Integrity & Professional Sports

 

INTEGRITY & PROFESSIONAL SPORTS

or

OIL AND WATER

By Jim “Gymbeaux” Brown, June 25, 2022

 

The headline says it all.  “Browns QB Deshaun Watson settles 20 of 24 sexual misconduct lawsuits.”  You can read all about it by going to this link:  https://www.sportsnet.ca/nfl/article/browns-qb-deshaun-watson-settles-20-of-24-sexual-misconduct-lawsuits/ 

Here’s a headline you probably DIDN’T see or hear.  “Viktor Hovland self-reports penalty after mom's call, then MCs (misses cut) from The Players.”  You can read all about it by going to this link:  https://www.golfchannel.com/news/viktor-hovland-calls-penalty-himself-after-his-mom-points-out-his-error 

There could not be any more diverse positions than the two mentioned above but they are only two; but are there only two examples?  There are far more situations involving professional athletes than hit the headlines almost every day or at least every month.  Very few are of the caliber of Viktor Hovland who called a penalty on himself and then missed the cut.  That caused him to NOT earn very much money if any money at all by missing the cut.  What will Deshaun Watson miss by settling with 20 of 24 sexual misconduct lawsuits?  He may “settle” but he will still play for the Cleveland Browns and earn bazillions by doing so.  Meanwhile there exists another dichotomy on the Cleveland Browns team in the name of Baker Mayfield.  It is doubtful that Mayfield was consulted when the Cleveland Browns went out on a limb, so to speak, to acquire the rights to Deshaun Watson and it cost the Browns millions of dollars to acquire those rights.  The Browns KNEW about the sexual misconduct charges and signed him anyway.  It seems obvious to me that the Browns had no integrity in the way they treated Mayfield and Watson. 

In Mayfield’s case, he gave all there was to give on the playing field and it appears that he is a standup kind of guy off the field as well.  Watson, using a metaphor to describe his play with the Houston Texans, “phoned in his performance” by not giving his all because he did not want to play for the Texans.  The Browns basically ignored that as well believing that whatever caused him to not want to play for the Texans, would not be applicable on the Browns team.  Really?  Once a prima donna always a prima donna.  Baker Mayfield was NOT a prima donna or at least he did not appear to be one, especially given the way he handled the arrival of Watson onto the Cleveland Browns team.  

The Cleveland Browns showed no integrity in signing Watson and no integrity in the way they treated Mayfield.  Should or does that surprise me?  Absolutely not.  Professional sports are all about winning at all costs and sadly college sports and even high school sports is much of the same.  Except for golf and tennis, the rules governing the various sports seem to apply ONLY when you are caught.  Otherwise, teams and players go to the line and cross over it as often as they can and then look surprised when they are caught. The most recent historical abuse of the rules involved the Houston Astros, a major league baseball team.  They went to great lengths to steal the signs the opposing teams were using to send in the next pitch the pitcher was to throw.  In other words, the batter KNEW what kind of pitch to expect and that made it much easier to hit.  As a result, the Houston Astros made it all the way to the World Series by breaking the rules until they were caught.  The coach was fired but the players were not.  Still, the players knew what was happening and benefited greatly by having the knowledge of what the next pitch was going to be.  If a team had integrity, everyone on the team would have paid the price, not just the coach, who, by the way, was hired by another Major League Baseball team – so much for integrity. 

Compare that to Viktor Hovland who called the penalty on himself and missed the cut in the tournament thus he missed earning any money for his play and also the chance to win a very major golf tournament.  That’s integrity – stealing signs is not.  Nor is doctoring a football which was the alleged case of the New England Patriots when it was discovered that their footballs were slightly deflated making them easier to grasp and thus throw for completions.  Soccer players are famous for taking very theatric flops in hopes of getting a call from the referee.  The same applies to basketball where the rules are almost non-existent.  Watch any basketball game and do your own refereeing to see how many of the game’s rules are routinely broken like the 3-second in the lane rule, or the palming of the ball rule or taking too many steps rule.  More blatant are the physical abuse players both take and give during a game.  Basketball was once a game that required athleticism and finesse.  I remember being called for a foul by simply “hand-checking” while on defense.  Today they beat the Hell out of each other and there are few if any violations called when they do.  

Basketball lacks integrity in the area of politics as well.  Some of the players and owners have been very vocal regarding their political positions and that is their right.  Is it smart?  I don’t think so.  I have been in sales for more than 30 years and the first rule of business is NEVER PISS OFF A POTENTIAL PAYING CUSTOMER!  EVER!  When a professional athlete, Hollywood actor, singer or company president makes his or her political beliefs public, you immediately run the risk of losing money because you will have upset at least half of your POTENTIAL PAYING CUSTOMERS!  The National Basket Ball Association is different.  They have HUGE monetary ties to Communist China.  They have not and probably will not ever say anything political against China out of fear of losing the income they expect to receive from China.  This even though China has flagrant civil rights abuse policies and practices some of which have cost thousands of people their lives.  But the NBA is silent on these issues while they preach about issues in the United States.  Not only is that lacking integrity, it is out right hypocritical.  In the eyes of the National Basketball Association (NBA), it is perfectly permissible to bash a political person and/or party but it is NOT okay to make any derogatory comments about Communist China because it may cost the league money.  Doesn’t the “league” understand bashing someone in politics or a political party is also costing the league money and viewership?  How dumb does someone have to be to be elected to leadership positions within the NBA? 

Compare that to a business I have a great deal of knowledge about – real estate.  Most license real estate agents are members of the National Association of REALTORS®, known as NAR (but not all licensed agents are members).  By agreeing to the terms of membership, NAR REALTORS® agree to practice their business by complying with the REALTORS® CODE OF ETHICS.  If you want to know all there is to know about the REALTORS® CODE OF ETHICS, go to: 

https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/realtor-code-of-ethics  

To put it in simple terms, the offices/companies for which I was the responsible Broker for, all had Operations Manuals that were simple rules of understanding for doing real estate business under the banner of the office.  One such rule was that if anyone knowing or intentionally broke one of the many REALTORS® CODE OF ETHICS, they would face immediate termination.  Being a professional REALTOR® that conducted his or her business according to the rules meant everything to the professionalism of the business.  Like everything, one rotten apple spoils the entire bushel.  

That principle seems lost on professional athletes who knowingly and willfully break the rules as if they didn’t exist knowing that the officials will not catch everything they do.  They do this even with the intent of physically bringing harm to an opponent.  Nothing disgusts me more than to see a blatant disregard of the rules and a player get seriously hurt and then the player who violated the rules takes a knee to show everyone that he cares about the injured player.  Believe that and I do have ocean front property in Arizona you may be interested in. 

I don’t mean to single out ONLY the Cleveland Browns. The New Orleans Saints star running back, Alvin Kamara was arrested by assaulting someone following a football game in Las Vegas.  People are innocent until proven guilty in America.  The question in my mind is this.  Does a person’s behavior as a civilian (as compared to on-the-job) reflect on his or her future employment with his or her employer?  As in Kamara’s case, should the New Orleans Saints put integrity above on-the-field performance?  The answer to me is simple.  Any player, star or otherwise, would be placed on suspension from the team until either found guilty or innocent.  A team could still compensate the athlete until the case is determined or not pay the athlete if the team’s printed rules and regulations so stipulate.  This is only one of the many reasons I am not a professional coach of any sports team because the player would sit on the bench if the team’s ownership did not suspend the athlete.  If I had the authority, I would terminate the player because he or she was not contributing to the team’s public brand in a positive way.  It would also show that my team, its ownership and I put winning above everything else, especially integrity. 

I recently read where the New Orleans Saints “fans” are upset that Kamara “may” receive a six-game suspension.  As for Watson, there is no current news as to any penalty from the team and/or the league regarding his future.  Reading the release about the Saint’s fans goes to show that the fans, like the team, only care about winning and care very little, if at all, about what a player may have done that involved committing crimes.  To me that is just sick.  Kamara and Watson are entitled to their day in court but I would like to remind everyone of Ray Rice FORMERLY of the Baltimore Ravens who was caught on camera abusing his wife in an elevator.  Rice has not played another down for the Ravens or any other NFL team.  Where is the equity for Rice when you consider what will most likely happen to Watson and/or Kamara?  I am NOT siding with Ray Rice; I am only pointing out the discrepancy in treatments.