The NFL and Domestic Violence
The National Football League (NFL) is an American professional football league, The NFL consist of 32 teams. The NFL is one of the 4 major professional sports in North America and the highest level of professional football in the world.
Domestic violence defined as “violent or aggressive behavior within the home, typically involving the violent abuse of a spouse or a partner” Domestic Violence has been a major problem within the National Football League. In the 2014-2015 season star players Adrian Peterson and Ray Rice where suspended because of involvement in domestic violence. The National Football league tends to turn a blind eye towards domestic violence, players are getting away with minor suspensions or not being punished at all.
Ethos defined, as “an appeal to ethics, and it is a means of convincing someone of the character or credibility of the persuader”. An example of ethos in the Super bowl 2015: Domestic Violence PSA is the 911 operators. Throughout the United States emergency operators deal with millions of domestic violence cases yearly, they know from the second they answer the call that something is wrong and know what warning sings to look out for. In the PSA the women dials 911 and asks to order a pizza, she is frightened to speak about the issue because her spouse or partner is in the room with her, the operator who has dealt with similar experience uses his expertise and goes along with the call and comforts the lady and convinces her to explain what is going on and assures her that help is on the way.
Pathos defined as “an appeal to emotion, and is a way of convincing an audience of an argument by creating an emotional response”. An example of Pathos in the PSA is the marketing agency that created the video. They created a video with an emotional tone to persuade the
Viewers that domestic violence is a major problem in the NFL and people have turned their heads to the issue but its now time for the NFL to take a stand and no longer be silent about it.
Logos defined as an appeal to logic, and is a way of persuading an audience by reason. An example of logos is the PSA is the words at the end of the video, “when its hard to talk, its up to us to listen”. Domestic violence is an issue that is generally kept quiet, many spouses feel that it is all right and continue to live with it. The words at the end of the PSA say that it is up to us to help those who suffer from domestic violence when its hard for those who experience to talk about it.
Claim defined as a statement essentially arguable but used as a primary point to support or prove an argument is called a claim. The overall claim or argument presented in the issue is the silence behind domestic violence in the NFL. Domestic violence accounts for 48% of arrests for violent crimes among NFL players. The NFL took a lot of heat last year when star players where involved in domestic violence and only received the minimum penalties and were allowed to continue playing. The NFL created this PSA to show the public that they are no longer turning there heads to domestic violence and they support the issue.
In conclusion domestic violence is an issue in all-professional sports not just the NFL. Domestic violence needs to be taking serious and can not be avoided just to save the career of a professional athlete. Those involved should all receive the same punishment; athletes tend to get away with just a simple slap on the wrist.