Today’s guest blog comes from NFL sideline expert, Virginia Dandridge Stevenson, who provides a fresh take on the Ray Rice nightmare.
It’s now been revealed that the Raven’s powers-that-be knew about Rice’s giving his wife a sucker punch all along. His attorney even admitted that “it’s horrible.” But is it that surprising?
These football players are trained to come yea close to killing each other. They are, for the most part, big, brutish and mean. They growl, scream and grunt. They are paid millions upon millions to literally throw their weight around and incite near riot in the stands.
Most of them never went to college. They were primed at an early age, plucked from high school teams and told to fight like hell. These are not warrior poets. They are deep-pocketed, testosterone fueled bullies with a skewed sense of entitlement.
Of course the same could be said of a lot of the fans. Well, minus the money.
Point is, football is a violent sport and is more likely to attract players who like to slug things than those who, say like to spend the afternoon at the ol’ fishin’ hole. According to Benjamin Morris who researches and writes about sports for FiveThirtyEight, “…domestic violence accounts for 48 percent of arrests for violent crimes among NFL players, compared to our estimated 21 percent nationally.”
And, every decision that has been made by the Raven’s and the NFL since the Rice incident has been made to protect the game, the fans and the money. My suspicion is that there are a lot of wife beaters, and beaten wives in the stands, as well. If they admit that what Ray Rice did is wrong, then they have to face their own situations. A 23 year-old Baltimore waitress recently said, “’I don’t agree with domestic violence, but she’s still with him, so obviously it wasn’t that big of a deal. Everyone should just drop it.”
We need to accept the fact that NFL players are 21st century gladiators fueled by the spectator’s cheers and checks.
Players are the whores. Owners are the pimps. And fans are the johns, who pay for anything.
It’s sad to see what’s become of many NFL players. It’s even sadder to see the cover-ups perpetrated by the league and, in Rice’s case, The Baltimore Ravens. It seems some people will do anything for a buck.
Thanks, Peter. And your insight into their being unemployable anywhere else is very telling, as well.
Great post Dandy, and all too true. I’ve been “Up Close & Personal” with a few NFL players over the years. Most seemed like civilized people within the promotional settings where they were expected to behave. But when the cameras weren’t on, many quickly turn into savages.
Perhaps the worst I’ve ever encountered is Warren Sapp, who has fathered several children by different women, won’t pay child support, claims to be broke, whoops it up during Draft Week like a frat boy and in general behaves like a thug. I single him out because Mr. Goodell’s NFL Network employs Sapp for his insightful game “analysis.” But I sincerely wonder where else he could get a job.
Sorry! Should be “graduated from college”.
Rep-
You are a pretty smart guy so I am kind of shocked you allowed this guest post on your blog for one very specific reason- it contains perhaps the most ignorant comment I have seen to date on this whole topic. Namely “Most of them never went to college. They were primed at an early age, plucked from high school teams and told to fight like hell.”
I am not quite sure but I would argue that MOST if not ALL NFL players went to college, and that none of them were “plucked from high school”.
Maybe next time you allow a guest to post on your blog, you might want to make sure they have some degree of knowledge about the topic they are posting about.
Just saying…