They say the games must go on.
The Washington Redskins will be practicing all week and playing a game on Sunday with trivial time off to absorb the occurrence of Sean Taylor's death. Many football players describe their teammates as family and often refer to the team as a brotherhood. Keeping consistent with that train of thought, how would you like to lose a family member and have to come to work the rest of the week. To complicate the situation more you are coerced into an environment that he was so much a part of. It seems that an inadequate amount of compassion is being placed on the human life. There has to be an arrangement that will appease the NFL's obligations and the players needs as well.
These gentlemen play in the NFL but it is WORK! You would be hard pressed to get the mundane American citizen to come work. People will undoubtedly say that these guys are not your average citizen and they make substantially more money, but that does not make them inhuman. Feelings will never subside no matter how much money you have. We put these guys on a different examination table because of their money which is an egregious mistake. I would not be surprised if someone said take my game check because I am not able to play a football game this Sunday. The reality of the situation is that the NFL has a stranglehold on what will take place since they are the employer.
From the vantage point of the NFL they certainly have promised networks and ticket holders that a game will take place. However it is not everyday that an NFL player dies between games, that has to count for something. I believe that hasn't happened since 1972 when a Detroit Lions receiver died during a game against the Chicago Bears. In the NHL when Detroit Red Wings player Jiri Fischer collapsed during a game in November of 05 the game was postponed and he only had a seizure (although that is serious as well) he did not even die. Games have certainly been postponed for tragedies and rightfully so. Imagine you were planning a funeral and one of the considerations you have to take is planning around a football game. Repeat that last sentence, does that even sound logical when you say it out loud? I understand the train of thought that one man is not the world to everyone but to some people especially on that team he meant a lot, these players will want to play for Sean but we need to just give these guys a moment to absorb what has just happened. THIS IS A FOOTBALL GAME, are we selfish enough to say "I know you just lost someone but I want to see you play football this weekend so you can entertain me". As for the NFL, they remain one of the most profitable organizations in the nation. The Redskins are in a potential playoff race and to have them play in these conditions would be unfair to them. So on America's behalf I apologize Redskins.
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3 comments:
I was once told by a relative. What is important to you may not be important to the next person. I have learned that this is true when it comes to anything ranging from car accidents, robberies, break ups, and even DEATH. Sending condolence cards is just the right thing to do, how many people do you think sincerely care? At the end of the day the show must go on, the NFL is just another corporation who will just have to look for a replacement. If something happened to me today or the fry person at McDonalds tomorrow both establishments will have a replacement COB! Although I agree with you wholeheartly, if the game is postpone they may lose MONEY and the bottom line in the world is MONEY not LIFE.
I understand what you are saying. However he was an employee of the Redskins. No other company or organization would be expected to delay work for one person.
Yet again another example of the American family value system or humanity overall and how it collapses when money is involved. Its kind of sad that we very rarely take the time out to appreciate life and all the small things that make us happy. Instead we take money and material possessions way more seriously.
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