Culture of Violence

It's interesting that so many people seem genuienly shocked about domestic and family violence within the sports community. Lets be real - Football is a body contact sport that, to a great degree, depends on confrontation, physical contact, and brute force. During the game people celebrate tackles and blocking as well as evasion and breaking through a strong defense. Of course football is not alone. There's also hockey, basketball or any number of other contact sports that depend on just that - contact. We watch them, cheer for our teams and on and on. Billions of dollars are also in play from ticket sales to sponsors to salaries for players, commissioners and coaches. In many ways, these sports depend on violence. It makes for a better and more interesting game. What would boxing be without knockouts or racing without accidents. Less exciting, right?

There is no doubt that these are violent sports. There is also no doubt that we all send a message to participants, managers and sponsors that we enjoy and perhaps love the violence. To a point I guess. That's why we have penalties and rulings by refs that point out unnecessary roughness or un-sportsman like conduct. Yup, penalties like yardage or a points advantage.

So now we struggle with penalties for domestic violence or violence against a child. Some people I guess honestly struggle with these issues as cultures and values collide but the NFL and its leadership at the commissioner and team level have failed everyone. They knew early on what needed to be done and failed. They knew facts that courts and legal systems will probably take months to sort out. They are a corporation with employees and moving parts that most of us may not be able to imagine. They should certainly know better. It seems that they don't. Stories, reactions, sanctions all keep changing. In the end, fans and sponsors will drive what happens based on money spent or not spent.

Many times people walk away from dealing with domestic violence or child abuse. People say its personal between those parties. The very public incidents and the discussions over the past two weeks have made many people realize that it is personal. It's personal for all of us now. It has to be talked about. The violence has to be talked about. The culture that starts as youngsters watch the violence with adults yelling and cheering needs to be thought about because it continues into high school, college and adulthood. Sometimes it leads to sexual assault on campuses or in the workplace.

Professional athletes become role models whether they like it or not. As a result, they need to be held accountable. The NFL and other sport entities also have to be held accountable.