Professional athletes tend to be looked at as role models for young kids and even teens.
Almost every sports fan has the one athlete they love to watch play, has their jersey, checks their stats weekly and just keeps up with their personal life. But recently, cases of domestic abuse from professional athletes have been popping up in the news. The case that shocked most football fans was when Ray Rice of the Baltimore Ravens was caught on surveillance beating his wife in a hotel elevator.
This story went viral and he was charged with domestic assault. Other famous athletes such as Hope Solo, Floyd Mayweather and Santonio Holmes were all engaged in domestic abuse cases and play contact sports, but why is this becoming a norm?
“[Athletes] are used to playing contact sports, so they are used to hitting and the adrenaline rush,” Kane McGovern, junior exercise major, said.
According to USA today, of all the major sports leagues the NFL is the only league with penalties for domestic violence charges. This could be a factor as to why athletes are in the headlines more and more for domestic abuse. They are not penalized for their actions in any other league. The largest failure in professional sports according to a USA today article by Nina Mandell is the lack of consistency. Some players get suspended, some released and in some cases the charges are just dropped and forgotten about.
If there is going to be any real change and decrease in the annual statistic of domestic violence cases among professional athletes, all major leagues should really start looking for consistency among these cases. Domestic violence is an ongoing threat. Athletes are role models and they need to start to realize how many people are always watching them.
