Is The NFL A Reflection Of Society and Lowered Morales?

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   wavegirl22posted 14 years ago

   Braylon Edwards pled no contest to misdemeanor assault after he was busted for drunken driving Tuesday morning near the Lincoln Tunnel.His  blood alcohol reading of twice the legal limit, police said.
   
   Edwards should have known better Tuesday morning. Know why? Because he was one of the guys who spent time partying in South Beach  with another star wide receiver, Donte Stallworth, before Stallworth got behind the wheel of his Bentley and ended up striking and killing a Miami man in March of 2009.

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2. 71

   Cagsilposted 14 years ago

   Hey Shari, looks like I'm the first one to post to your thread. I guess many people are fed up with the "pro" athlete and their moral values.
   
   Is it a reflection on the rest of society? Possibly a little bit, but the money these people make, makes them seem over confident and invincible to the laws.
   
   This false thinking is what keeps getting this people into trouble, because they think they can buy a good lawyer and then do whatever they want.
   
   I mean, look at the judicial system with regards to those of any sort of wealth, and the continued slaps on the hands they received. It's ridiculous, but don't reflect on society in the overall perspective, because many people don't have the money these players have.
   
   At this rate, a lot of the "pro" athletes are going to start crowding up the prison system that is already over-crowded as it is now. Then again, if things continue on the pace they have for the several years....there are going to be more people in prison than in the workforce.

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3. 78

   Shadesbreathposted 14 years ago

   Yes, it is a reflection of a society that doesn't care.  We care, we like morality and stuff, but we don't care enough to apply it to our sports teams.  We'd rather win and just kind of shrug when people point out the criminals on "our" team.  "Yeah, he's a douche, but what am I supposed to do about it?"
   
   The right answer is stop watching the team.  Stop buying their gear.  ETc.
   
   But we don't do that.  WE keep watching.  And we keep going to Walmart.  And we keep buying products made by companies who shipped US jobs to foreign countries where they can practically make slaves of someone else in the name of "free trade."
   
   The US is morally bankrupt in large, large ways.  Not totally, but in huge and terrifying measure. And I'm not holding myself above the rest.  I can't fix it either.  I need clothes.  I've been following the Raiders since the 70s.  I have to drive to work.  So, I support fuel companies and all the rest of the institutions that don't care about how they make America look.
   
   We'd have to boycott everything and bring it all down to fix it at this point.  Probably have to happen anyway... the bring it all down part anyway.
   
   So, just enjoy the game and hope it doesn't all fall apart until after you die.

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   Mighty Momposted 14 years ago

   Sports figures and actors and music superstars and many politicians are among those who breathe rarified air. They make so much money and are intoxicated by being in the spotlight (which feeds their egos -- the ones who are naturally immature, which is a lot of them). Not hard to understand why they feel the rules don't apply to them.
   
   All of these are a reflection of our society.
   What does that say about us? Nothing good.

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5. 0

   Stevennix2001posted 14 years ago

   Personally, I think this is kind of sad, but as Cagsil alluded, he's right.  Sport athletes are bred with a sense of entitlement that they feel they're above the law and anyone else.  Plus, as Shades said with a society that doesn't seem to care as long as they win, then why should the athletes care?  All they have to do is do a few apologies and show remorse (fake or not), then win and all is forgiven.  That's just the reality of what our society is.  This kind of reminds me back when I found out Michael Jordan was cheating on his wife during his Chicago years.
   
   As a kid, I loved Michael Jordan.  He still is my all time favorite basketball player.  I admired the guy because of his competitive drive, and his unwillingness to accept defeat.  Unlike LeBron James where he was hyped since grade school, Michael Jordan didn't even make his first cut trying out for his high school junior varsity basketball team.  Something that kept Jordan always striving to be the best. 
   
   He was not only a great leader, he was also a great representative of the game.  He never threw any of his team mates publicly under the bus, but he wasn't too shy to get on them in practices if he felt they weren't picking up the slack.  That to me is what a great leader does.  He shows respect for his team mates, yet he's hard on them when he has to be.
   
   However, a few years ago, I discovered another side to Jordan I never thought existed.  On ESPN, it was reported Michael Jordan and his wife were divorcing.  Of course, I saw it as no big deal at first, as people get divorced all the time.  However, it was what I learned caused the divorce that disturbed me.  As it turns out, Michael Jordan had been cheating on his wife for years with a mistress, and when his wife found out, they got a divorce.  That's when I learned that even though these athletes may present themselves well publicly, we really don't know what kind of men they are behind close doors. 
   
   That's why I always have two different opinions of celebrities in general.  One as a person, and as a celebrity (in whatever field that makes them famous whether being athlete, actor, singer or whatever).  Like take Michael Moore for instance, I think personally the man is an arrogant pompous a** that always makes controversial documentaries to make money and point fingers at the Republican party while praising Democrats.  Then has the audacity to question capitalism, when he himself profits off that more than anyone that I know.  If he really meant what he said about the corruption of capitalism in "capitalism:  a love story", then he would donate at least a percentage of his profits to charity but he doesn't, so that makes him a hypocrite.  However, as a film maker, I have the highest respect for the man.
   
   Seriously, even people who HATE him will still see his documentaries just to see what he's going to say.  Plus, if it wasn't for him making his controversial film, "Fahrenheit 9/11", then documentaries would've been phased out movie theaters completely as it was a dying genre at the time.  On that note, I applaud Moore as he knows how to get his opinions out there, and how to make people listen to him even if they hate him.  That's the sign of a great documentary film maker, as he's always able to grasp the viewers attention. 
   
   To get back to Michael Jordan...I don't condone what he did at all, and I was very upset about him cheating on his wife like that.  The man had my utmost respect, but he wasn't the noble man that i thought he was.  However, as one brilliant ESPN commentator said, "How you feel about Michael as a person, should not affect how you feel about him as a basketball player."  That's why as a basketball player, I'll always go on record to say Michael Jordan is a class act all the way.  Says all the right things, works really hard, and plays great basketball.  He truly was worthy of being a spokesman of the game.  As a person?  I have no respect for Michael Jordan.  He cheated on his wife, and shows no real remorse over it.  Therefore, i can't respect a man like that personally.  don't get me wrong, i'll always respect him as a basketball player, but never as a person...
   
   it's like charles barkley said once, "im not a role model."  he's right.  he's not a role model, nor should any athlete ever be.  If a parent pushes their kids to look up to athletes or celebrities than themselves, then it's the parents fault when they have to explain why they cheated or allegedly raped a girl.  the point is here folks, it's okay to watch and admire celebrities professionally.  just keep in mind that how they present themselves to be on camera isn't who they are in real life.

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      HELLAposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I agree on the whole Michael Jordan issue. I hadn't heard about the cheating incident, however, I too, had the utmost respect for him. He always epitomized what it meant to be a great leader, a great person in general. What made me turn the other cheek is actually when he began bad mouthing Lebron, saying, "He'll never be me", because of the trade to Miami. IMHO, Jordan had Pippen, Rodman, etc etc. All kinds of playmakers and for him to basically tell someone who aspires to be him, "You'll never be me" in regards to talent, a leader, and such, I just think states a lot about who MJ has become. He seems to be this disgruntled old man that was and still is the greatest of all time. But to publicly call out someone like Lebron because he wanted to go somewhere he had a chance to win (NOT in Cleveland, cmon), is just child's play. Again, not having heard or read about the cheating incident, this is what struck me about MJ. He epitomized what a person SHOULD be.
      
      Now on your Charles Barkely quote, I disagree. As I stated and as you did as well, we both looked up to MJ. Whether OR NOT these players want to be role models, THEY ARE. It comes with the territory. We looked up to these guys, just like kids look up to today's players. It's sad when a pro athlete who is living the dream playing children's games, making OBSCENE amounts of money, can sit there and say, "Hey, I EFFED up, but I'm no role model." Maybe we should take away their million dollar paychecks and let them work a $hitty 9-5 job to see if they would prefer to makes millions and be a role model or live paycheck to paycheck trying to make it.
      
      I, for one, have ZERO sympathy for these A holes.
      
      That's just my two cents!

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         Stevennix2001posted 14 years agoin reply to this

         i don't disagree with most of what you just said other than the role model bit.  as far as the michael jordan criticizing LeBron bit, i didn't know about that.  although he's not the only one doing it, charles barkley and magic johnson have said a lot of harsh things about LeBron too since going to Miami.  saying things like calling him selfish and how he walked out on his team.  Which is kind of funny because charles barkley did that twice in his career in an effort to win a ring, and Magic Johnson held up the NBA draft saying if any other team drafted him outside the lakers, he'd just go back to college.  Gee, real class act, huh?  

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6. 75

   Mighty Momposted 14 years ago

   Very well said Stevennix.
   Many of our greatest athletes have/had really messed up personal lives. Only a very few get publicly called on the carpet about it.
   It's pretty much assumed that players who spend so much time on the road are going to succumb to temptation. Tiger Woods might never have been "outed" had he not smashed his car that fateful November night.
   Like you, I would have liked to hold Michael Jordan to a higher standard. But am not really surprised about the mistress.
   Charles Barkley, on the other hand, is my idol! I think he is hysterically funny -- have you seen him hosting SNL???

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      Stevennix2001posted 14 years agoin reply to this

      oh yeah, i love that episode.  i still remember watching it as kid.  my favorite part was when they had him do that daily affirmation bit with Mogsey Bogues.  Now, that was funny.

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   LakeShow Tposted 14 years ago

   Sure the NFL is a reflection of society, as is any social group. In any social group, there are the good apples and the bad ones. There are plenty of NFL players who are frequently doing work with charities and such, just as there are players who are in the news for being causing trouble (although it seems like the same players over and over again). The thing with the world we live in today is that the media chooses to make stories out of the "bad apples" i.e. players getting arrested and other various selfish acts, while rarely, if ever, giving credit to those who use their platform to do their part in making the world a better place. And this is why high-profiled people in general have the stigma of "low morale" placed upon them deservedly or not. In other words, a few bad apples ruin it for the rest.

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8. 41

   wavegirl22posted 14 years ago

   It is a sad state of affairs. And just when Braylon starts catching the ball. Go figure why people want to self sabotage. Personally that beard on him was pretty scary looking. He really must be going thru serious hell to have gotten pulled over for a DWI IN Manhattan. . the easiest place to never EVER have to drive. You dont even have to call a cab here. . all you do is put your hand up in the air, and voila a safe ride for all. The ironic part is here is a guy who knows how to use his hands, too bad he just proved he has no brain, let alone common sense.
   
   I hope that when Rex has him sitting on the bench for the season, he can use his hands for something good.
   
   I have a feeling Goodell is going to really hang him.

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