Inconsistent Message

Alright it is the second week that means its time for my second blog. First of all, I just finished watching the Superbowl so therefore sports, athletes, reputations, and responsibilities and everything else are still fresh in my mind. So in line with last weeks topic of reputation and responsibilities of athletes for their actions, I am going to continue this by talking about the consistency of the punishments different athletes get around different professional sports and leagues

(For arguments sake, I will not dwell too much on the facts of these incidents, ethics of the athletes, and what is right or wrong in what they did)

Ok so first off is GUNS. NFL Superbowl champion wide receiver at the peak of his career, Plaxico Burress, is sentenced for 2 years in jail on top of his indefinite league suspension. He is going up against Gilbert Arenas, NBA all-star with superior basketball skills at the peak of his career, is facing a one-year league suspension from his league. Where is the consistency? What message are we sending here?

Ok so next up is DRINKING AND DRIVING. NFL wide receiver Donte Stallworth faced a 30-day jail time and I believe a league suspension. Oh, I forgot to say the most important thing about this, in his drinking and driving case, he actually hit someone and that person died. Oh, and plus he also got a lifetime driving ban. Donte Stallworth is going up against future hall of famer, all time great NBA player, Charles Barkley. Honestly, I do not think Charles Barkley got anything for what he did; he probably issued a public apology in his NBA TNT network show. However, yeah I do not think or maybe I am mistaken but Charles did not get anything major.

Bottom line, what I am trying to get at is the inconsistency of punishments served to different athletes for the different things they did. I know it is arguable that these cases are all different from each other and every single one has its own degree of complexity. However, if you think that to this point I am comparing athletes with their co-athletes and the different messages their different punishments got, then you got it all wrong. Because the bigger and the most important comparison and inconsistency happening is what athletes get when they do something and what the AVERAGE JOE GETS! Seriously, what are we sending our fans and the public if we give athletes exceptional star-treatments? Not only are these guilty athletes affected but also the role models, their leagues, their families, and their fans. At the end of the day, it all comes down to ATHLETES: REPUTATION AND RESPONSBILITY.