I’ve been fascinated by the varied reactions to the recent announcement that the NFL Competition Committee soon will consider proposing to the NFL owners a rule that would impose a 15-yard penalty on a team whose player utters the N-word during a game.
As a white man who routinely heard the N-word used by my black teammates in college basketball decades ago, I had for years assumed that the use of this word by and among young African American males was simply another example of locker room culture that would never find its place in the outside world. Of course, I was wrong about that, as the word ultimately found a place in certain styles of popular music.
The NFL is the most powerful sports brand in the United States, so for it to even consider legislating the use of any word is significant. Some commentators have questioned whether this action represents unnecessary intrusion into an emotional, violent game. Others have applauded the move. Clearly, given highly publicized significant issues of player safety and recent examples of immature and dangerous workplace behavior, the NFL has recognized the need for change, and concern over the use of this word reflects the organization’s heightened desire to improve its culture and image.
I applaud the efforts to start the conversation. I would question whether enforcement of such a rule is really possible, given all the variables that NFL officials have to worry about during a game. Maybe that is the easy response, a knee-jerk reaction from a former college administrator conditioned to look for problems in potential legislation, rather than a reasoned analysis of whether the rule is appropriate.
Who, then, should be the ones to tell us whether the rule is appropriate? The rich, white NFL owners, one of whom owns a team named the Redskins? They are the ones who would vote on any recommendation from the competition committee.
The vast majority (70%) of NFL players are African American. How do they feel about legislation to penalize the use of the word? How would they feel about legislation designed to curb the use of homophobic slurs? Check this link to see what the Bay Area’s favorite Seattle Seahawk, Richard Sherman, has to say on this matter. I’d also be curious to learn what NFL legend and social activist Jim Brown thinks about it.
The NFL already has a rule on the books that would penalize players for using “…abusive, threatening or insulting language or gestures to opponents, teammates, officials or representatives of the league.” Perhaps the league should focus on working with the rule already in place.
I’ve never expected particularly genteel behavior from combatants in an NFL game. Perhaps given the significant historical context of the N-word it is appropriate to single that word out for action, but from my perspective, I’d rather that the black men who play in the NFL be the ones to address its use.
What do you think? Is this something the NFL can and should legislate? Please contact me with your thoughts at mike.gilleran@gmail.com. Thanks.