One of the largest controversies in sports right now is the
bounty scandal of the New Orleans Saints that is now being dealt with by NFL
commissioner Roger Goodell. To give some background on what happened the
defensive coach and some of the defensive players were putting amounts of money
on certain types of plays and hits. They were as innocent as paying out an amount
for interceptions and forced fumbles, to things as vicious and specific as a
$10000 payout to any player who could injure then Minnesota Vikings QB Brett Favre.
Roger Goodell(the NFL commissioner) has came out and laid down some harsh penalties
most notably suspending the Saints head coach Sean Payton, whom is a super bowl
winning coach, and one of the best in the
NFL.
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| Saints Vs. Brett Favre Photo courtsey of Buisnessinsider.com |
There
are a few different views on this issue. First there are people like myself,
who see nothing wrong with it and believe that it is good, as it motivates
players to play harder. Football is a
contact sport where the whole point of it is to hit the opponent as hard as
possible, and anyone who plays should know and consent to that. As a spectator who enjoys nothing more that
drinking beer and watching football, I don’t care how ethical it is when a
linebacker lays out a quarterback, I’m usually happy to just see the hard hit.
Bounties have been part of football for years and some of the greatest players
of all time have admitted to playing for bounties. Football is entertainment
and violence entertains the people, therefore I don’t think that there is
anything wrong with bounties.
On the other
hand there is a section of the population that thinks that football players
will play their hardest not for a paycheque but rather to win games, and
championships. They feel that if the NFL allows bounties it is unethical,
because intentionally trying to hurt someone in sport is bad. They also feel
that seeing as many NFL players are role models to many young athletes worldwide,
the issue of bounties may make its way down to minor football, which wouldn’t be
good as youth might get concussions, or other sever injuries. A lot of people
that argue this side of the case believe that it is best to ban bounties out of
the interest for NFL player safety.
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