How Real Were the Cougars? Crime and Deviance in the National Football League QUELLES-ONT ETAIENT LES REALITES DES COUGARS? DU CRIME ET DE LA DEVIANCE DANS LA LIGUE NATIONALE DE FOOTBALL
2012; Canadian Academy of Oriental and Occidental Culture (CAOOC); Volume: 8; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
1712-8358
Autores Tópico(s)Sports Analytics and Performance
ResumoAbstract In 2003 ESPN premiered a new series titled Playmakers which provided a fictional account of life on and off the field of professional football. Despite the high viewership ratings and television awards it received, the show was cancelled during the first season. Playmakers told the story of a fictional professional football team, the Cougars, from an unidentified American city. The show depicted various acts of crime and deviance in American football such as: injurious violence on the field, steroid use, painkiller use, illicit drug use, night club violence, domestic violence, homosexuality, and eating disorders. The NFL league office claimed that the show was a gross misrepresentation of life in the NFL. This paper examines the real life events and issues in the NFL and reveals that Playmakers did not misrepresent professional football but rather, it cast an important critical light on many issues in professional sport and NFL football in particular. Key words: American football; Television; Violence; Crime; Deviance Resume En 2003, L'ESPN la premiere d'une nouvelle serie intitulee Playmakersqui ont fourni un compte rendu fictif de la vie sur et hors du terrain de football professionnel. Malgre les evaluations d'ecoute eleves et des recompenses qu'il a recues de la television, le spectacle a ete annule au cours de la premiere saison. Playmakers a raconte l'histoire d'une equipe professionnelle de football fictive, les Cougars, a partir d'une ville non identifiee americaine. Le spectacle represente divers actes de criminalite et de deviance dans le football canathen, tels que: la violence prejudiciable sur le terrain, l'utilisation de steroides, de l'utilisation antalgique, la consommation de drogues illicites, la violence boite de nuit, la violence domestique, l'homosexualite, et les troubles alimentaires. Le bureau de la ligue NFL a affirme que le spectacle etait une deformation grossiere de la vie dans la NFL. Ce document examine les evenements reels et les enjeux de la NFL et revele que Playmakers n'a pas denature le football professionnel, mais plutot, il jette une lumiere critique importante sur de nombreuses questions dans le sport professionnel et de la NFL du football en particulier. Mots cles: Football Americain; Television; La violence; La criminalite; La deviance INTRODUCTION In 2003, ESPN aired a fictional television show titled Playmakers, which depicted various acts of crime and deviance in professional American football. The television drama revolved around a team identified as the Cougars, a fictional team name, who were located in an unidentified American city. Much of the drama in the series occurred off the field, depicting fictional accounts of life off of the field for professional football players. Despite the high viewership ratings of approximately two million American viewers and winning various awards, the show was cancelled in its first season after airing just eleven episodes. According to ESPN, a primary reason the show was cancelled was due to pressure from the National Football League (NFL) front office. ESPN, a partner of the NFL, were criticized for developing storylines that cast professional football in a negative and inaccurate light (Rovell, 2004). According to ESPN, various NFL players were also outspoken about the need to cancel the show. According to Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis, a man once conviction of obstruction of justice following a fight leading to the death of another man, publicly stated That show don't mean nothing ~ that show is nothing about us (Rovell, 2004, p.l). Cincinnati Bengals offensive tackle Willie Anderson said It one of those false interpretations people get about the NFL and the players. If the NFL's serious about our image and the image that we portray, canceling [Playmakers] is a good thing (Rovell, 2004, p.2). Both players and administrators of the NFL publicly proclaimed that the show was bad for the image of football and grossly inaccurate. …
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