I was flipping through the channels yesterday, and I ran across the NFL Channel. I happened to notice a clear discrepancy between the amount of players in the league that are asking for contract re-negotiations. Among them was Chad Johnson. Many believe that he and other players like Jason Taylor are clear distractions for their teams. It seems like the only players that have good reason to complain about their pay are the white ones.
Granted blacks are the clear majority in football, I still can't understand why it seems that players of color are viewed as causing trouble when they make efforts to be compensated in greater amounts. I have a problem when I see that white players are viewed as stern business men when they opt out of training camps and practices, and request trades. It bothers me when players of color are viewed as trouble-makers for the same offense. It's almost like the league wants these players to be happy with what they get. Some of this goes along with the fact that player's attitudes on and off the field make the story, but other players with the same, if not a worse attitude, get treated as if they are standing up for themselves.
It makes me sick to my stomach to know that the NFL is using black players to make such a huge profit, only to alienate them in the long run. Players like Terrell Owens, Chad Johnson and Jeremy Shockey, a white player, all have reputations that go further than their action on the field. I get annoyed when Jeremy Shockey is praised for toughness and strength when the other two are constantly chastised for their silly antics or touchdown celebrations. There is a clear double standard for players of color in the NFL.
2 comments:
Okay, take if a little deeper, what about the fighting dogs and Michael Vick? A good addition to your blog? Your thoughts? There has been much made about the inequality and the harsh sentence, and the way his team isolated him? Anything.
Well.., In some ways it is, but in others it is not. He had the chance to come clean, but he continued to lie until he was caught. Something about that, be the person black or white, bothers me. Anyone who can stand in front of cameras and tell bald-faced lies, is deserving of punishment. Granted, he was harshly sentenced, he was only harshly sentenced by the standards of celebrities who break the law. I feel no sympathy for Vick. He committed crimes.
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