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An Interesting Question

1K views 32 replies 22 participants last post by  entertainment72 
#1 ·
In light of the latest antics of the "National Felon League" being reported, this is a very valid question and a very pointed comment on our current level of civilization:

https://www.lawenforcementtoday.com/at-what-point-can-we-charge-nfl-players-with-assault/


Those who argue "it's just a game" should be aware that it was "just a game" in ancient Rome, until it wasn't. People there started dying for the entertainment of the spectators. To be sure, nobody here died, but the question remains, "Where do we draw the line?"

Is this where we are as a society?
 
#2 ·
Those who argue "it's just a game" should be aware that it was "just a game" in ancient Rome, until it wasn't. People there started dying for the entertainment of the spectators.
I get your analogy, but gladiators started dying in the Roman Colosseum from day one. Historians estimate that between one in five to one in ten bouts ended in death for as long as they were held. Gladiators rarely lived to see the age of 30.

Back to the question at hand, I think if the NFL wanted to stop these fights, they could easily. Just ban fighting. If you get in an illegal fight, you're out of the NFL. But I don't think they want to. I think they like the ratings and publicity it gets. They have penalties, so it looks like they don't condone it, but they really haven't done what it would take to stop it.

I was a hockey fan in my late teens and early twenties. If there weren't at least three fights in a game, it was a dull game. The NHL has upped the penalties, but despite recommendations to end hockey fights, the NHL still allows it with restrictions and penalties.

Both are violent sports and both are doing everything they can to increase revenues. If fights do that, there will be some fights. If revenues drop as a result, they will stop it.
 
#3 ·
I am waiting for a scene like that movie The Last Boy scout where the player is running with the ball and takes out a pistol and starts shooting the defenders.
It will soon be getting to that with the caliber of players/felons in the NFL.
Simple answer. If it is a felony off the field, It's a felony on the field.
This is another reason i quit watching the NFL over 4 years ago.

 
#4 ·
@jmf552 The point though is that the death in the arena was about a side benefit...keeping the citizens of Rome looking the other way, and keeping them from setting the Emperor afire.

The gratuitous violence in the NFL is exactly the same thing...keep the people entertained so they don't set the owner's houses on fire - figuratively speaking.
 
#5 ·
Haven't ice hockey games always been pretty violent? Just asking because I'm not sure football is the only "sport" where "players" lose whatever small sense of sportsmanship they may have ever had.
 
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#7 ·
Back in my football-playing days, it never occurred to me to fight someone wearing a helmet and pads. I just took them out a play or two later--all nice and clean. A vicious tackle or really, really hard block is all part of the game.
 
#8 ·
Using the coined phrase "no one is above the law" I think that battery is just that no matter where or when or in what context it occurs. If I intentionally struck someone's head with a football helmet, I would most likely be arrested and probably prosecuted. I do not see any athletic game in any context in which battery is acceptable behavior. The NFL and the team owners are driven by profit. The players are money making assets. They are treated differently from any other type employee. Losing a top notch player can cost a team big bucks. So punishments for infractions are mostly not consistent with the level of th offense. It sucks.
 
#9 ·
Just noticed the League came down hard: indefinite suspensions and fining each team $250K. Of course, they run back on their punishments when the players' union objects.

Someday, somehow we are once again going to have "justice for all" - even if they are rich, famous, or politicians. I'm not sure what it will take to see that happen though.
 
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#17 ·
As @mcp1810 said, criminal charges have been filed in other sports. Maybe it's time the NFL lost some players when they get out of control and commit an obvious assault, such as this one.

The point being made is that if players get a pass on criminality, then why not spectators as well?
 
#14 ·
There is an easy way for each of us to do our part to stop this...stop watching, stop going to games, stop buying their swag. If people really don't like what the NFL is doing/allowing, that is the ultimate lever. Even if your one action is not enough to change things, guess what? You won't care because your not participating.

I would not have even known about this except for this thread, so it means nothing to me. Those overpaid, anthem-kneeling delinquents can beat each other to death with their helmets for all I care.
 
#16 ·
Tame down sports people will stop watching , this is why Evel Knievel was so popular , people want to see the carnage .
 
#18 ·
I've been waiting for law enforcement since (thirty or so years ago) I saw Darryl Strawberry charge the mound. He looked mad enough to kill.

If I were the law in this football case I'd look to see what punishment the league handed out. The main perp looks to be out several million - if not a career. The other guys got hit pretty hard financially. To me this is acceptable as long as Rudolph wasn't hurt.

Don't get me wrong. I'd love to see somebody locked up over this, for a short while anyway. What a can of worms, though. Now home field law enforcement is open to accusations of removing the visiting teams best players for whatever. I just don't want to see sports go "there". It might, though; nobody's asking me. :eek:
 
#29 ·
I understand...I haven't watched a single down of NFL in several years, but the issue is deeper than just entertainment. Every American should care when someone breaks the law with impunity. That implies we have a dual system of justice - the very antithesis of Lady Justice, who is blindfolded for a reason. What do we suppose would happen to one of us if we engaged in something like that brawl during a Saturday sandlot pick-up football game?

Maybe I'm too simple minded. I believe every American should be held to the same standard of justice.
 
#22 ·
Rewatching the video a few times on slo-mo, there was plenty of assault to go around. The Pittsburgh QB appears to choke and/or twist Garrett while on the ground, kick him in the crotch three times, and then go at him once upright while his lineman restrained him. Escalation of the confrontation, disparity of force and then, boom, a force multilpier in response.
 
#25 ·
Just treat professional athletes like the gladiators they are. I like sports but these guys are nothing more than men who are good at GAMES. I could care less what they think, say or feel. They have chosen a life of non-intellectual entertainment and when it comes to sports like boxing, football hockey etc that are hyper violent I have zero sympathy or care for their physical well being. They made their choice, now live with it.

ENTERTAIN ME!

Get hurt up top. Drag 'em off the field by the legs. Get hurt down below. Drag 'em off the field by the arms. Spinal, get a wheel barrow.

Keep the game moving!

As I'm typing this I watched my team, Alabama cart their quarterback Tua off the field. How much do I care? Not at all. Keep the game moving and there is always a replacement...
 
#27 ·
Just treat professional athletes like the gladiators they are. I like sports but these guys are nothing more than men who are good at GAMES. I could care less what they think, say or feel. They have chosen a life of non-intellectual entertainment and when it comes to sports like boxing, football hockey etc that are hyper violent I have zero sympathy or care for their physical well being. They made their choice, now live with it.

ENTERTAIN ME!

Get hurt up top. Drag 'em off the field by the legs. Get hurt down below. Drag 'em off the field by the arms. Spinal, get a wheel barrow.

Keep the game moving!

As I'm typing this I watched my team, Alabama cart their quarterback Tua off the field. How much do I care? Not at all. Keep the game moving and there is always a replacement...
What the heck? Tua T. dislocated and fractured his hip, and he may never be able to play again.
 
#26 ·
Football is a violent sport. And while it should not be violent between plays, it often is.

Do we want to see cops come on the field and arrest players when one player slaps another? When one player throws another to the ground after the play is called dead? Or a cheap shot delivered out of bounds? Of course not.

Garret bonked Rudolph on the head with a helmet. Fine him and suspend him a game or two (And of course Goodell overreacted with the suspension, keeping his track record of being a lousy NFL commissioner intact for another season).

Rudolph acted like an idiot, too. Hopefully he mans up and doesn't pretend to be the "victim."

It's the big leagues, and this was just a couple of guys that lost their cool, and nobody was hurt.

Last thing I want to see is some snowflake woe-is-me crap in the NFL.
 
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