When We Think The Rules Don't Apply

As an avid NFL fan managing three fantasy teams this season, I am heartbroken by the obvious lack of self control and healthy anger management displayed by players in this professional sport. While I hold my breath and pray that there is an end to the stream of players exposed for their excessive and violent behavior, I wonder if we, as a society, haven’t created our own monsters.

Plenty has been written about how professional football players are trained to be aggressive, rewarded for overpowering those opposing them, and being paid great sums of money to physically control and “take out” those weaker than themselves.  We cannot be surprised when young men with little life experience become millionaire superstars overnight based on their combat prowess and then inappropriately use these valued commodities on family and friends.

And so we bash the sport, and we bash the fans.  Those with no interest in the NFL—or professional sports in general—deride those of us who decorate our homes with team logos, spend our Sundays glued to the television, and spend hours pouring over stats in preparation for our fantasy drafts.  All for good reason.  I get it.  There is a problem when professional athletes think the rules don’t apply to them and managers and owners try to cover things up to protect their star players.

It’s a relief to have people at whom we can point fingers and say, “Wow!  They’re really horrible people!  I certainly would never do that!.” 

We view the tape of Ray Rice knocking out his then-fiancé, and suddenly flipping off the guy who cut in front of us in traffic is a rather tame reaction to our anger. 

We read about Le'Veon Bell and LeGarrette Blount being arrested on possession charges while we illegally download Rihanna’s latest hit or a recent blockbuster, confident the artists can afford the loss more than we can.

Our hearts hurt when we think of the injuries suffered by his four-year-old son when Adrian Peterson decided beating him with a branch was an acceptable form of discipline.  And we feel a little less guilt about how we demeaned our daughter for her poor performance at soccer because at least we didn’t leave visible scars.

We shake our heads when Josh Gordon is arrested for driving under the influence and quickly text our disgust to our friend while driving.

Jah Reid’s battery charge or Quincy Enunwa’s assault charge make us wonder how civilized people can beat up on each other.  Then we applaud church standards that have historically caused marginalization based on race, gender, or sexual orientation.

“And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.”  Matthew 7:3-5 NLT

Don’t get me wrong.  I’m not minimizing the actions of the professional athletes.  They are inexcusable and rightly have been called out and given consequence.  I just think it’s appropriate for us to consider our own actions and abuse of others with the same spotlight. 

And I’m wondering if maybe it’s time we think about professional flag football.

Tami Cinquemani