Tacit Approval – Blood Money in Sports

When I heard about the New Orleans Saints investigation involving multiple players and coaches, it sounded like just another scandal. This time, it involved players and coaches who were targeting players on opposing teams for injury. In some cases, the intent was to remove them for the game. Others were targeted for more lasting injuries.

USA Today describes the bounty program in this way:

The league found that the cash pool reached $50,000 or more during the 2009 playoffs, and players were paid $1,500 for a “knockout” and $1,000 for a “cart-off” with payouts doubling or tripling during the playoffs. Money was provided primarily by players.

Now, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has dropped the hammer and punished those involved. Coaches have lost their access to the team for up to a year and some have been issued incredible fines. The players will be punished later.

The problem is simple: Professional sports are played by human beings surrounded by a great deal of fame, cash, and fans who think the players and coaches sometimes walk on water. Such an environment often breeds the desire to beat the system and take unfair advantages.

In this case, the advantage involves removing opponents with formidable talent. And we should all be aware that this problem is far more prevalent than we might initially believe.

Professional teams can only make money for their owners and investors if the team is winning. Some teams cannot win unless the field is leveled. The New Orleans Saints organization is not the only team under scrutiny for alleged player injury bounty programs. The Washington Redskins are being investigated for similar behavior during the 2004-2007 seasons. Granted, some of the same folks were involved. But these guys don’t play for everyone.

Anyone who has played the game for any length of time knows that the playing field is very rarely level. Someone will have the advantage; it’s inevitable. But the advantage doesn’t necessarily yield the win.

Victory at the cost off honor is no victory at all. But that may be an outdated concept for too many people.

David Haugh, in the Chicago Tribune (“Punishment Vital in NFL Bounty Scandal”), writes about the NFL’s responsibilities. Essentially, no team is above the rules. Haugh wants to maintain the “hard hitting that traditionally makes the game great.” While this may be acceptable, the league has to differentiate between hard hitting and “hired thuggery.” The columnist notes claims by “cynics” that “everybody in the NFL does it,” but, he adds, “Not everybody gets caught. The Saints got caught. Now the NFL has a duty to respond harshly.”

What are we doing to “catch” perpetrators? What are we doing to train ethics into our athletes and coaches? These people used to be worthy of the moniker of heroes. Today, they are still worshipped as hero figures, but more appropriately as anti-heros.

There are some who doubt that the NFL can do anything about this bounty hunting mindset or even effectively curb these illegal operations. Michael Rosenberg at SI.com seems to think that cleaning up professional football is “like cleaning up dirt.” His proof is on the sidelines:

If you have ever stood on the sideline for a single NFL series, or seen the limps and grimaces in the locker room afterward, or talked to a former star who says he wishes he never played the sport, you understand that Goodell’s challenge is almost impossible.

In this case, we see a criminal act of violence condoned by coaches, illegal under the rules of the sport and the rule of law. And yet, the players and coaches will retain the support of thousands of fans. They will likely continue to play or coach after brief suspensions or a change in their employment, likely ending up with another organization with no noticeable loss of income.

Further, there are evidently dozens of others who will do the very same things for which the Saints and Greg Williams are being singled out.

We have always had scandals. But we have become a nation with soap-opera morals, eager to find out who is sleeping with whom and what deliciously nasty story arc will play out next.

I don’t blame the players for the problem. I blame them for the incidents. For the root of the problem, we have only ourselves to blame.

I don’t want to bring back Shoeless Joe. I don’t want to return to the days of Willie, Mickey, and the Duke. I want this nation’s young athletes to step up and take back our sports from the corrupt systems that perpetuate these sorts of behavior.

Why are we tolerating this behavior from our athletes? Why have the world’s sports fans in general and American fans in particular become so willing to turn a blind eye to these egregious breaches of ethics?