You all remember Willie Gee, right? The friend of mine from back home who had been fired from over 25 jobs, in easily one of the funniest things ever posted on this website. Well, with a resume like that, I had to hire him as a sports reporter for the website. And you’ll be happy to note: Willie decided to go back to school, and is currently enrolled at VCU. This week he talks about the injustice of the PacMan Jones ruling by the NFL:
Tuesday, April 10, 2007 is a day that will forever live in infamy for the National Football League, at least in the eyes of its fans that still believe in a free society. This is due to the suspensions of Adam “Pac Man” Jones (1 year) and Chris Henry (8 games) for their alleged violations of the league’s new personal conduct policy which was recently implemented by commissioner Roger Goodell. This is a fascist policy that has underlying racial, cultural, and economic motives which transcend football and flow powerfully into society. It is one that perfectly exemplifies the perceived “White man’s burden.” The NFL is creating a system where they are attempting to police society with a paternal, father knows best approach that effectively reduces the league’s players (who are a majority black) to nothing more than chattel. See, the NFL’s governing bodies and the sports media which covers them seem to believe that the league’s young black players need a paternal white father figure to guide them through life. Moreover, under the new personal conduct policy in the NFL, there is no due process and the players are basically nothing more than million dollar slaves. Although all the talking heads in the media “applaud the commissioner on his new policy”, they seem to forget that the role of punishing individuals in our society belongs to the courts and to law enforcement. It is therefore up to them, and only them, to punish these players for conduct off the field.
Proponents of this cite what a privilege it is to play in the NFL, which brings them to the intermediate conclusion that this new policy somehow reinforces that. However, the new policy actually takes away from that privilege because it has historically been great talent and playing ability alone that allowed one to have the privilege of playing in the NFL. It is more of a privilege to be a part of something based solely on ability than it is when image becomes a factor. Pac Man and Chris Henry should be innocent until proven guilty, which was still the law of the land last time I checked. It is also true that no one should be punished by any organization for charges in which they were never convicted, as is the case with Pac Man. Going by this principle, I guess the NBA could just go ahead and suspend Kobe Bryant for a year for rape. This is a huge issue in the bigger picture that is American society because big business and other major organizations are constantly looking for more ways to control our lives even more, and with the help of our government, they will continue to find them. Basically, the more corporate things get, the more rules they are going to try to get us all to follow.
Is it just me, or does everyone who ever speaks publicly on this issue appear to be brainwashed? Everyone from Joey Porter to Michael Smith stares into the camera with the blank glare of a deer caught in the headlights as they explain what a wonderful policy this is. It is like they have been hypnotized into drinking this socially engineered Kool Aid that was prepared by Mr. Slaveowner himself. Personally, I have always thought that it was the diversity of the individuals that made sports special, which is something we have seen much less of in recent years. I am accepting of all kinds of people, and feel that the sports world should be as well so long as they can help their team win more than the next guy would. Furthermore, I believe that anyone who is not locked up in jail should be able to pursue his football talents in the NFL.
I, for one, am very serious about taking back our game of football that I love so much. I am willing to organize a protest at the Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio in order to get the word out, rally support, and simply make people consider the other side. We should also encourage players to go to Canada and play, or maybe even bring back the XFL, because if enough leave, the money will follow. Then, it will be the NFL who is in the compromising position.
-by Wil Massey