There are 1,696 NFL players on active rosters, a number that expands to 2,016 if we include those on practice squads who won’t be in uniform when Sunday’s games kick off.
The overwhelming majority of those players are normal, law-abiding people who also happen to be supremely talented athletes. We watch and idolize them. We wear their jerseys, and the more, um, dedicated supporters paint their faces (and other areas).
That elevation — from player to idol — is now becoming increasingly unhealthy.
Would you like to watch Adrian Peterson, arguably(?) the NFL’s best running back, play today? You can’t.
He decided that beating his son with a stick (or switch) is acceptable parenting in the year 2014, and has been deactivated by the Minnesota Vikings for Week 2. He made that decision even though the target of his chosen disciplinary method was a four-year-old, and he’s a 6’1”, 217-pound football house. He reportedly has a “whooping room” filled with belts and switches.
Would you like to watch Greg Hardy, one of the league’s elite young pass rushers who had 15 sacks last year and was deemed worthy a franchise tag, play today? You can’t.
He’s been deactivated too after being convicted of beating an ex-girlfriend and threatening to kill her, a gruesome assault that included her being thrown on a couch where Hardy had laid a collection of guns. Her statement is difficult, but necessary reading. You can feel the depth of Hardy’s dysfunction when he convinces another person that, yes, she’s going to die.
Would you like to watch Aldon Smith, another premier young pass rusher who has 42 sacks in 43 career games? You can’t. He’s still serving a nine-game suspension for various bouts with idiocy, including felony gun charges, several DUIs, and saying he had a bomb at an airport.
Ray Rice? Two years ago he was a crucial backfield cog during the Ravens’ championship run, with 1,621 total yards and 10 touchdowns. Now he’s unemployed after being a disgusting person, beating his soon-to-be wife in a elevator.
Sadly, the list continues, and includes Ray McDonald. That name isn’t as recognizable, which doesn’t matter. He’s an important contributor on the 49ers’ defensive line, and he’s still accused of beating his pregnant fiance. He’ll be playing tonight amid cheers when his team opens Levi Stadium.
Asking an NFL fan to stop being an NFL fan, and stop supporting a league filled with glaring examples of criminal behavior among its most talented players isn’t a realistic request. On a basic, fundamental level, football (like every sport) is a distraction. An entertaining and engaging distraction, with little deep impact on your life beyond those hours every Sunday afternoon (or Thursday and Monday nights).
Keep that, and hold it tight even while you see that elevator surveillance video showing Rice’s left hook, or read the statement from Hardy’s ex-girlfriend. But what the fan should learn from the events of the past week is that allowing a distraction to turn into idolizing needs to be approached with extreme caution. Because the result is a warped worldview.
We saw that Thursday night when Ravens fans proudly wore Ray Rice jerseys, and a devotion to a man who’s only a football player resulted in many poorly-selected words said in his defense. For example…
“He is a Baltimore Raven always and forever. We make mistakes, we get over them. We don’t need America to judge him.”
A mistake is if there’s a typo in this post. Hitting your wife isn’t a mistake. It’s hitting your wife.
When details of the charges against Peterson emerged Friday, it was noted that in some households and in some areas, using a switch for discipline is still standard operating procedure.
I’ll wait for the facts, but discipling a child with a switch is standard-operating procedure in my family. #sparetherodspoilthechild
— Jason Whitlock (@WhitlockJason) September 12, 2014
The focus there is misaligned too. It doesn’t matter what happened to you or what (unbelievably) may still happen. A football player left visible wounds on a four-year-old. The end.
Remember that when you watch today. They’re just football players, nothing more. They don’t need your passionate defense after committing a heinous crime, or your unwavering support.
