Ultimately, it is the individual and not the atmosphere that bears responsibility.
The NFL can’t seem to go a week without a tragedy, followed by its own period of self-examination.
One week after the Jovan Belcher murder-suicide in Kansas City, Dallas Cowboys
nose tackle Josh Brent wrecked his car in a crash that killed Jerry Brown, his teammate and friend.
Brent has been charged with intoxication manslaughter. Within the NFL, a discussion has begun as to what, if anything, the league might do to reduce such tragedies.
The NFL knows the answer. So do we.
Nothing.
It is illogical to link the two unrelated cases, yet hard not to do it. The NFL should
probably be credited for taking a hard look and saying “What is happening with us?”
The Brent case, though, is not an NFL issue. It is the issue of one man who got behind the wheel and began a sequence that ended one life and ruined many others, including his own.
The due legal process will now examine the case and culpability will be determined according to law. But around the NFL, the reaction toward the general issue of alcohol and driving was almost instantaneous.
The NFL has a program by which any player who thinks he has had one too many can
call for a ride. It is a more organized form of assistance than that enjoyed by most
people, though driving while drunk is never the only option for anybody.
The Brown family said they are including Brent in their prayers. The Cowboys
are offering emotional support to Brent, who attended the memorial service.
The charges carry up to 20 years in prison. The debate
has begun over whether this case differs than those that involving ordinary people every day because of the unusual, celebrity-driven lifestyle of NFL players.
It does not. Jacksonville cornerback Rashean Mathis was both very wrong and very right when he said that “guys are going to go out and have fun (because) we’re just like the regular guy that works a 9-to-5 job.”
He is wrong because he unintentionally assigned a one-size-fits-all irresponsibility to “regular guys.” He is right to say this is not a problem distinctive to NFL players or any other one group.
NFL players rarely use the designated driver program for the same reason ordinary
people rarely call cabs. They misjudge their own capabilities, or just as often don’t think it will happen to them.
Ultimately, though, we are all responsible for our own actions. That is the core message in the world of substance use and abuse, and no amount of well-meaning angst by others can change that.
Forgive me if this sounds insensitive, but the NFL need not invest one more moment
of discussion nor develop one more outreach program to assist its players.
It has already done more than enough. This is not an NFL issue; I doubt even more
counseling and education will do much good.
Ultimately, we are all accountable for our own decisions. That goes for the “regular guy” and for you and me, and however this tragic case is resolved, it goes for Josh Brent, too.