Integrity in Pro Football? Come on, man!

Where does it all end?

Adult male slaps his wife in an elevator . . . fix it, Roger, but remember I'm a star athlete.

Adult male beats his kid with a stick . . . fix it, Roger, but remember I'm a star athlete.

Adult male defies league orders and wears gold spikes . . . fix it, Roger, but remember I'm a star athlete.

Adult male catches touchdown pass and simulates pooping the ball . . . fix it, Roger, but remember I'm a star athlete.

Adult males willingly engage in a professional sport, certainly aware of its risks and its rewards, and then sue the league for causing delayed brain trauma . . . fix it, Roger, but remember we were once star athletes.

To be blunt, I am perplexed. I enjoy watching professional football (National Football League--NFL) as much as most men my age, but I must admit to being overwhelmed with its current state. No, I am not upset about the game; I am upset about the men who play the game. Note that I began my first four sentences with "Adult male(s)" for a specific reason--all involved are adults and probably dads, responsible for their own actions. Somehow, someway, however, as irritating as those actions are, the commissioner, Roger Goodell, is the man to whom the wrath of many Americans is directed. How did that happen?

I suppose I could jump on the bandwagon and agree with those individuals calling for Goodell's head, but I just cannot bring myself to do it. The ever-increasing need for controversy, heavily influenced by ESPN's often overly aggressive "investigating," seems to be a key catalyst for stirring the pot. As I have stated in a previous blog, we have a tendency to start believing the "loudest voice in the room"; whether that voice is the most logical seems to have become irrelevant. If we hear something often enough and loudly enough, we tend to believe it. That is where my problem begins.

What we seem to be asking the NFL commissioner to do is to be a policeman; if he reacts too quickly (as many said he did in the wife-beating incident), the criticism flies because he did not know all the facts and gather all the evidence. If he delays his reaction as he is currently being accused of in the  "Deflategate" dilemma (a matter I consider to be completely overblown and irrelevant), he gets accused of not being accessible to the public and the media. In short, he cannot win in the public's eyes at this point.

The question is this: Why is all this venom being directed toward him? From my seat, it is because he is in the position of authority. Combine jealousy over his salary with not following what many may desire with statements that are based on hearsay as opposed to facts with a resentment of his leadership position and the answer becomes clear: He's not like "us," so, therefore, we don't like him. Hey, sounds eerily similar to how many feel toward school superintendents, doesn't it?

My point should be clear: I don't think any of us are surprised about the off-field shenanigans of professional athletes. Unless we are still caught up in hero adoration, most of us accept that many--certainly not all--athletes playing professionally are not mental giants, are not people of high character, are not sincere contributors to most of their communities, and, in many ways, they could be labeled as arrogant clowns. Please keep in mind that these words are being written by someone who loves the competition in sports, yet someone who is growing increasingly tired of the players' shenanigans. I'm sick of it, to be quite honest.

To shift the blame to the commissioner--an intelligent, moral, paid-his-dues leader--seems to be such a copout, yet I am not at all shocked. We look for scapegoats, particularly leaders; . . . if the loudest voices say that the commissioner is incompetent, then, hey, he must be--damn the logic, let's just blame somebody. And while we're doing that, we might want to consider that a leader's position is to try to effectively control those he leads . . . sounds simple, doesn't it? Just as a subtle reminder, I will conclude with these two so important remarks made by a highly-paid Super Bowl-playing athlete, reflective of just what this commissioner has to deal with:

                                                    "I'm just here so I don't get fined." 

                                                    "You know why I'm here."

Put the pieces together, my friends--maybe the people lacking character are not the ones in charge!