I used to love watching the NFL but my interested has waned in recent years as there are so few good people to root for and so many unlikable characters who act as if violence and bullying on and off the field is the preferred way of getting what they want or think they deserve.
NFL Superstar, Adrian Peterson, is on trial for "whopping" his children and in defense of his actions he said something to the effect of "That kind of punishment is what kept me on the straight and narrow growing up." NBA star Charles Barkley even came to Peterson's defense saying that "every black parent in the South whips their children."
NFL star, Ray Rice, was recently released from his team after a video surfaced of him punching and knocking out his pregnant girlfriend. Jonathan Dwyer was recently arrested for head butting his girlfriend because she won't have sex with him and throwing a shoe at his 17 month old son.
The Kansas City Chiefs beat the New England Patriots 41 to 14 last week and on the post game show Trent Dilfer, ESPN commentator and former NFL quarterback, described it by saying "it's like a weak kid getting beat up by the bully, it's just what happens when you don't have what it takes to stand up for yourself."
We now have cage fighting and professional wrestling on all the time and kids watch as people use violence to earn money and make a name for themselves. A lot of people complain about video games but these are real people that we root for and whose jerseys we wear with pride.
Bullystatistic.org list several reasons why people bully with number 1 being "In a culture that is fascinated with winning, power, and violence, some experts suggest that it is unrealistic to expect that people will not be influenced to seek power through violence in their own lives." I guess the NFL and professional sports in general, is proof of that.
