It’s Not Just A Game Anymore: The Sport Of Violence On Women And Rooting Against It

For a class that I’m taking this fall semester, I had to decide on a topic that my final project would focus on. It was October at the time and the project would be due in December. Generally, the project has to be a short piece of media that focuses on a social or a political issue. For a while, I was stumped. This project is supposed to be related to my career path as a journalist, something I’m not even sure of presently. So first, I thought about sports because right now that’s what I’d like my future to be involved with. Still, I’m stuck, because initially, when I think of sports, I think about stats and analysis of gameplay. I couldn’t seem to figure out how to take that and relate it to trying to make a social change. As what most college students do, I took a mental break and directed my attention to Twitter.

I scrolled and scrolled, reading what people on Twitter were saying about what was going on that day. The majority of the accounts I follow are sports-related so I’m usually trying to update myself regarding the sports world (for the most part MLB, NBA, and NFL news). Then I come across the story about Derrick Rose, who along with his two friends was being accused of gang rape. This story had been going for a while at the time, it was an update of information which reminded me about it with great timing. Derrick Rose, who plays for the New York Knicks and used to play for the Chicago Bulls, caught the sports world by surprise with this news. He is a former MVP who captured the hearts of basketball fans with his dynamic play while becoming injury-prone, which also led fans to sympathize for him. And now he could be convicted of sexual assault. This is quite the turnaround while also a potentially big story.

Ultimately, Rose and his friends were not found liable of rape charges a few weeks later. But considering Rose’s high profile as a former NBA star and the fact that he now plays for a team that is a PATH train away from me, I thought to myself, “I would hate to be a Knicks fan right now. How can I root for a guy like this?” And that’s how I decided the topic of my project.

Violence against women involving professional athletes is definitely not a new thing, but it has gotten much more attention these past several years. The MLB implemented a domestic violence policy just last year and the NFL revised their personal conduct policy, putting more attention on domestic violence, a year before that in wake of the Ray Rice incident. It’s a step in the right direction, but how the system handles these cases still have their flaws.

Bethany P. Withers, in her article Without Consequence: When Professional Athletes Are Violent Off The Field, did a Westlaw search of newspapers reporting incidents of domestic violence and sexual assault across the United States in a five-year period (2010–2014) involving athletes in the MLB, NBA, and NFL . She found that only one of the 64 reported allegations resulted in conviction for the alleged crime, only seven players were punished by their league, and only two players were punished by their team. And don’t forget about the assaults that go unreported.

League punishments have since then increase due to newly implemented league policies, and that’s mostly due to the judicial system’s failure to convict these athletes. The problem here is the lone conviction out of the 64 allegations. Professional athletes can pay the big-time lawyers to probe into an accuser’s life and can find the one needle in a haystack that gets these athletes off the hook. Meanwhile, the average criminals who can’t afford those lawyers are getting the punishment they deserve. And in going against these athletes, the victims themselves can barely afford to fight for their justice.

Another problem in the system, pointed out by Wither’s in the aforementioned article, is the accused athlete’s security and their relationship with law enforcement. Members of law enforcement occasionally work as team or player security while off-duty. This obviously potentially creates a conflict of interest. This is evident in the Ben Roethlisberger case. His security consisted of an off-duty police officer and a state trooper, both who led the alleged victim to meet with Roethlisberger then blocked her friends from helping her. While he was suspended for six games (then reduced to four), there’s no surprise that he wasn’t charged with anything when considering the witnesses.

I point these things out because it’s becoming more and more evident that we cannot completely trust the judicial system to achieve justice for the accused and the victims. This is a substantial reason why there is an increase in league punishments regardless of whether or not a player is charged. While that is a good thing, it’s not enough. These athletes are still playing, they’re still getting paid a great amount of money, and they’re still being celebrated as if their crimes never happened. The culture needs to change, not just the system.

One gigantic problem in our culture today is how we treat the women, who are usually the victims in domestic violence and sexual assault cases. First off, we need to stop assuming that the women who are being assaulted are the problem. This idea is explained by gender violence expert Jackson Katz.

In his documentaries Tough Guise and Tough Guise 2, he talks about the problem of how culture and the media have ingrained this idea of what it is to be man, and how that’s gone unnoticed and unchallenged. Katz makes a very interesting point about how dominant groups don’t get paid much attention to. White people, heterosexuals, and men are all the dominant groups in their respective categories. Yet, when we talk about race, we tend to think about African, Asian, Latino, etc. When we talk about sexual orientation, we think gay, lesbian, bisexual, etc. When it comes to gender, we think about women. Katz states that this is a key characteristic of power and privilege, to go unexamined and unchallenged.

Every time a story about an athlete being accused of these crimes comes out, people tend to question the woman. What was she wearing? Was she drunk? Does she have a history of mental instability? This is important because this lack of consideration for men ultimately leads to victim-blaming, which plays a great role in these domestic violence and sexual assault cases. And in the world of sports, it’s only worse. The case of Kobe Bryant in 2003 is a key example, which is documented in the book Kobe Bryant: The Game of His Life and numerous media outlets. There seemed to be compelling evidence against Bryant that could’ve led to a conviction. But in the months leading to the trial, the accuser had been treated horribly by the media and even her old classmates. Information about her sexual history and mental illness had been used against her in just the preliminary hearing. Her name was even mentioned in this hearing. And soon after, the charges were dropped. But this case, mainly how the accuser was treated, showed people the potential horrors if one was to accuse an athlete of such a crime. Media scrutiny, threats, irrelevant personal information revealed, etc, are all waiting for whoever wants to accuse an athlete.

Now back to my story about how I perceived the Derrick Rose case, which led me to this article. What do you do when the team you root for employs a rapist, a wife beater, etc. to help win games and potentially a championship? Or when a player on that team is simply accused of those crimes?

This is a problem that lies, or should lie, in the minds of sports fans. For those who believe this problem of sexual assault and domestic violence needs to be addressed, it’s unfair they have to be made uncomfortable to try to enjoy a game of baseball, basketball, etc. because a criminal is playing in the game. These criminals are ruining the fun. But this should be a call to action. If the leagues and teams need to be held more accountable to not giving fair punishments to those who’ve committed a crime without conviction, then sports fans need to be held accountable, too. They contribute to these players’ salaries through watching a game in person or on television, wearing their jersey, etc., which in turn can be perceived as a form of sympathy towards domestic abuse and sexual assault.

There’s little doubt that the Kobe Bryant case had been brought today, he would have served some kind of punishment (I would hope). But even though, Bryant as well as the Los Angeles Lakers should’ve received more backlash from the media, as well as the fans. While the initial punishment handed to Ray Rice by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was less than unacceptable, the public response after the surfacing of the video that caused Goodell to increase his punishment is somewhat of a glimpse what we as fans can do to make a difference. Bryant, in his apology to his accuser in 2004, even admitted that he understands how his accuser may feel that their encounter was not consensual. Considering that the charges were dropped, which makes his apology easier to say, that’s pretty much admitting to his crime. But twelve years later, he rests comfortably in retirement while being one of the most celebrated athletes in sports.

Maybe things would be different with social media being more of a force today than it was in 2003, but it’s hard to imagine so considering the popularity of Bryant. But nonetheless, while not as popular as Kobe Bryant, talented players like Aroldis Chapman of the 2016 World Series champs Chicago Cubs, Adrian Peterson (domestic abuse, not against a woman but his child) of the Minnesota Vikings, Jose Reyes of my favorite baseball team the New York Mets (I know, I’m included in my call to action), and others have been punished by their respective leagues but have not received as much heat as they should when they play the field.

The all-time MLB hits leader Pete Rose, who’s banned for life from the MLB for gambling, made a harsh, but interesting statement about second chances in sports on a radio show: “I picked the wrong vice. I should have picked alcohol. I should have picked drugs or I should have picked up beating up my wife or girlfriend because if you do those three, you get a second chance.” A powerful quote, but it goes to show how leagues treat certain violations of rules and laws.

I’m not saying these players don’t deserve second chances. But I do think punishments must be fair and players have to take responsibility for their actions, just as an ordinary non-athlete offender would. That either means jail time or a lengthier suspension from playing if there’s enough evidence, and other rehabilitation procedures like counseling, anger management classes, seminars on violence against women, etc. There has to be more that gets the message across that sexual assault and domestic violence is wrong, and your social status will not help you avoid repercussions.

And for those who believe that off-the-field conduct shouldn’t affect the games, consider the millions of young athletes who look at these professionals as role models and follow their conduct as if it were the recipe for success in the big leagues. The fans must do their part, too. If something is wrong, we have to make sure the leagues know it’s wrong and something has to be done. Whether it be through social media, maybe through signs at the games, or simply just not cheering for that specific player. It won’t be easy, of course, but we have to at least try, especially with our flawed system. We contribute to this platform that professional athletes have to promote change through our purchases of cable, tickets, merchandise, etc., now it’s time that we use it ourselves.