{"id":1256,"date":"2014-09-11T16:05:01","date_gmt":"2014-09-11T20:05:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/?p=1256"},"modified":"2014-09-11T16:05:01","modified_gmt":"2014-09-11T20:05:01","slug":"national-football-league-tackles-controversial-issues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/2014\/09\/11\/national-football-league-tackles-controversial-issues\/","title":{"rendered":"National Football League Tackles Controversial Issues"},"content":{"rendered":"

By ALEX MULHALL –\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>STAFF WRITER<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

If you watched the news or logged\u00a0on to a social media site for any part of\u00a0the past year, chances are you heard of\u00a0Michael Sam. Michael Sam is a football\u00a0player \u2013 a very good football player.\u00a0After winning Co-Defensive Player of\u00a0the Year at the University of Missouri\u00a0for the 2013 season. Michael Sam was\u00a0drafted by the St. Louis Rams in the\u00a02014 National Football League (NFL)\u00a0Draft, which doesn\u2019t just happen to\u00a0anyone.<\/p>\n

Michael Sam also happens to identify\u00a0as a homosexual. From what I could\u00a0tell during the much-publicized clip\u00a0of him and his boyfriend on draft day,\u00a0Michael Sam is in a happy relationship.\u00a0It looks like they both like cake. I think\u00a0cake is probably a good thing in most\u00a0relationships.<\/p>\n

It just so happens that Michael Sam\u00a0is also the first openly gay player to enter\u00a0the NFL. \u201cWell that\u2019s pretty cool,\u201d\u00a0you\u2019re probably saying. I agree. That\u2019s a\u00a0pretty neat little factoid.\u00a0Unfortunately, a lot of people do not\u00a0think it is cool. A lot of people feel that\u00a0being gay is wrong. That\u2019s OK. I have\u00a0a lot of close friends and family who\u00a0hold that same opinion. I disagree with\u00a0them, but everyone is entitled to their\u00a0opinion.<\/p>\n

Several people also think that being\u00a0gay should preclude you from participating\u00a0in the NFL. That is not OK. Regardless\u00a0of your political background,\u00a0your religious beliefs, or your favorite\u00a0character from The Office (Kevin\u2026duh),\u00a0you should be able to see that being gay\u00a0does not affect your ability to play football.\u00a0Being gay is not a crime. Being gay\u00a0is really no different than liking apples\u00a0more than oranges or fall more than\u00a0summer. It\u2019s a preference. If a player\u00a0actually commits a crime, than they\u00a0should be punished accordingly. Which\u00a0brings us to Ray Rice.<\/p>\n

Ray Rice is also a football player \u2013 a\u00a0very good football player. For the past\u00a0seven years, Ray Rice has been the running\u00a0back for the Baltimore Ravens. He\u00a0has been one of the best backs in the\u00a0league during his tenure, even winning\u00a0a Super Bowl in 2013. That doesn\u2019t happen\u00a0to just anyone.<\/p>\n

Ray Rice was also caught on tape\u00a0knocking his wife unconscious and\u00a0dragging her out of an elevator. He was\u00a0released from his contract with the Baltimore\u00a0Ravens and has been suspended\u00a0from the NFL indefinitely. Some people\u00a0think that Rice\u2019s punishment is too\u00a0short.<\/p>\n

Some think that he should be banned\u00a0from the league for life. I disagree with\u00a0these people with both of these extremists\u00a0opinions.<\/p>\n

Hitting your wife\/girlfriend\/significant\u00a0other is vile, disgusting, and, unless\u00a0it\u2019s actually self-defense, inexcusable.\u00a0If anyone has an opposing opinion,\u00a0I would love to hear it, just so I can meet\u00a0someone I will never be friends with.\u00a0But the court of public opinion is too\u00a0quick to play judge, jury, and executioner.\u00a0With every moment of possible\u00a0excitement, Twitter and Facebook will\u00a0jump from one extreme or another.\u00a0With Sam, some people wanted to\u00a0put his bust in the Hall of Fame for advancing\u00a0the game and breaking down\u00a0barriers. Some wanted him kicked out\u00a0of the league for being too distracting\u00a0due to the media draw. With Rice, some\u00a0people want to burn him at the stake\u00a0to set an example, while some people\u00a0think he shouldn\u2019t be banned at all for\u00a0his off the field incidents.<\/p>\n

The answer for both of these men lies somewhere in the median. Michael Sam is brave. I hesitate to make grandiose comparisons to legends like Jackie Robinson or Billie Jean King, but he\u00a0has certainly advanced the national\u00a0conversation in the right direction.\u00a0The fact remains, however, that Sam\u00a0is unproven. He did not make the cut\u00a0for the Rams roster and currently sits\u00a0on the Cowboys\u2019 practice squad. His accomplishments\u00a0in college mean little to\u00a0these players.<\/p>\n

The media should, therefore, treat\u00a0him like a practice squad player. Let\u00a0Sam show that he deserves a spot in this league before we crown him or denounce\u00a0him.<\/p>\n

Ray Rice is a different scenario. He\u00a0committed an egregious act, but should\u00a0we call for his head on a platter? Should\u00a0we not focus more on rehabilitation?\u00a0The NFL has shown that it is a place of\u00a0second chances. Players have taken and\u00a0sold drugs, gambled, and even committed\u00a0manslaughter, only to find their\u00a0ways back on to an NFL roster.\u00a0Why should we treat Rice any different?\u00a0Let Rice prove to everyone that he\u00a0can change. Let him make an effort to\u00a0better himself, better his community,\u00a0and try to make right the atrocious\u00a0wrongs that he has committed.\u00a0Domestic violence is a very serious\u00a0issue, as is LGBTQ equality. But let\u2019s\u00a0separate the men from the athletes and\u00a0let them live their lives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By ALEX MULHALL –\u00a0STAFF WRITER If you watched the news or logged\u00a0on to a social media site for any part of\u00a0the past year, chances are you heard of\u00a0Michael Sam. Michael Sam is a football\u00a0player \u2013 a very good football player.\u00a0After winning Co-Defensive Player of\u00a0the Year at the University of Missouri\u00a0for the 2013 season. Michael Sam […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1256\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}