Violence and the NFL: A Time for Change

In what was a sad opening to the new year, many people awoke Monday morning to the news of the unfortunate passing of 24 year-old Darrent Williams, the starting cornerback from the Denver Broncos who was gunned down early Monday morning in Denver as he was exiting a New Year's party. Details of the incident have been slow to trickle out. All that is known for sure is that another NFL star's name is in the news as a result of guns and violence - and a promising young life has been lost.It has been less than two days since the shooting in Denver, yet the incident already seems to be fading from the glare of the national spotlight. A story about the loss of Williams currently rests between a review of Bill Cowher's pending "retirement" and news about Matt Millen's continued employment on espn.com. That the death of a young rising star could be such non-news is a direct result of the nature of Williams' death. Had he passed via an auto accident, airplane crash or any other such tragedy, the laudatory articles would be deafening by this point. But Williams, a young black athlete, died as a result of gun violence, and that is a combination that the NFL and the national sports media have grown to fear.

To put Williams' death in perspective, it is helpful to examine other recent notable deaths in the league. Over the past two seasons, the passing of two team owners, Wellington Mara of the Giants and Lamar Hunt of the Chiefs, resulted in an outpouring of eulogizing. While the contributions of these two men were no doubt profound, one would have been hard pressed to find a casual NFL fan who had ever heard of Wellington Mara before word of his death reached the news. Yet Mara's death (and Hunt's this season) initiated the dedication of games, the wearing of commemorative patches, and a montage of perspective pieces about just what the world had lost. The media was quick to respond and had no trouble expressing their sorrow.

Contrast those reports with the passing of Williams. Details are sparse, comments are terse and direct, and op-eds are reserved. It seems as if everyone is holding their tongues - a behavior quite uncommon amongst the usual "talking heads". While reporters and NFL officials are saying the right things, nobody is going beyond that and saying anything that might stir controversy. While it would be nice to think that this predominant quiet marks a gesture of respect for Williams and his family, we all know what is really going on. The NFL has a problem with its players and guns - and nobody wants to talk about it.

Imagine if Darrent Williams had died some other way. Imagine if it hadn't been a "gun thing." Would you think of him differently? Are you being honest with yourself? The harsh reality is that nobody wants to talk about Darrent Williams being shot because of the assumptions that we often lump in with victims of gun violence. The fear reporters and NFL mouthpieces have in eulogizing Williams is that someday when the "whole story" is known the viewing public might discover that Williams had somehow initiated or played some part in the violence that took his life. Were that the case, the NFL would have an even bigger problem. What kind of league would they be running if the hero they were just worshiping ended up adding to the growing negative image of NFL "thugs"? To counteract this potential trap the league, and its numerous mouthpieces, have been responding by the book. The plan seems to go as follows: (1) let the cops pursue the guys who shot Williams, (2) continually state "it's a tragedy", and (3) wait until the "whole story" is known.

Despite the billions of dollars made by the league every year, they are making a terrible mistake with the way they are dealing with this situation. The answer is not to "shut up and wait," the answer is to speak out and create change. Regardless of what exact dispute led to the shooting in Denver, the cold hard facts are that a 24 year old man was killed and two others were injured as a result of some sort of argument at a New Year's party. Isn't that tragedy senseless enough? Would "he drove his car into a tree" be any better? The NFL has an opportunity with this incident to step forward and face the recent rash of player violence head on. If Ben Roethlisberger's face-plant into a Buick was enough to get team presidents and league coaches talking, shouldn't the death of Darrent Williams make them stand up out of their chairs?

The NFL must react and it must do so swiftly. If it is security that the players need, then that security should be provided for in every player's contract. If it is the players themselves who create the conflict (yes, that would be you Sean Taylor), then rules should be changed so that an off the field crime of ANY gravity would result in LENGTHY suspensions. Steroids and motorcycle helmets are interesting to talk about and debate, but guns have only one purpose. Players and their friends and family certainly should be able to exercise their Second Amendment rights, but if they do so improperly and end up breaking the law, then the football field cannot be their place of refuge.

The growing influence of the NFL can and should be used to do more than sell drugs to help old men deal with erectile dysfunction. NOBODY captivates the mind of male teens and that crucial 18-24 year-old viewing audience quite like the NFL and coincidentally, NOBODY is at a greater risk to die from gun violence than those very same kids. The joke that was the Cincin-Attica Bengals has become the tragedy that is the death of Darrent Williams. It is time the league starts to deal with this problem - otherwise there will only be more news stories for us to ignore with a sad silence.

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Now would be a good time to step back and maintain some much needed perspective. In discussing the death of Darrent Williams I in no way intend to disrespect the man or his family. His death was a shocking and terrible tragedy and his family and friends have nothing but my kindest regards. More likely than not, Williams was in the proverbial wrong place at the wrong time early Monday morning and as a result he lost his life. Whatever the "reason" behind the pulling of the trigger, the result was tragic, shocking, and inexplicable (as are the deaths of the thousands of other young men killed in gun violence each year). While I'm not a Broncos fan, I did watch Williams play several times in televised games and he was an individual whose future seemed exciting and bright. Always partial to players who are slight of stature (like Darrell Green, Dave Meggett, and Barry Sanders...to name a few), Williams struck me as an incredibly talented, lightning fast player with a non-stop motor and a heart to match. That we will no longer be blessed with his presence on the football field is trivial compared to the loss that those close to him are experiencing. A sad time indeed.