at a pro level but an issue throughout all levels of play. The risk is definitely present when you play football but it shouldn’t stop parents from letting their children participate in the sport. Playing organized sports such as football isn’t just a place to get injured, it’s a place where your children can learn the importance of teamwork, sportsmanship, toughness, competitiveness, they learn succeed, and also they learn about failure. The parents who don’t allow their children to play sports don’t let their kids learn about these important lessons of organized sports. Football is also a way for kids to take their anger and struggles out in the game and help them express themselves. It can also be a way for kids in bad situations to get a way out, to try and reach the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Player safety has been an issue for the National Football League since the start of the league, but has taken on a greater importance in recent years. Now, when a player is injured after a play, he must sit out for at least one play to allow the team’s trainer to assess his injury and make sure he is fit to return to play. Many say the NFL is very invested in player safety, and the protocols recently introduced have drastically changed the way athletes are assessed and eventually released to return to the field. These changes were necessary in order to protect players from serious injury and long-term health issues. There are many possible reasons the NFL has increased its emphasis on player safety, including, many people are disturbed by the violence of the game, fewer kids are playing football at the youth and high school levels, league sponsors are worried about bad publicity, and there are lawsuits against the NFL dealing with the long-term effects of brain damage. These reasons make many ponder, “Does the NFL really care about player safety, or are they just saving themselves from bad public relations, and the detrimental economic effects that may result from them?”

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).

Many players will not follow the rules until they can relate to them. Someone will need to be brought in to talk to the players about what happens when they do not tackle correctly; serious injury can be caused to not only the player who is tackling, but also to the person that is getting tackled. The story of a football player named Inky Johnson helps describe the heartbreaking effects football injuries can have on players. Johnson’s mother gave birth to him when she was only fifteen years old. Johnson grew up in a poor home with eight other siblings, but he did not let that stop him from pursuing his dreams (Inky Johnson). Johnson, from a young age, told his older cousin that he wanted to play in the NFL. The two worked at it for years by running from light pole to light pole until a coach came to the street and signed the two up for organized sports. Johnson fought off injuries his whole high school career and received a scholarship to the University of Tennessee (Inky Johnson). Things were going well until it came to the third game of his junior year when he came up to hit someone and he blacked out and fell to the ground. Johnson´s teammates tried to get him to get up but he was unable to move. Johnson severely damaged his right arm, tearing all of his nerves (Inky Johnson). Now he lives with a paralyzed arm. This would be the end of Inky Johnson´s chase of his NFL dream on the football field. Kids do not think about this happening to them, they just play the game, but

Many of the former and present NFL players believe that like boxing, the NFL had to be aware of the health risks associated with repetitive blows producing sub concussive and concussive results. The fact that some members of the NFL player population were at significant risk of developing long term brain damage, had to be known by the league. Players say,

When you display domestic violence in the public eye you not only damage your image, but the image of the NFL. It is embarrassing to the league when a team player is not acting professional at all times. They are always representing their team, even off the field. He also should be a role model to the younger kids who may look up to him. He was not punished enough for his

Football is a rough sport. Many fans of the game watch it for the hard hits. These hard hits and the potential for injury is part of what makes the game so exciting. Some people say that football is too brutal and should be banned. Parents all over the United States don’t allow their children to play because of the risk of head injuries. Others allow their sons, and every now and then their daughters, to play and risk injury for a chance to earn a college scholarship and for a small percentage of players, the chance to play in the National Football League (NFL).

In the article “The NFL Recognizes Brain Damage to Players” the author Lawrence Gable explains that NFL players are experiencing too many concussions. Concussions can lead to suicide and several other mental issues that can affect the NFL players as well as future players. Football players and their families are suing the NFL for 765 million dollars. Gable states, “The NFL has admitted that football is causing permanent damage. Now it must convince the judge that it finally has the players’ best interests at heart” (paragraph 10). This quote shows how football is dangerous and can lead to serious injuries. Some people may believe that the NFL does not care about the players based upon the research Gable provided. The author’s purpose is

The players and teams receive too much leeway when they are involved with crimes or misconducts. They have a “distorted view of themselves” (White) which induces them to “overvalue their abilities and are proud and condescending when relating to others” (White). The league is responsible for investigating and taking action against the players and teams that do not follow the NFL Personal Conduct Policy which the league describes as avoiding “conduct detrimental to the integrity of and public confidence in the National Football League” (ESPN). This is required to be accepted by all workers in the NFL: players, general managers, coaches, owners, sideline/team employees, and even game officials. Roger Goodell, because of his title and job description, is delegated to be the “the judge and the jury in individual cases” (Pease). This responsibility he has is not a wise way of handling cases because there needs to be some sort of committee involved in order to give a thorough, well balanced, opinion and

In February 2012, Ray Rice, a former Baltimore Ravens running back, and his fiancée, Janae Palmer, were arrested for assault charges after they had gotten into a fight at a casino in Atlantic City. A few weeks after their arrest, a video surfaced of Rice dragging Palmer out of an elevator by her shoulders. Police later stated they had video footage of Rice knocking Palmer unconscious prior to dragging her off the elevator. By late March, Rice had been indicted for third degree aggravated assault. (Elliott, 2014). With a popular NFL player under fire, this case received ample media coverage. After the NFL announced their decision to only suspend Rice for the first 2 games of the season following his indictment, the decision was discussed on ESPN’s morning sports talk show, First Take.

Dating back to 1892, a new threshold in American sports history was achieved. The Allegheny Athletic Association had defeated the Pittsburgh Athletic Club. More importantly, William Heffelfinger was paid $500 to participate on the AAA team, thus birthing Professional Football. As the years passed, American Football has seen an exponential progression, including the introduction of children’s football associations. While there is a numerous group of parents who have no problem with their child being involved in football, recent revelations would begin to grow concern in some. It is because of this we must ask, should parents disallow their children from participating in football, or should they focus on the more positive benefits that the organized sport could have?

Football is America’s favorite sport to watch. All we are doing is simply observing the sport for entertainment. America isn’t thinking about the wear and tear of these NFL players. We don’t take into consideration all the damage that their bodies are going through nor the amount of head trauma that they receive. Roger Goodell needs to make more of an effort into protecting these professional players.