Domestic Violence in Athletics
In modern athletics, some of the most popular sports are the most aggressive in nature.
The competitions that people most enjoy watching, such as football and boxing, have long been
sports that dominate television and other media. However, this aggression can be dangerous. It
is my opinion that the aggression these athletes train to achieve is the very aggression that
athletes negatively present off of the playing field. As athletes train to become more aggressive,
they begin to achieve that goal, and many athletes are having a hard time controlling that
aggression off of the field of play.
Domestic violence in athletics is becoming a more troublesome issue every day. A new
incident of
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an athlete charged with a crime occurs every two days, not counting crimes unreported by the media. (ncava.org, np) Domestic violence rates are not as high as the general population in professional level football. (Livescience.com, np) Livescience contributes this to high income levels among the NFL, citing that in a comparable income domestic violence is much lower than the average population. (Livescience.com, np) However, college violence rates are as much as ten times higher than the general population. (ncava.org, np) On college campuses nation-wide, the most likely perpetrators of sexual assault and rape are student-athletes, according to a study conducted in 1995 by Tedd Crosset and Jeff Benedict. (ncava.org, np) This study found that while male student-athletes comprise only 3.3% of college students, they account for 19% of sexual assault and 35% of domestic violence on college campuses. (ncava.org, np) In addition, the conviction rate of athletes is 38% while the general population’s conviction rate is 80%. (ncava.org, np) What is worse than athletes committing crimes is the lack of punishment many of them receive for horrible acts of human indecency. As an example, when NBA player Deshawn Stevenson was convicted, in 2001, for the statutory rape of a 14 year old girl, he was convicted to only community service. (USA Today, np) Worse yet, these community service activities did not reflect the typical responsibilities of a person sentenced to community service. Instead of picking up refuse from the sides of the road, digging ditches, or cleaning public park bathrooms, Stevenson was sentenced to signing autographs and delivering speeches at youth basketball Of forty professional athletes sentenced to community service, in a study by USA today, only twenty-eight chose to submit community service records. Of the twenty-eight, only four were subjected to the typical menial labor other convicted criminals had to serve. (USA Today, np) The rest had community service activities much less taxing. These included throwing a first pitch at a major league baseball game, posing for pictures, and coaching at youth league basketball camps. (USA Today, np) Crimes that these athletes were convicted of were assaulting fans, police officers, and girlfriends and spouses. In addition, some were convicted for sex with minors, drunk-driving, hit-and-run, possession of illegal narcotics, and even vehicular homicide. To many people this may not seem like a big deal. Many people just accept it as the way things are. They think, “Athletes are wealthy and wealthy people can get away with anything.” However, when young impressionable people see their sports idols committing violent and/or immoral crimes, it leaves a stain on child’s mind that says, “Maybe it’s okay if I do that too.” So when athletes like Ray Rice, who was initially only suspended 2 games before being suspended indefinitely for the violent beating of his wife, or Adrian Peterson, who beat his son with a switch, leaving scars and deep cuts on his back and was out just a season with full pay, get put in the public eye, they need to be held to a higher standard, and harsher penalties should be enforced than they are in the general population. Also, contrary to most people’s view of domestic violence, it is not only men guilty of these crimes. In a case similar to Adrian Peterson’s, the U.S Olympic team’s goalkeeper, Hope Solo was arrested and charged with beating her sister and 13-year old nephew. From now on, any athlete acting like a criminal in the public eye needs to be treated like a criminal, and their incentives, such as pay and playing time need to be suspended. Most importantly, they need to face the same punishments an average person would face for the same However, taking things away from athletes cannot be the only solution. Athletes at the college and professional should have to be offered therapy on behalf of the league.
This would
help athletes who are otherwise struggling to keep themselves acting respectfully. While this
may be an expensive solution to the problem, it should not be a major financial burden to
professional football organizations that bring in millions of dollars in profits each year. Where it
would be the largest financial burden is at the collegiate level. However, considering the
astonishingly high rate of crime amongst student-athletes presented earlier, this would be a
necessary step to ensure the safety of all students at the college.
The next step to stopping crime among athletes is cutting their incentives. Even though
the professional sports organizations want you to believe they are focused on playing a game,
you have to realize they are a business capable of making many millions of dollars a year. As
any other business of this size, they need positive publicity to effectively turn more and more
profit. Teams pay good players tens of millions of dollars every year, so fining an athlete two
weeks’ pay, like the NFL did to Ray Rice, will not make a substantial difference. Instead
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of letting Rice play after two games, like the NFL initially planned on doing before they drew strong criticism, they should have either immediately suspended indefinitely until he was proven innocent or let him play for severely reduced salary. This would give his fellow athletes and him motivation to act properly off of the field.
Likewise for college athletes, scholarships should be revoked for committing crimes.
This is almost more important because these athletes are often representing state universities, so
these athletes are not only representatives of their team and their school, but also the state in
which the university resides. Revoking athletic scholarships for athletes committing crimes is a
popular approach. According to an ESPN SportsZone Poll, 84% of pole participants said they
would support a school’s decision to revoke an athletic scholarship for committing a crime.
Many critics of this approach will say it is unethical to do this much financial harm to a
person, but I think this really is the only way to ensure that athletes behave on and off the field.
However, in the current world of athletics where every athlete has a manager to protect their
interests, it is not likely that athletes would agree to terms that would reduce their pay and
playing time if they refuse to comply with league policies. This will be the biggest problem
when trying to enact these solutions. In addition, people pay to see their favorite players, so
this could eventually lead to financial loss for the league as well. However, as large companies that are constantly in the public eye, the major sports organizations, like the NFL, MLB, and NBA, have a responsibility to make sure that they produce a positive image to the community. These leagues need to show that no matter how tough it is, they will stand up for what is right and punish what is wrong. They should have a zero-tolerance policy to all crimes, but be especially The last step to the solution is a team effort. Coaches, team-owners, and most importantly teammates need to hold each other accountable for their actions. To many of these athletes, nothing means more to them than a teammate or friend telling them that they’re Oftentimes, athletes are their own biggest critics. Immediately after a bad game, a successful athlete won’t tell you about the plays he made. He will talk more about the plays he messed up. He’ll tell you how he could have got a few more yards, or how he should have took the wide open shot, but, in the contrary, athletes seem to be unwilling to admit to their flaws off of the field. So, at the end of the day, what is most important is whether or not the athlete can help himself or herself stay out of trouble and that he or she can say that they kept in touch with their morals and did what they believe to be right. Making sure an athlete can say they are happy with themselves after everything they do, on and off the field, is the best way to prevent athletes from becoming headlines for things other than their athletic abilities. Domestic violence is major issue at every level of athletic play, seemingly now more than ever with the massive amounts of publicity it gets. With this new level of publicity, it is now more important that major athletic leagues take steps to prevent domestic violence. More severely punishing their athletes for crimes is the first step. Because the major athletic leagues, like the NFL, NBA, and MLB, are so often in the public eye, they have a responsibility to ensure that domestic violence caused by their athletes is stopped. I believe that if these leagues took better measures to prevent domestic violence, the domestic violence rate everywhere would fall. Athletes could once again be the role models that were always intended to be. Children would never again look at a pro football or basketball player on the news for beating a woman or a child. Instead they would look up to athletes for doing their job well, making big plays. They would see professional athletes as examples of hard work and determination and make kids once again believe they can accomplish anything.
Throughout the country young men and women are losing their priority for an education. To attend a university should be a highly cherished privilege, and it should be an even greater honor to play athletics for the university. Therefore, the writer supports the decision that the “student” comes before “athlete” in student-athlete. Playing for pay should be considered a job for “professionals”. In the rulebook, the NCAA views college athletes as armatures. This statement sums it up best. When athletes go to college, not all of them go in with the mindset that athletics is going to be their future job....
Student athletes should not be paid more than any other student at State University, because it implies that the focus of this university is that an extracurricular activity as a means of profit. Intercollegiate athletics is becoming the central focus of colleges and universities, the strife and the substantial sum of money are the most important factors of most university administration’s interest. Student athletes should be just as their title states, students. The normal college student is struggling to make ends meet just for attending college, so why should student athletes be exempt from that? College athletes should indeed have their scholarships cover what their talents not only athletically but also academically depict. Unfortunately, the disapproval resides when students who are making leaps academically are not being offered monetary congratulations in comparison to student athletes. If the hefty amount of revenue that colleges as a conglomerate are making is the main argument for why athletes should be paid, then what is to stop the National Clearinghouse from devising unjust standards? Eventually if these payments are to continue, coaches, organizations, and the NCAA Clearinghouse will begin to feel that “c...
... money to live. They are most likely not capable of getting a part time job, especially during season because of their hectic schedule. They do not always have the financial support of family while they are away. College athletes are also at risk multiple injuries that could lead to them being let go from the team. It would be great if they were allowed to keep their scholarships as long as they kept their grades up. They also should be able to make at least a percentage off of their own names. Businesses make products using their names, jersey numbers, faces and can make thousands of dollars and none of it will go to the athlete. That is not right and it is really just another form of slavery. College athletes are controlled by these organizations and their contracts that tell them what they can and cannot do; yet, they are not paying them anything.
believes that if an athlete were to be paid, this would take away from learning, and would certainly be
After thoroughly evaluating the positives and negatives impacting the sport entity, The NFL is really in a tough position by far. More and more players continually are being diagnosed and the worst part about it is, to fix the issue of retired players being exposed to this disease the league must fix its current game. Roger Goodell is in a tough position because like Bernard stated if you are going to practice the “safety rule” in today’s day and age, defensive players are going to be more concerned about getting fined then making the plays for its respective team. The game will lose integrity. The NFL must find a way were it can coup with everything because yes older players are suffering, current players are displeased, but what’s going to happen when parents turn away from football? The NFL may see it’s last snap.
"The Coach-Athlete Relationship." Liberty Mutual Insurance: Responsible Sports. Positive Coaching Alliance, 2013. Web. 6 Nov 2013.
First by saying that only a few sports tend to bring in money. Often, it is the big sports like football
Some universities actually profit off of their sports teams (i.e. Ohio State football, Kentucky basketball), meaning that the athletes of these teams are indirectly providing means of revenue to their schools. Some believe that the least the schools can do in return for the athlete’s hard work is to provided them with a monthly stipend with a set amount of money—especially when the athletes are allowing a flow of profit to come into the
Unfortunately, some athletes in the eagerness to reach this goal, end up passing the limit of what is considered ethical. The big problem is that some athletes, due to the lack of orientation, end up being punished and labeled as unethical without even knowing what is happening. As for example accepting to take certain supplements given by their trainer to enhance their performance.
"Money makes the world go 'round." Sports could not exist without the presence of money. You have high paid athletes asking for multi-million dollar contacts, while at the same time you have doctors not even making close to that amount. There are corporations buying out sports teams, buying stadiums, and buying everything that has to do with sports. Someone may ask why they do this. Sports are one of the most profitable industries in the world. Everyone wants to get their hand on a piece of the action. Those individuals and industries that spend hundreds of millions of dollars on these sports teams are hoping to make a profit, but it may be an indirect profit. It could be a profit for the sports club, or it could be a promotion for another organization (i.e. Rupert Murdoch, FOX). The economics involved with sports has drastically changed over the last ten years. In the United States, we spend about 13% of all money on sports and entertainment. Sports has obviously done its job; entertained and drained money out of our pockets.
First off, athletes are paid for partying and game playing. Not only are they paid for the games they are at, they are even paid for the games unattended too. Sure, these athletes overwork themselves for a couple weeks, but when off the job they live the high life. Athletes party, drink, and get into all the trouble they can. What makes this worse, athletes think they can just pay off any victim or police man in their way. In their young adult heads, they won’t be thinking about any future, just the present.
The rise of steroid use in today’s sports is changing the amount of athletes and role models getting punished for using them and ruining the view on the right way to play sports. According to Heather Wright of Bleacher Report, “Steroids have often been at the fall of some of the most promising names in sport.” Sportsmanship has also submitted to gamesmanship over the years- using ploys to gain an advantage.
...he day, professional sport players are adults before anything. The lessons of right and wrong are already learned. It should not take all the wrong doing of guilt for a person to do the right thing. Guilt is not a good way to live life for simple decisions of not taking enhancement drugs and destroys the character of an athlete.
Sport becomes an important part in our lives, either by practicing or watching it. Sport can be classified to many kinds; such as extreme sport which leads to increase the adrenaline level and face the fear like snowboarding, skydiving, scuba diving, and mountain biking etc. The other kind of sport is more compete and excite, it can be practiced individually or in team for example ball games, Olympic sports, and athletic sports. In fact, the reason behind sports is teaching people how to control their anger and accept whatever results they obtain lose or win. Moreover, sports consider to be a healthy way to safe our bodies from certain diseases. However, what if the sport goes far away from its nice picture, like becomes more violent. Certainly, that is already exists in many violence sports where these kinds of sports lose their fundamental objectives and can be fatal or cause serious injuries.
And all the players that arent out there committing crimes and are doing the right thing they themselves need to get upset by the fact that others are giving their sport a bad name. So the players who care need to speak up and save their sports images before its too late. Kids out there already see enough violence in the streets and on t.v. Sports use to be a way to escape all of that and unless things change sports are going to be just like everything else.