“Just win, baby”
That famous quote from the late Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis seems to have taken precedent over everything else these days, as we are seeing a record number of college and professional football players getting into various problems with the law, highlighted by Aaron Hernandez being arrested for murder charges earlier this week. Still, just win baby seems to override seemingly everything players do off the field these days, especially with college and pro coaches making millions of dollars in salary on average, and schools and teams earning exponentially more by having good teams compete on the field. Miss some classes? Just win, baby. Beat up your girlfriend or spouse? Just win, baby. Make a complete mockery of your college education and the university that enables student athletes to major in “dummy majors” and go to class whenever they want? Just win, baby.
A recent report showed that 27 NFL players have been arrested since just this past February! At the college level countless programs have been placed on probation for just about every imaginable ethical and legal violation you can think of — and yet nobody at the NCAA level really seems to care. College coaches are supposed to monitor things, but when they are making upwards of $5 million annually do you think they are interested in peeking through their venetian blinds to see what cars their players are driving? What happened to our great role models and leaders? Just win, baby.
We really must ask ourselves today if character matters at all? It has become so painfully obvious that increasingly more would-be college student athletes are completely unprepared (academically and socially) for the college athletic opportunity in front of them, and the same is true for many would-be NFL players who sometimes enter the league already having a legal record! Still, winning takes precedent over all of this, as the money is way, way too good – and discipline only gets in the way of longer, more lucrative contracts. Just win, baby.
Will there be a tipping point in the future? Will the NFL and NCAA raise the bar — or simply enforce the already existing bar they have set?? What will it take for these organizations to say enough is enough, and to stop crossing their fingers and holding their breathe that their players don’t get arrested? Do fans even care? Or are we all guilty of “Just win, baby”?
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aaron, arrests, character, hernandez, Leadership, model, NFL, players, psychology, role, sport
