Lately, every time I turn to the sports page in the newspaper, or tune into my favorite satellite station (which is ESPN) I have to see a picture of the NFL's version of the perp walk. A young black man being called to go meet with the NFL Commissioner due to behavioral issues unbecoming a professional football player. Could this be true? Professional athletes that exhibit disruptive behavior towards society due to lifestyle choices, money, women and fame. Or is this just another way of the NFL's mob-like control over its employees? These issues are all important, but when did the highest official in the NFL become the hall monitor?
I have grown up in a time of several strong and great commissioners in professional sports. Lasting impressions will be imprinted on society for generations to come with the rapid expansion of the NBA under David Stern and the NFL with Paul Tagliabue which pushed the NFL and the NBA into America's mainstream. I mean that in a sense that goes beyond viewership and participation, but these sports have corporate global dominance that spans different ethnic markets and demographics now like never before. And like all businesses, when the focus is on money and not the people the business serves, there is a divide between interest. The common fan is ignorant to the business of football, and the common player is out of touch with the common fan.
The average ticket holding fan for a professional sporting event in the US would most likely be an upper-middle class Caucasian male, who pay a generous amount of money for their entertainment at these sporting events. While one can't help but notice the demographic of the playing surface be it grass, turf, or the hardcourt is noticeably tilted towards African-Americans and players from over seas. So with the understanding of those readily identifiable differences why would you patronize your product by drawn out public beatings and persecutions?
In the NBA you draft high school kids at the age of 18 and 19 with little marketable education and job skills from neighborhoods that would make Uma Thurman from Kill Bill nervous, and have the nerve to attack the way they dress. David Stern how do you expect them to dress? Many of these kids were poor with no father figure in sight and you expect them to show up in to the gym in a suit and tie. I for one, am not okay with your image problem that was created by greedy NBA executives not the kids. We have probably all heard the phrase that "you will never learn to be a man unless you get to see a man." That statement couldn't ring more true than for some of our young brothers in the NBA.
In American sports now football is king. King does not rest in the offseason either. Most of the press of the king of American sports in the spring and into the summer is simply offseason speculation, trades, and now the new dynamic of which player is getting in trouble. This offseason Michael Vick has been courted by the newly crowned commissioner of the NFL, as well as Pacman Jones (who has the worst nickname in sports), Tank Johnson (whose name is the best--a defensive tackle with the name Tank, come on) and the Bengals WR Chris Henry. All of the aforementioned players have gone to meet with the commish, and all besides Michael Vick have been disciplined by the league, and by league I mean Roger Giddell the commissioner.
Which brings me back to the main question of this article. When did the commissioner's office become the principle's office for professional athletes? The NFL's press release of the job criteria states that "a commissioner’s role is to exercise broad administrative or judicial authority. More specifically, the NFL Commissioner manages the business affairs of the league and is its most visible representative." It even goes as far to state that a conflict between a player and ownership is a conflict of interest. So how did we get here? Now we are in a state of 1984 like dictatorship by the NFL and its management officials. I can tell you how, CONTROL! This is the same league that offers the most violence this side of boxing and the UFC, and doesn't offer its participants guaranteed contracts. If you do what we like, we will pay you, if you don't we can cut you. As we can see that mentality stretches all the way to the top.
I think this mentality sounds like something that comes from the Sopranoes. And we have all seen that Tony is in a bit of trouble on that end of the spectrum. Even Rome fell, with all their advantages and superiority over their competition, overstretching their means caused their collapse as well. For the record, I love football and i don't want it to collapse, but I do believe they should treat their players better! And lastly, I did intentionally leave MLB's Bud Selig out of that conversation above. He got the chance to preside over baseball which has been a part of the American fabric in this society for over a hundred years. I just think he should take up for his players more too. If in the business world, you are your product, shouldn't you support that product?
