NFL's Critical Thinking Gone Astray. The Murder Charge Against Ray Lewis (PDF)

Essay from the year 2015 in the subject Health - Sport - Sport Sociology, grade: A 98.0, Winthrop University, course: CRTW 201-H, language: English, abstract: The National Football League is one of the most famous organizations in the country. It is home to some of the most brilliant athletic legacies to call their own. College football stars dream of hearing their name announced on Monday night in front of thousands of screaming fans. Regular people, sports fans or not, know of, or have heard of, some of the football superstars that have reached stardom since playing in the NFL.

The NFL has turned football into a more glamorous sport. The players and coaches have multi-million dollar contracts and live enchanting lifestyles, being the envy of every wide-eyed, football-loving fan. The players serve as spokes-men and role models for young students who turn out to be their biggest fans, aspiring to be just like them one day. Yet, these football greats are still normal people. They are just like us; they have families, drive to work, and even make mistakes.

The difference between the NFL player's mistake and a mistake that an average person makes is that their mistake is broadcasted all over every great TV network, whereas our mistake is seen maybe by a handful of people. There have been numerous cases that have gone public with large mistakes made by NFL players. The fans of the players associated with the mistake were able to devise their own opinion; however, when the NFL stands behind one player accused for murder, the fans are more apt to stand behind him as well, forgetting all about their morals and justice.