Essay on Violent Athletes

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,

During the 2003- 2004 National Hockey League season Todd Bertuzzi of the Vancouver Canucks viciously attacked unsuspecting Colorado Avalanche forward Steve Moore. The attack left Moore with a broken neck which ultimately ended his NHL career. Although Bertuzzi was suspended for the remainder of the season and his team was fined $250,000 no criminal charges were laid. One can only wonder how an unprovoked attack on an unsuspecting victim which ultimately ended a career due to a broken neck cannot be treated as a criminal offense. The Bertuzzi incident is an ideal example which illustrates how our society allows professional athletes to advocate themselves above the law. The problem of violence in sport can be discussed using the sub branches of the Social Conflict Theory of sociology. The Social Conflict Theory of sociology

For the past years the media has had a big effect on society. Many people rely on the media for news or sports coverage but they don’t realize that the media may influence people’s beliefs or way of behaving. The media covers sports in order to provide information to the fans but they also can create fake news to spark controversy in sports. The world of sports is largely affected by the media as they are a big topic to talk about throughout all kinds of media. Although the media can provide information of sports to fans, it can also create positive and negative conditions for the athletes. The media’s portrayal of sports creates rivalries between teams and players which increases competitiveness, damages professional relationships, and

In Steve Almond’s essay, “You Knock My Brains Out This Sunday and I Knock Your Brains Out the Next Time We Meet,” he starts off by describing a haunting memory from his childhood. He explains how when he watched Jack Tatum collide with Darryl Stingley, he enjoyed the thrill of the violence, yet felt ashamed about the way he felt because Stingley was now a quadriplegic. He goes on to explain why he felt that way, and also why he still kept watching the game, He talks about his childhood and about how his family seemed perfect on the outside, however behind closed doors they were a troubled family with little boys running around with forks and knives and stabbing each other. He goes on to talk about aggression and how soothing it was. He then moves on to talk about the life expectancy of football players and how they live shorter lives, and that Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) is common among football players. Almond focuses on how football players suffer long-term brain damage due to the sport. He gives an example of former players saying how they have memory loss and how they see stars frequently. Almond addresses the issue of how the NFL tried to hide the actual facts about what was really going on, and manipulate the players as well. And that even when the truth came out people put

The Donald Sterling Incident in 2014, is a historic incident that will forever be remember in the history of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and even professional sports. Donald Sterling’s remarks were brought to light through an audio file that was released on TMZ.com. Minutes after, all the sports media channels and national news channels had their spot light on the league and especially the fresh commissioner of Adam Silver, who had only been in office for less than a year. And only a few days after the incident, Adam Silver stepped infront of the media and delivered words that set a precedent for sport owners and leagues around the world, “I am banning Mr. Sterling for life from an association with the Clippers Organization or the NBA” (USA Today, 2014).

Protest of the national anthem in sports started in the 2016 National Football League season (NFL) when San Francisco 49ers quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, kneeled during the anthem. In an article written by sports enterprise reporter Nancy Armour, Kaepernick gave an explanation for his protest “Racism. Discrimination. Police brutality. Economic inequality.”(Armour). Kaepernick started a trend within the NFL causing multiple teams to either kneel or sit down during the national anthem; in response to this, President Donald Trump according to Erik Brady a sports reporter for USA Today stated “NFL owners to fire players who don't stand for the national anthem”(Brady). Every NFL team protested by locking arms, sitting or kneeling during the national anthem due to what Trump said about the protesters.

A Football player named Colin Kaepernick is the quarterback for the San Francisco 49er’s he is protesting racial injustice by not standing for the National Anthem.In August, National Football League (NFL) quarterback Colin Kaepernick began refusing to stand for the national anthem. Many people spoke out against the San Francisco 49ers player for his action. In the midst of a divisive election year, an important discussion about race class and violence in this country was almost abandoned by the news media.Then something surprising happened. Many in the sports world supported Kaepernick and his right to protest. Many did so even as they continued to stand with their hands over their hearts for The Star-Spangled Banner.

Professional sports have evolved into one of the most influential aspects of modern culture. The unscripted nature of competition, combined with larger than life figures, like Peyton Manning and Lebron James, has inevitably resulted in people looking towards sportspeople for guidance and inspiration. However, this unintended consequence is where the controversy surrounding professional athletes arises. With such a tremendous level of influence, recent scandals have caused people to question whether the social position of athletes somehow obligates them to behave in a manner that conveys a positive message to others. In other words, spectators, such as Bethany Withers of The New York Times, argue that the influential nature of being a star athlete

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.

According to the article, “Sports, Crime, and Money: Athletes Gone Wrong”, written by Michael McCarthy with CNBC. Babe Ruth once said, “If it weren’t for baseball, I’d be in either a penitentiary or the cemetery.” Accessed on April 1, 2015 and Updated on August 19, 2013

First, looking at the NFL’s recent scandal cases will be imperative. Given that there is an increasing number of a sports scandal pertaining specifically to NFL players, case studies will be of the utmost importance to our research. There have been several cases since 2007 that have shown a higher rate of arrests specifically dealing with domestic violence (Pennington and Eder). An example of a case we could examine would be the recent Ray Rice case. Other domestic violence accounts that we would include involve players such as: Ray McDonald (San Francisco), Greg Hardy (Carolina), A. J. Jefferson (Minnesota), Robert Reynolds (Tennessee) and Dez Bryant (Dallas). On top of looking at those specific cases, we will need to look at Nielsen ratings and arrests in the NFL for those specific years or even months that those cases occurred. Although not all cases are as consequently severe as Rice’s, it is important to analyze the previous cases to see if they have had any effect on viewership over the

While reinforcing to the commissioner and society that violence is unacceptable and both professional athlete or nonathlete should be giving similar sanctions. The rules and customs of all professional team sports permit a significant amount of body contact. As a result, it may be difficult for a judge or jury to distinguish between an assault and permissible contact. 63 In sports that permit violent physical contact, many of the collisions that occur during the course of a game are, in fact, technically assaults. 64 Moreover, refusal to convict may be spurred by a feeling that, because violence has become such an integral and accepted part of professional sports, a player acting in accordance with established practices of the game does not have the requisite mental state to be found guilty of assault. 6 772 Gulotta J,

In today’s world of professional sports, many athletes are dealing with off-field issues that cause a lot of controversy in our society. It is difficult to deny that many professional athletes commit serious crimes such as domestic violence and remain in the sport that glorifies them so much. There is absolutely no glory in domestic violence. The perspective society has regarding professional athletes today is a powerful one that carries with it a high social responsibility. For this reason, athletes that are convicted of a domestic violence crime should not be allowed to continue in their sports profession.

The Tom Donaghy case first surfaced in July 2007 and as the NBA nears its one-year anniversary, the league’s image remains a problem. In fact, a recent survey conducted by Advertising

When somebody gets killed in the street for not following the order of a policeman or woman they deserve what they get. Sometimes killing people on street is to far. If they are surrendering to an officer the officer should not jump on the innocent victim. No matter how harsh the officer is to the victim you should always stand up and salute the flag for our troops that are overseas risking their lives so we do not have to. It does not matter if you are making millions of dollars in the National Football League, you should still have to stand for your country and if you do not like what we are doing you can always leave. All pro athletes should stand and not kneel during the National Anthem.