Last week, NBC sports broadcaster Bob Costas carved out a few minutes during halftime between the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles to denounce what he called the “gun culture” in the wake of Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher’s murder-suicide.
This week, another tragedy struck the NFL. Dallas Cowboys nose tackle Josh Brent allegedly drove while drunk late Friday night in Irving, TX, and crashed his car. His passenger, practice squad team mate and best friend Jerry Brown, died in the crash. The Cowboys dealt with the tragedy, dedicated the game to Brown and gave the game ball to his mother after narrowly defeating the Cincinnati Bengals Sunday. In recent years, the Cowboys have a lot of experience dealing with law-breaking players, as do most NFL teams. Brent is now out of jail on $500,000 bond but faces charges for intoxication manslaughter.
During the Sunday Night NFL football game between the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions, Bob Costas apparently spent no time at all decrying the “drunk driving” culture. I wasn’t watching the game, and I won’t watch any NFL on NBC as long as Bob Costas remains employed there, but a search through the news today reveals only other writers wondering why Costas didn’t speak out. Perhaps it’s because Costas did not have a Jason Whitlock column to tell him what to think, as he did after the Belcher killings.
If there is a culture that explains any facet of both the Belcher killings and the death of Jerry Brown other than the individuals’ own conduct, it’s the culture of partying and irresponsibility that grows up around professional athletes who are turned into instant millionaires and treated like gods of the arena when many have yet to truly grow up. Many pro athletes grow up without fathers and have not had any moral training before becoming incredibly wealthy and idolized. Eighteen NFL players have been arrested on suspicion of DUI this year alone. Belcher was apparently abusing drugs and alcohol, had not married the mother of his daughter (whom he murdered before killing himself) and had been running around with another woman the night before his rampage. We may learn similar things about Mr. Brent, who the evidence already accuses of killing his friend after a night of debauchery, and who already has a DUI conviction on his record. Professional athletes have gone from the days when they could be looked at as pillars of the community, to a culture of rich spoiled brats who lurch from one scrape with the law to another until they retire and find themselves bankrupt.
Where is Mr. Costas to denounce this culture? As a sports journalist whose own culture routinely hails the latest generation of pro athletes as the greatest ever, Bob Costas is part of the problem. He makes his living grabbing crumbs from the professional sports gods’ table. He is hardly courageous enough to take on the very culture that has made him a wealthy demigod.
Oh, I’m sure everyone at NBC is very supportive of Mr. Costas. They understand it’s all the racist tea-baggers giving Bob grief, and as soon as the President can marginalize those folks, some good can be done. I can see the inner monologue now–”Too bad Bob has to be a martyr–except, of course, we are just going to lay low and not fire him. It’s what you have to do when fighting irrationality you can’t outright banish–we are in democracy, after all, and sometimes idiots have their way. But we have been beyond patient with these yokels, and the day they no longer have power, we are going to just throw as much down their throats as they have been throwing down ours. But that aint today yet. We are just going to have to be patient. But I can do something. I don’t want another conservative ever working at NBC Sports again. We’re better than that, and I can’t make anything happen nation-wide, but if those kind of peope want to believe their garbage, they won’t be getting a start in life here at the place I built.”
This is of course the proper mindset to have regarding folks asking why they have to give up *their* responsibly-used liberty due to the irresponsibility of others, esp. if the irresponsibility comes from members of a group it is a social sin to criticize. Why, it’s unquestionable logic.
I’ll have to give some credit to CBS. I was watching the pre-game before the Redskins-Ravens game and when they talked about the Chiefs thug, the comments were all about domestic violence. They never even mentioned the use of a firearm.
One very simple reason why hypocrite Costas won’t remark on the drunk driving accident: beer companies buy advertisements during NFL games, gun companies don’t.
He likely didn’t denouce the car culture for the same reason.
In a related story- Costas now wants to ban alcohol, drink containers, roads and cars.
This is what I heard on talk radio. The NFL offers free rides anywhere in the US if players are out drunk. In fact the NFL gave the free ride program to the Union because players thought the NFL was keeping track of use of the program.
Another national tragedy is Costas’ dye job.
– aged teen.
Bob didn’t speak up because coming out with a harsh statement on suspected DUI arrestees could cut into his potential interview lineup. All the below guys held these high profile jobs when they were busted. Several were able to plead down to lesser charges, something that probably won’t be afforded to young Mr. Brent.
NFL Detroit Lions President Tom Lewand
NBA LA Lakers Owner Jerry Buss
MLB St. Louis Cardinals Manager Tony LaRussa
NHL San Jose Kings Coach Eric Musselman
NFL Super Agent Leigh Steinberg
and as a special bonus: NBC on-air and investigative reporter Jay Gray (his most famous recent reporting was chasing down the Jerry Sandusky child abuse case), who was busted leaving a party at Sandusky’s lawyer’s house. You just can’t make this stuff up.
So Bob will keep his trap shut. If not, he’d have almost no one to talk to.
Costas emobodies the only thing worse than a flaming hypocrite, and that is an inconsistent flaming hypocrite.
Once again, someone please tell me what Costas does or has ever done besides his hair and make up.
He doesn’t even do that, there are people paid (probably more than you and me) by NBC just to do his hair and makeup!