It's Time For A Wake Up Call
- Nov 12, 2015
- 2 min read
Our society has a skewed view when it comes to famous athletes. Just because they get paid millions to play a sport doesn’t mean they get to opt out of the actual consequences when they screw up. They are real people and deserve the same consequences as everyone else.
With that being said, Ragan’s PR Daily writer, Beki Winchel wrote “Dallas Cowboys support Greg Hardy despite domestic violence photos” and I couldn’t agree more with it.
Cowboys’ owner, Jerry Jones, called Hardy “a “real leader” who has the respect of all his teammates and inspires America’s team” and I just have a hard time wrapping my head around that.
How can someone who thinks it’s okay to use violence on someone, “inspire America’s Team?” I am all for second chances and respect that the Cowboys did that with Hardy but calling him a leader and inspiring is where I draw the line.
Jones issued a statement on Friday, which showed him backtracking his support for Hardy.
“While we did not have access to the photos that became public today, we were and are aware of the serious nature of this incident. We as an organization take this very seriously. We do not condone domestic violence.”
Hardy was charged with a domestic assault back in 2014. We are quickly approaching 2016 in case no one was aware. Those charges were public knowledge so regardless of what Jones has recently stated about this issue, I believe he stills sees Hardy as an inspiration for his team.
Hardy tweeted on Saturday that he “regrets” what happened in his past, but there was no apology at all. He also stated that he is “dedicated to being the best person and teammate that I can be but mostly I am grateful for the opportunity to play in the NFL”.
I also have an issue that he even gets a second chance to play in the NFL. You don’t see any other person convicted of a serious crime getting a second chance to make millions of dollars. Hardy’s punishment was a ten game suspension but it was reduced to a four game sentence.
Four games. That’s it.
If it were just a regular guy who had been charged, they would be looking at serious jail time and that truly bothers me. If we keep allowing these professional athletes to get away with serious crimes, they will never learn. They will continue to think they walk on water and are untouchable. It’s time to set the record straight, they aren’t.
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