Arizona Cardinals running back Jonathan Dwyer was arrested and charged with assault after breaking his wife’s nose and throwing a shoe at their 18-month-old child. Carolina Panther Greg Hardy was recently found guilty of assaulting his former girlfriend and threatening to kill her. And the streak of bad news continues in the NFL, as Vikings running back Adrian Peterson was indicted for child abuse soon after Raven’s Ray Rice domestic violence case.
Yet, with such horrific crimes we don’t see any real solutions being put in action to end violence. When punished, most players are suspended for a couple of games until people start to forget and then they come back and the ball gets rolling again. The NFL needs to step up and help itself as well as its players and fans, by putting general interest above all personal and business interests. The main goal should be to treat the problem from the root. Figuring out the cause is key, whether it’s related to the aggressive sport they’re playing or whether it arose from a personal problem. The right choices need to be made regardless of consequences. Aggression and anger should not be targeted toward women and children. This is exactly why these players need help.
Ideally, athletes are supposed to be role models for children and teens. They’re expected to be true performers who are hard-working and committed individuals, which they are to some extent since it is their determination that led to their professionalism after all. But reaching the top is not everything; it’s their ability to remain there that counts.
Because of their aggressive actions, most of us know better than to set these violent people as our role models. Nevertheless, these athletes know how strongly they influence children and should have some consideration for the negative effects their behavior causes. They’re partially responsible for showing children the correct way in life by setting a shining example.
Yet, these players have been acting like ruthless criminals, as if they want to see who will outweigh the previous person’s offense. Who hasn’t seen the explicit pictures of Peterson’s 4-year-old’s body with cuts, bruises, and lacerations on his thighs, hands, lower back and buttocks or watched Rice heartlessly punching his wife in the elevator and knocking her unconscious?
We’re all familiar with the Spider-Man quote, “With great power comes great responsibility.” Fame is a type of power because it allows the famous to lead the young with their words and actions. Of course, no one is perfect, but anyone who chooses to advance in the path of fame knows that they’ll be under the national, if not international, spotlight and all their actions are magnified for everyone to see and judge.
According to Benjamin Morris’s research for FiveThirtyEight polling, domestic violence now accounts for 48 percent of arrests for violent crimes among NFL players, compared to the estimated 21 percent nationally. While conviction rates fall at 36 percent compared to the 77 percent general conviction rate. It seems that the NFL is interested in reducing their players’ rates of domestic violence just so that they don’t lose them due to “distractions” such as suspensions and jail time.
It is well deserved that big corporations like Nike are disowning these players to join the fight against violence. However, there are other ways this problem should be tackled other than punishment and discipline. Psychological and emotional counseling as well as anger management therapy are other options that will treat the problem from the root. Suspending the players or expelling them might partially help by alleviating responsibility on the NFL’s part, but it will not solve the problem and most definitely it will not end the violence.
