“I am here to start a fight, because I’m a man and that’s how I solve problems” (Phillips) The main argument presented in Brian Phillips’s essay “Man Up” is what ‘being a man’ means in the football world. In football, being a man means dealing with your problems and not being afraid to fight back physically. Phillips says that football players put on this tough guy act on the field, they fight like real men, and do not run from their problems. In this essay, Phillips argues against this idea of toughness by redefining it. All aspects of football, not just the player, but the networks and the fans treat football as a man’s sport. Phillips addresses mental/emotional issues as a problem in football by describing the abusive relationship between Richie Incognito and Jonathan Martin. Since football is a man's sport, emotional issues are just unacceptable, but Phillips challenges this idea.
Phillips has been a fan of the NFL for many years. Being a fan of the NFL has allowed Phillips to better understand the game and what goes on between the players. Phillips reads the tweets and watches the games, so he is well informed about anything that happens in the NFL, both on and off the field. In his essay, Phillips writes about the bullying scandal that happened to Jonathan Martin. Martin was bullied online by Richie Incognito for leaving the team to deal with emotional issues. Phillips tell us what he thinks about the scandal and what he thinks about football through his years of
In his historical article “When Theodore Roosevelt Saved Football”, Bruce Watson evaluates the brutality that often occurred in 20th century football and how Theodore Roosevelt influenced the safety procedures currently enforced in modem day competition. Although being respected by the 26th president, Roosevelt himself was never an active football player; however, he was influenced by his respect for the game and his own son’s lethal experiences who was knocked unconscious. At the time, Injuries had been occurring at alarming rates with a total of 45 men dying at the hands of fans entertained by foul play. Major institutions including Harvard, Yale, and Princeton were split between pro and anti-factions against the sport. Consequently, Roosevelt
At the beginning of the 2013 NFL season everybody around the league thought Miami Dolphins locker room was healthy and a good place to be. It was just like any other locker room in the NFL. On Monday, October 28, half way through the season, Jonathan Martin abruptly walked away from the Dolphins facilities. Martin then checked himself into a nearby hospital, where he requested psychological treatment. After a couple of days after the incident, reports came out saying that Martin left the team because of persistent bullying, harassment, and ridicule being done to him. The Dolphins then requested the NFL to investigate the incident. The investigation found that there were three Dolphins offensive lineman who were involved in the harassment of Martin. The biggest player in the incident was Richie Incognito.
In the documentary the League of Denial, Frontline presents an informative documentary about the dark side of the football in the United Sates. Since 1970, the football game has become an entertainment show for the audiences. If I watch a football game, I notice that the fans love encouraging their favorite teams. Annually, these lovers of football have prepared to give the biggest cheers. They also like the violence of how the players perform the game. If the game shows hard-hitting, punishing, and violence defense, the game is excited. However, the current way that these players play is not normal, they are in danger for sacrificing their bodies. Harry Carson emphasizes, “the humans body was not created or build to play
The NFL generates crazy amount of revenue by marketing the violence. Many people buy into the “King sized” hits propaganda and think nothing of the actual physical damage. The documentary “A League of Denial” reveals how detrimental masculinity can when placed upon a nation stage such as the NFL. Mike Webster, an offensive lineman for the Pittsburgh Steelers is considered patient zero, his brain started the investigation which prompted this two hour special on PBS’ “Frontline” series. He was diagnosed with Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) and was dead by 50.
The national football league has stiffened its policy on legal hits. The hit zone has shrunk, while player frustrations have grown. The policy is enacted in an effort to reduce the number of concussions in the game of football. The enforcement of these rules has strayed away from being all about safety. The policy on hits has created a divide among its players and fans alike. The policy of hits being enforced so strictly has had a significant impact on the sport. The sociology of the NFL and the rule itself drive this argument. By stepping on the field as an NFL football player, it is accepted that it is very dangerous. The players make enough money to make the concussions worth it. Profiting from the fine money for these hits has caused the NFL to be enforcing these rules unethically, the rules and the impact they have had on the sport have been detrimental to football.
Multiple deaths from a degenerative brain disease, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, is what the true culprit of the NFL is. This disease is caused from repetitive blunt force trauma to the head, leading those who are effected to struggle later in life and even turn to suicide. People are writing about these safety concerns in football nowadays because of the multitude of deaths related to this disease and the way the NFL choses to deal with it. The NFL disregarding its players is a subject at hand currently because people continue to suffer from CTE without even confirming they have it before they have already deteriorated. “Football Has Become Too Real to Watch” by television writer, Eric Buchman, describes these realities of the NFL and how it went from being a safe haven to a place where the NFL pretends to be oblivious to the realities of the game. Buchman’s argument is that the joy of football is gone due to the reality of current issues within the NFL. The NFL getting away with awful things is what Buchman wants the reader to take away from this article. His contribution to this debate is that he offers a perspective of the fans for why this issue is important without any biases towards the NFL.
The spectator of this sport has an obligation to the players of the sport, to make sure that the organization is protecting and looking out for them. Yet not only should the viewer be held accountable for the lack of communication in consequences between the player and the pro scene, but the organization of the NFL needs to make sure that their players have a full understanding of what is going on and how they need to protect the players. The current situation that is understood, contents contain implied knowledge that all parties of this table are in uniform knowledge and agreement to what comes of playing football. Finally, this should also happen at the youth level when kids are just getting into the sport, as it would better inform the parents and the kid if they understood the full
An increasingly popular topic in the realm of sports fans has begun to unravel. The National Football League recently has begun to introduce new rules and regulations for their athletes to start abiding by to ensure the continued safety of the player’s health. Although most find this change in the game of professional football as a positive step forward, others see this as a diminishment of the sanctity of NFL football. New rules and regulations that have been introduced into NFL are vital to athletes involved in the sport and help them to play with lowered risks of long term injuries that could possibly affect not only them but also the league in the future as well. The reasons for these
Personal conduct in the NFL, National Football League, is an issue that is starting to spiral out of control. Late September, 2014, “the league [had] suspended at least 20 players for actions including assault, substance abuse and use of performance-enhancing drugs” (White); this was only a few weeks into the regular season of play for the league. The NFL has grown enormously since it was founded on August 20, 1920 in Canton, Ohio. But, this league has become more and more lenient with its players and personnel. Many professional athletes in the NFL receive special treatment regardless of their improper actions, thus allowing them to elude the consequences and in turn setting a misleading example for their young fans. In order
American football is very popular in American culture today. Professional football games bring a lot of people together and are something little kids dream to play when they are older. When it comes to the topic of Professional football, most will agree that it is a violent sport. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of is it worth playing or not. Some are convinced that it is and others feel that the sport is too dangerous. However people feel they usually still watch NFL football in person or on television. Even though the NFL is exciting to watch and America’s favorite past time, it comes with a physical cost to the players.
Most people understand that football is a violent sport, and one must be very tough in order to compete. Injuries NFL athletes suffer can affect, not only the player, but also the fans and family members watching. Over time, many have become increasingly disturbed by the violence that routinely occurs in
Football is America’s go to entertainment sport. The NFL hit its peak in 2015, with an average of 114.1 million television viewers throughout the year (“Statista,” 2017). This sport is loved by all, the players, parents, coaches, and fans. But, is football merely entertainment? Is it just a simple game, teaching young boys the value of teamwork, dedication, and discipline? Are parents spending their Friday nights to support their boys, or is there something bigger happening? In H.G Bissinger’s novel, Friday Night Lights, one can see the true effects of this toxic drug through the mindset of the players and the actions of the coaches. While society sees football as entertainment, it actually functions more like a drug.
Domestic violence is one of the most common crime among male athletes. The statistics are staggering. Ray Rice, Greg Hardy, Ray McDonald – three standout NFL players who have been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons over the last 12 months. The acts of the men, particularly Rice, who was caught on camera punching his then fiancée and now wife, Janay in the elevator of an Atlantic City casino, brought domestic violence and sexual assault into sharp focus, in particular how the NFL handles players who commit such dreadful acts (and yes, we can all agree that the justice systems responsible for these cases failed terribly).
This is one cause for the controversy over the amount of violence in today's sports, and the apparent nurturing and rewarding of athletes who display this over aggressive attitude. According to Edward Gondolf, a professor of sociology at Univ. Indiana; " there's no doubt that sports such as football reinforces and rewards that aggression which in turn spills into their lives outside of the locker room.", and it's that "spillage" of aggression into their lives off the field that leads some athletes to commit violent criminal acts out of rage, such as assault, or sexually abusing women.
In Great Britain, hooliganism has a big influence when there are football matches. People fight together and are acting crazy. Sometimes there can be big fights between two or more football teams. Would you dare to stop them? How is it to be the ‘’security’’ guy and has to keep it all clean? In the short story ‘‘an afternoon’’ written by the author Ian Rankin, we meet Rab, who works as a security sergeant to provide safety between football matches. The text gives the reader an insight into his life, problems and thoughts. And how he survives his days.