While the American public debates what should happen to Ray Rice for his brutal assault on his then-fiancee, the charge against Adrian Peterson is poised to become at least as big once it hits the weekday general news cycle.
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| Adrian Peterson mugshot: Why is he smiling? Not sure. |
Look, it's no secret I've been a Minnesota Vikings fan for decades (it's prominent in the sidebar on the non-mobile version of this blog), and, like many Vikings and NFL fans, Peterson has been my favorite player to watch for several years.
I've even been known to embrace the crazy "Purple Jesus" nickname others have thrown out a few years back, stemming largely from how he helps fantasy football owners. It was all in fun.
But at no time have I ever held him as a role model, or looked to him as someone children should emulate, other than in a strictly technical sense in regard to his football acumen.
What Peterson has been charged with doing off the field is reprehensible, if it's proven true. It has already sparked plenty of debate -- it's old-school parental justice, some say; nothing less than a prison sentence would satisfy others -- and the Vikings kept him off the field Sunday after his arrest this weekend.
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| Aaron Hernandez (via abcnews.com) |
Look, will some fans step away from the game or follow in a less fervent manner? Sure. It happened in baseball after the 1994 World Series was canceled because of a work stoppage and again after the steroid scandal blew up.
But will it be enough to seriously change the way the NFL does business? Please. The league, probably the most image-conscious in pro sports, has already instituted penalty changes and likely will do more to placate the backlash should it get loud enough. But the league will also continue watching its TV ratings remain high and making money its competitors can only dream about.
And those fans baseball lost after the steroid scandal swept up many of its top sluggers? A lot of them have returned, and the league is raking in serious cash.
The bottom line is the NFL is just too appealing to the American sports fan to be going anywhere soon, regardless of how many casual fans fade from the fan base (and let's not forget those who say they're done, but then still keep tabs on things). The sport is perfectly suited to the current sports fan culture:
NFL rosters have had a criminal element for a long, long time. Remember the escapades of Pacman Jones? Lawrence Phillips? Leonard Little? Rae Carruth? And that's just a small sampling of players from relatively recent years.
Heck, Chris Rainey -- the player who while at Florida infamously texted "Time to die bitch" to a woman and had a felony stalking charge dropped to a misdemeanor -- was signed to an NFL roster last week in the midst of the outrage over the Ray Rice case. And if TV and radio ratings, Twitter chatter and website traffic are any indication, fans largely don't care.
Maybe they would if they were forced to really learn what some players are like in real life. Or maybe if the brutality gets to a point where a player dies on the field. Maybe. If the soul-crushing news of what brain trauma does to players hasn't done that yet, it's tough to fathom what might.
I'm not much different. I don't know any NFL player other than their public personas. I do know a lot of truly good men suit up to play on Sundays, but there's no question few rosters are without some truly bad people playing alongside them. But because I truly enjoy the game of football played at the highest level, there's not a lot that's going to stop me from watching them take the field.
It's part of the tough-guy brutality appeal of the game. Everyone wants to see the big hits, the ability to make big plays among truck-sized men moving at frightening speeds, the fortitude to withstand head-shaking punishment.
There's no doubt players know what they're signing up for in terms of potential serious injury, the quality of life cut from their post-playing days, There's also no doubt it's truly sad to see the effects those who play the game suffer. And yet, like millions of other American fans, it's just too tough to turn away.
* -- NOTE: Trying out a different feature, with the "too long, didn't read" Brainless Summary for anyone reading who has been brainwashed by the ESPN-ification of sports and can't handle analysis with anything deeper than "That quarterback is good because he wins." Maybe you'll enjoy it?
But will it be enough to seriously change the way the NFL does business? Please. The league, probably the most image-conscious in pro sports, has already instituted penalty changes and likely will do more to placate the backlash should it get loud enough. But the league will also continue watching its TV ratings remain high and making money its competitors can only dream about.
And those fans baseball lost after the steroid scandal swept up many of its top sluggers? A lot of them have returned, and the league is raking in serious cash.
The bottom line is the NFL is just too appealing to the American sports fan to be going anywhere soon, regardless of how many casual fans fade from the fan base (and let's not forget those who say they're done, but then still keep tabs on things). The sport is perfectly suited to the current sports fan culture:
- The weekly schedule makes it appointment viewing
- The game seems to have been designed to be shown and enjoyed on high-definition TVs
- There's enough violence to let fans vent, but not so much that it makes fans feel dirty
- The fact players are largely faceless entities hidden by helmets and pads keep the game's ugly realities at bay
- And, maybe most important of all, the game provides a perfect gambling element, whether it's putting a hundred down on a team to beat a point spread or big-money fantasy football leagues.
NFL rosters have had a criminal element for a long, long time. Remember the escapades of Pacman Jones? Lawrence Phillips? Leonard Little? Rae Carruth? And that's just a small sampling of players from relatively recent years.
Heck, Chris Rainey -- the player who while at Florida infamously texted "Time to die bitch" to a woman and had a felony stalking charge dropped to a misdemeanor -- was signed to an NFL roster last week in the midst of the outrage over the Ray Rice case. And if TV and radio ratings, Twitter chatter and website traffic are any indication, fans largely don't care.
Maybe they would if they were forced to really learn what some players are like in real life. Or maybe if the brutality gets to a point where a player dies on the field. Maybe. If the soul-crushing news of what brain trauma does to players hasn't done that yet, it's tough to fathom what might.
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| Brutal hits still remain a big part of the game's appeal. (Photo from sportingnews.com) |
It's part of the tough-guy brutality appeal of the game. Everyone wants to see the big hits, the ability to make big plays among truck-sized men moving at frightening speeds, the fortitude to withstand head-shaking punishment.
There's no doubt players know what they're signing up for in terms of potential serious injury, the quality of life cut from their post-playing days, There's also no doubt it's truly sad to see the effects those who play the game suffer. And yet, like millions of other American fans, it's just too tough to turn away.
* -- NOTE: Trying out a different feature, with the "too long, didn't read" Brainless Summary for anyone reading who has been brainwashed by the ESPN-ification of sports and can't handle analysis with anything deeper than "That quarterback is good because he wins." Maybe you'll enjoy it?
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