"“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you."
- Matthew 7:1-2
Lately it seems all we hear is bad news. The global media machine is fueled by the stuff. The reason for this is simple, bad news sells. Why this is remains (to me at least) to be one of the great mysteries of human kind. I do have an admission to make, I am an information junky. I think it stems from my business background and the necessity to always be “up” on the most current technology, business issues, trade magazines, management books, etc…
Other folks though I think are “bad news” junkies. They anxiously await the next scandal, affair, caught-on-camera issue that will affix their attention for the next 3-4 days until the next one comes along. The media of course are glad to oblige because they’ve got something to sell, they’re happy to produce a product from the “fuel” they receive. I mean, how else could a complete journalistic hack like Wolf Blitzer get a nationally syndicated show for several hours each day on a major network???
I’m refuse to delve into the most current of these. Honestly it’s hard for me to keep track of what the latest “hot button” issue is in the media. (I think it has something to do with a senile 80 year old man saying something racist, wow that’s news?)
One of the more media “hyped” events occurs whenever a NFL (or major college for that matter) athlete is arrested. From my experience it seems that NFL players end up with cuffed hands behind their backs, being walked into police stations for things that most of us would pay a fine and drive home. (You can’t tell me there aren’t some high 5s going around the precinct when a major sports figure is arrested for driving too fast.)
So now I come to my point. Think that NFL players (or athletes in general) are a bunch of thugs? Here’s a link to a great article I came across the other day:
For those of you with borderline ADD (like me) that don’t want to read the entire article the main statistic here is that the NFL has a 1.9% arrest rate for current players (2010 data). Now, compare that to the arrest record of the rest of the US population – 4.9 PERCENT!
That’s right folks, the NFL has a much, much lower arrest record than the general population of the United States.
Even more surprising given that the NFL registers 67% of players as being African American.
Wait, what? Hang on, the media has me believing that black folks have a higher arrest rate than any other ethnic group. Well, from everything I’ve read (not from Wolf Blitzer or CNN mind you) that is the case. So, if a majority of NFL players are a minority then logic would only dictate that the % would be much higher.
So, what’s the reason behind this? Well, I can only tell you from my personal experience. Current (and former) NFL players that I know are kind, generous, hard-working and intelligent men. 98.1% of them in fact completely stay out of trouble and are very thankful for the gifts they’ve received in this life and are making the most out of them. The ones that I personally know are good family men, good business men, and well, just a pleasure to be around.
Here’s my main point. Don't believe all that the media tries to sell you on this issue. Don't read the front page of the paper or the front page of a news web site, but dig deeper. Get down and dirty in the local section of your paper, it's typically buried under the obituaries on page C6. What are you looking for? Well, good news of course. It only gets printed if there's space, but you can usually find it if you look hard enough. And especially during the holidays you’ll usually find something about a famous (or not-so-famous) athlete doing something good in the community.
In fact, let me make it very easy for you... (thank you for reading)
Andre Johnson and the $19,000 toy shopping spree
Player honors dead super fan
http://oldschool1053.com/3079715/nfl-player-rey-maualuga-pays-tribute-to-gary-owens-cousin-watch/
Several stories of big name players giving back
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/brandon-marshall-other-charitable-nfl-players-055800184--nfl.html
Former player and (now) NFL exec Troy Vincent honoring veterans and their families
http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/1895948
You gotta love this…
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2013/12/tony-romo-jon-kitna-dallas-cowboys
And here's a great example of those that DON'T make the headlines (shame on you Wolf Blitzer)
