Football Stereotypes Essay

Imagine yourself watching a sporting event on television, let’s say football. You’re yelling, screaming, and cheering for your favorite team in hopes that they will score. Your team is down by a few points and the clock is ticking down by the seconds. You think that there’s not much time and this game will go in the records as a loss. Suddenly, your favorite player grabs the ball. He’s running fast, dodging all the opposing team’s players as they try to tackle him down. He reaches the goal post and scores, winning the game. The crowd goes wild and celebrations are in order. The sports evening news crews flood around your favorite player, asking him all sorts of questions about the winning touchdown in his interview. He speaks about the winning

For males, there is one main stereotype known to many as the “jock.” The term “jock” refers to guys who occupy a high position, such as quarterbacks or captains of football teams, are handsome and muscular, stuck-up and self-centered, generally popular with girls, aggressive, rude and arrogant, and are bullies against people who are “uncool” or less popular than themselves. Jocks are usually given special treatment basically everywhere they are. They are given undeserved passing grades in school so that they are still eligible to play sports and they receive very little, if any punishment for their wrong behavior. Usually jocks are socialites who spend their time with each other and preps; they come from wealthy families who can afford to buy them high class, expensive SUVs and sports cars and the most popular designer clothing. According to the stereotype, jocks are well-endowed physically and socially, but he only conversations they hold with others are about sports, sex, and exercise; other conversation topics are off limits because they are unintelligent and unenlightened by anything else. Jocks abuse drugs and alcohol and have sex earlier in life and have sex more casually than most other people. Stereotypes are also active in the lives of female athletes. These consist of their quality attributes such as competitiveness, strength, power, and their egos. Two main stereotypes they face

Most stereotypes are known to be untrue; that is the case with this particular stereotype since research has shown that there are more homosexuals in professional sports than people realize. Not many people realize that there have been fourteen people, in professional sports around the world, who have come out in public that they are gay. This list includes Ian Roberts, Billie Jean King, Greg Louganis, Alyson Annan, Jason Collins, Robbie Rogers, Justin Fashanu, Amelie Mauresmo, David Kopay, Roy Simmons, Esera Tuaolo, Raelene Boyle, Bill Tilden, and Mildred Ella “Babe” Didrikson Zaharias (Curtis 1-3). Each athlete has a different story as to how they came out and what had happened to them in their career after they had come out. The most recent male athlete to come out was Jason Collins, and a recent female athlete to come out was Alyson