Tom Brady's Argument Of Criminals
When it comes to sports in America, The National Football League dominates all others in popularity. For the past 30 consecutive years surveys by the Harris Poll have determined that the NFL is the favorite among fans . 23.6 million fans tune in to watch football every Sunday night on average . However there is a dark side to the NFL’s popularity: Its large amount of criminals. A whopping 55.4% of athletes in the NFL have criminal records . This number is slightly below the national average of arrests for that age group per 100,000, yet it is still concerning because of how young fans see them as role models and icons while the majority of other men age 25-30 are not. Though these athletes have criminal records a lot of them still have huge
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fan bases who will root for anyone who helps their team win. Everyone is quick to call Rae Carruth and Aaron Hernandez monsters but their careers did not extend past their crimes. Those who have committed similar crimes yet continue their football careers seem to be seen in a much less negative light from a social standpoint. Fans are the foundation of the NFL’s success.
Without them there would be no National Football League. But along with all the fans comes plenty of opposition to it. Though it is the NFLs responsibility to properly punish athletes who break the law, many believe that they do not do a sufficient job doing so. For example; Ray Rice was initially suspended for two games when it was reported that he had punched his wife in the face, though it was eventually changed to an indefinite suspension when a video of the altercation was released, Tom Brady got an initial suspension of 4 games for possibly deflating some footballs. Brady received double the amount of games suspended for a case that had an end result of “more probable than not” than a man who it was known for sure had beaten his wife. That is just one of many cases of the NFL and its string of incompetent commissioners not punishing its athletes fairly. Due to this notion of unfair punishment it is often said the only way for this crime problem to stop is through the fans. There are many that call to boycott the NFL, asking questions like: “Are you a decent person?” or “Do you regard yourself as having a moral compass?”. They do this in order to make fans feel guilty for enjoying watching these criminal athletes play even though they presumably know what the person they are rooting for did. These calls for boycott do not seem to have a very significant effect on the league due to its popularity continuing to increase every year. So why don’t more fans take action? Why do they continue to condone the domestic violence? The robbery? And in some cases, the murder? NFL fans are no strangers to scandal, it seems to rip through at least a few franchises every year and it seems that by now they are numb to it and see no need to take action. Crime is a continuously debated topic in the sports world, if one was to google “should professional athletes who break the law be banned from their sport” you will find hundreds of
links to people debating the why’s and why nots of the subject. But at the roots of the debate remains the question: who deserves to have the money, lifestyle and fans of a professional athelete, and who does not. Ray Lewis is beloved by Baltimore Ravens fans. The 13-time pro bowl selection and two time defensive player of the year awarded linebacker helped lead the Ravens to two Super Bowl titles, but his story has a darker past that is often overlooked when talking about his long and successful career. On the night of Super Bowl XXXIV in 2000, Ray Lewis was charged with double murder, for stabbing two men, Richard Lollar and Jacinth Baker, outside the Cobalt Lounge nightclub in Atlanta. Lewis and two friends named Reginald Oakley and Joseph Sweeting, were charged with the murders. This event occurred a few hours after the St. Louis Rams had won the Super Bowl. At about 3:30 AM Lewis, who had consumed 4 Remy Cognacs at this point in the night, and a crew of about ten people headed outside ehre they started to get aggressive with two other men who were at the club, things escalated and Oakley was stuck in the head with a champagne bottle. Lewis would later refer to that as when “All hell broke loose”. The end result of this altercation was the two victims, Lollar and Baker, collapsing in a pool of blood and Ray Lewis along with his entourage fleeing the scene in a black limousine driven by Lewis’ personal driver, Duane Fassett. As they drove away there were multiple bullets fired at the car. The limousine was later found in the parking lot of a nearby hotel covered in bullet holes and with blood in the interior. Fassett was found trembling and chain smoking and told police he had seen Lewis fighting contrary to Lewis’ claim that he had not been and also that Oakley and Sweeting had been bragging about stabbing their victims. The blood found in the Limousine and hotel room was identified as being from one of the victims as well as Lewis and Oakley.
fan bases who will root for anyone who helps their team win. Everyone is quick to call Rae Carruth and Aaron Hernandez monsters but their careers did not extend past their crimes. Those who have committed similar crimes yet continue their football careers seem to be seen in a much less negative light from a social standpoint. Fans are the foundation of the NFL’s success.
Without them there would be no National Football League. But along with all the fans comes plenty of opposition to it. Though it is the NFLs responsibility to properly punish athletes who break the law, many believe that they do not do a sufficient job doing so. For example; Ray Rice was initially suspended for two games when it was reported that he had punched his wife in the face, though it was eventually changed to an indefinite suspension when a video of the altercation was released, Tom Brady got an initial suspension of 4 games for possibly deflating some footballs. Brady received double the amount of games suspended for a case that had an end result of “more probable than not” than a man who it was known for sure had beaten his wife. That is just one of many cases of the NFL and its string of incompetent commissioners not punishing its athletes fairly. Due to this notion of unfair punishment it is often said the only way for this crime problem to stop is through the fans. There are many that call to boycott the NFL, asking questions like: “Are you a decent person?” or “Do you regard yourself as having a moral compass?”. They do this in order to make fans feel guilty for enjoying watching these criminal athletes play even though they presumably know what the person they are rooting for did. These calls for boycott do not seem to have a very significant effect on the league due to its popularity continuing to increase every year. So why don’t more fans take action? Why do they continue to condone the domestic violence? The robbery? And in some cases, the murder? NFL fans are no strangers to scandal, it seems to rip through at least a few franchises every year and it seems that by now they are numb to it and see no need to take action. Crime is a continuously debated topic in the sports world, if one was to google “should professional athletes who break the law be banned from their sport” you will find hundreds of
links to people debating the why’s and why nots of the subject. But at the roots of the debate remains the question: who deserves to have the money, lifestyle and fans of a professional athelete, and who does not. Ray Lewis is beloved by Baltimore Ravens fans. The 13-time pro bowl selection and two time defensive player of the year awarded linebacker helped lead the Ravens to two Super Bowl titles, but his story has a darker past that is often overlooked when talking about his long and successful career. On the night of Super Bowl XXXIV in 2000, Ray Lewis was charged with double murder, for stabbing two men, Richard Lollar and Jacinth Baker, outside the Cobalt Lounge nightclub in Atlanta. Lewis and two friends named Reginald Oakley and Joseph Sweeting, were charged with the murders. This event occurred a few hours after the St. Louis Rams had won the Super Bowl. At about 3:30 AM Lewis, who had consumed 4 Remy Cognacs at this point in the night, and a crew of about ten people headed outside ehre they started to get aggressive with two other men who were at the club, things escalated and Oakley was stuck in the head with a champagne bottle. Lewis would later refer to that as when “All hell broke loose”. The end result of this altercation was the two victims, Lollar and Baker, collapsing in a pool of blood and Ray Lewis along with his entourage fleeing the scene in a black limousine driven by Lewis’ personal driver, Duane Fassett. As they drove away there were multiple bullets fired at the car. The limousine was later found in the parking lot of a nearby hotel covered in bullet holes and with blood in the interior. Fassett was found trembling and chain smoking and told police he had seen Lewis fighting contrary to Lewis’ claim that he had not been and also that Oakley and Sweeting had been bragging about stabbing their victims. The blood found in the Limousine and hotel room was identified as being from one of the victims as well as Lewis and Oakley.