But there’s another side to the trade-off. Coaches and adults dictate, but they also protect. Sadly, and too often with tragic repercussions, athletes don’t distinguish right from wrong because they actually have no idea of what is right and what is wrong. Rules don’t apply. Acceptable standards of behavior don’t apply. Little infractions become bigger ones, and adults turn a blind eye. If someone gets into trouble, the first move is for an authority figure, usually in the form of a coach, to get them out of it.
When that doesn’t work, whether they’re high school quarterbacks or pro-ball pitchers, one of two things happens. Sometimes, especially at the high school level, the community rallies around the accused, wanting to believe that “boys will be boys.” As one Sayreville parent said at a local board of education meeting after allegations of sexually themed hazing by senior players emerged, “No one was hurt, no one died. I don’t understand why they’re being punished.” That happens at the pro level, too — just look at how long it took the Minnesota Vikings to remove Adrian Peterson from their roster after he was indicted on a charge of hitting his son.
If and when the tide turns against players, they are immediately cast as bad apples, single exceptions to an otherwise acceptable moral status quo. And when we do look deeper, we come up with convenient half-truths — yes, football is a violent sport, and perhaps that contributed to Mr. Rice and Mr. Peterson’s abusive behavior.
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