Sports & Politics Intersect: Super Bowl shines a light on NFL's outsized problems

“Uh, he will never play football. No, no. [...] I mean, yeah, it's kind of like that thing where my main objective is that he become a great person. And if he wants to get into the arts or sports, then yeah, I would fully support that.” - Super Bowl XXXVIII and Super Bowl LII haltime performer Justin Timberlake

With Super Bowl LII set to kick off this Sunday, much of the conversation leading up to the game revolves around the safety of football, and more specifically, the ever increasing concerns about CTE due to head injuries caused by the game. 

In an effort to prevent young children from putting themselves in a position where they might start developing head trauma, Illinois Rep. Carol Sente filed the Dave Duerson Act to Prevent CTE in the Illinois General Assembly this week which would ban children under 12 years old from playing tackle football. Similar bills are also on the table in New York and potentially in another unnamed state at the moment. The Concussion Legacy Foundation is trying to make that minimum age 14 years old nationwide. 

In the NFL, things aren’t getting better. There was a 73 percent increase in concussions during preseason practices and the number of concussions throughout the whole season rose from 243 to 281 after seeing a big drop from 275 in 2015. Desperately wanting to cut these numbers down, the NFL is inviting startup companies to compete for $50,000 and Super Bowl tickets by showcasing new technologies to either help reduce concussions or help identify them quicker. 

Even Super Bowl halftime performer Justin Timberlake admitted in a press conference this week that he would not allow his son to play football when he gets older before backtracking on the comment. 

Off the field, the league’s issues do not get any easier. 

Following the sexual assault allegations that led to Panthers owner Jerry Richardson deciding that he needed to sell the team at season’s end, there are some calling for the NFL to sell the team to a black-led ownership group. “At present, there are no African Americans in that very exclusive club of NFL owners,” said Marc Morial in a letter to Roger Goodell. “I write […] to make it abundantly clear that we believe that it is time for a change.”

That change lies at the intersection of race, opportunity and the general desire for equality that has fueled player protests for the last two seasons. There are two very different sides of the coin when it comes to the players who chose to kneel during the national anthem, and you can see how divisive the story has become in recent headlines. 

In South Carolina, Gov. Henry McMaster declared via his Twitter account that Super Bowl Sunday is “Stand for the Flag Day.” A group of veterans wanted to publish a full page ad in the Super Bowl program handed out at the game that featured the honor guard holding the flag with a #PleaseStand hashtag. The ad was rejected by the NFL because it made a “political statement.” 

In Minneapolis this weekend, there will be a Take a Knee Conference and Rally at US Bank Stadium to keep the conversation in the public eye. Colin Kaepernick began the movement last year just weeks after Philando Castile was gunned down just eight miles east of where Super Bowl LII will take place. Castile’s mother is expected to give a speech at the rally and organizers hope to remind everyone of what happened is bigger than football. 

And that stadium? Tax payers contributed $348 million to the development of US Bank Stadium, and the economic downfall that comes from hosting the Super Bowl is likely to be much less than the estimated $343 million to the region. Sports economist Victor Matheson expects the downfall to be about 10 percent of the estimations, and a large percentage of that money going into the pockets of those who own businesses, not those working throughout the weekend. 

- Phillip Barnett 

"Give me one minute with that bastard." - Randall Margraves, father of three of Larry Nassar’s victims 

On Friday morning at a courtroom in Eaton County, Mich., Randall Margraves asked the judge at Larry Nassar's sentencing hearing – his third in recent weeks –  if he could have five minutes alone with the former USA Gymnastics coach who had molested three of his daughters. When the judge refused his request, Margraves asked for one minute alone. After he was rebuffed a second time, Margraves lunged at Nassar and tried to attack him. 

"What if this had happened to you?" Margraves asked the police as he was being escorted out.

You don't have to have a daughter who was a victim of Larry Nassar to understand Margraves' anger. All you need to do is look at all the evidence that shows that Nassar's abuse was not only facilitated by multiple institutions, but that they also protected him. 

In the aftermath of Nassar's sentencing last week, Michigan State University's president and athletic director both resigned. An Outside the Lines investigation later revealed that the Nassar scandal was the rule and not the exception at the school, and that MSU had repeatedly tried to bury and suppress reports of sexual assault where football and basketball players were named as the abuser. And it doesn't look like things will be better with MSU's new leadership. John Engler, the school's interim president, was dismissive of sexual assault claims made by inmates when he was governor. 

The same appears to be true for the NCAA, who were made aware of Nassar's abuses as early as 2010. NCAA president Mark Emmert claims that assertion is a mischaracterization. There's the fact that Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced a rollback of Title IX protections just two days after visiting MSU, or the report that the International Olympic Committee knew of Nassar's abuse in 2015, or even the law enforcement officer charged with investigating the child molester in 2004 who said he has no memory of actually conducting the investigation. (The police department in question has since offered an apology for their failure.) 

There now appears to be multiple efforts to prevent another Larry Nassar from happening; both the House and the Senate have made actual progress to pass meaningful legislation. Michigan's attorney general also announced he was planning on finding out who knew what at MSU, yet another positive step forward.

Still, this feels like too little, too late. As of this writing, the victim count has now surpassed 250 women.

- Fidel Martinez 

"This is the hardest decision we've had to make during our entire ownership." - Paul Dolan, owner of the Cleveland Indians 

On Monday, Major League Baseball announced the Cleveland Indians would stop using Chief Wahoo, the racist caricature of a Native American that serves as the team's logo, on their uniforms starting in 2019. 

"Over the past year, we encouraged dialogue with the Indians organization about the club's use of the Chief Wahoo logo. During our constructive conversations, [Indians owner] Paul Dolan made clear that there are fans who have a long-standing attachment to the logo and its place in the history of the team," MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said in the press release. 

"Nonetheless, the club ultimately agreed with my position that the logo is no longer appropriate for on-field use in Major League Baseball, and I appreciate Mr. Dolan's acknowledgement that removing it from the on-field uniform by the start of the 2019 season is the right course."

By all accounts, the decision appears to have been forced by MLB. Dolan himself is saying as much, telling the Cleveland Plain Dealer that it wasn't an easy thing to do. 

To be clear, Chief Wahoo won't be disappearing completely. The team said they'd stop putting him on their uniforms, but they never agreed to stop selling merchandise with the offensive logo on it. Dolan has also said that changing the name was out of the question for the time being.

"Not only are we adamant about keeping the name Indians, but the Commissioner is similarly supportive of the name," Dolan added. "Yes, some people will continue to make noise about that, but I'm not troubled by its use. The Commissioner is not troubled by the use of the name. We are confident the name will continue on."

So why give up Chief Wahoo then? One theory, substantiated somewhat by Dolan's own words, is that it's a money issue. Not only that, but rumor has it that the Indians promise to get rid of the offensive logo was a condition for Cleveland getting the 2019 All-Star Game – a claim that MLB and the team have denied. 

And in case you're wondering, no, the National Football League and the Washington Redskins aren't planning on following Major League Baseball's lead when it comes to their own racially offensive team logo.

- Fidel Martinez 

“I think it’s not the person I would have expected, and I think it sends mixed messages because this is the first time we’re seeing out U.S. Olympic athletes competing in the Winter Olympics, and then we have someone leading the delegation that doesn’t support that, and doesn’t support the LGBT community, and has spoken against it.” - Gus Kenworthy on Mike Pence leading the US delegation at the 2018 Winter Olympics

Mike Pence was named to lead the U.S. delegation at the 2018 Winter Olympics and new members have since been added to the delegation. Gen. Vincent Brooks, the top U.S. general in South Korea will join the Vice President at the games along with his predecessor, Gen. James Thurman. 

Other members include Pence’s wife, Karen and and 2002 Olympic figure skating gold medal winner Sara Hughes among others. 

Pence has made it well know that his trip to PyeongChang will have political implications too – if necessary. After a North Korean ambassador said that Pence’s visit “shows how weak [the USA’s] motives are and how shameful their ways of thinking are,” Pence’s chief of staff said that the VP “will not hesitate to speak out against North Korea when they are being dishonest or deceptive in their practices and provocations against freedom."

Ice skater Adam Rippon was back in the news after saying that the Vice President was “out of touch with reality” in regards to his stance on the LGBT community. Rippon was disappointed that Pence would lead the delegation with the knowledge that Pence was in favor of conversion therapy. 

Rippon was surprised that there was a quick response from the White House, but gained a supporter in the process. Gus Kenworthy, an openly gay skiier who will also participate at the 2018 Winter Olympics, said including Pence in the delegation is sending “he wrong message” considering this is the first time that the United States is sending openly gay athletes to represent the country at the games. 

- Phillip Barnett 

"We're going to have to improve the way we are perceived, the way we are followed, the way we look. We can be worthy of attention.” - Gary Bettman, 1993 

Gary Bettman has now been the commissioner of the NHL for 25 years after replacing Gil Stein on Feb. 1, 1993. Under Bettman, the league has grown from 24 to 31 teams and has seen the league yearly revenues grow from $400 million to being projected to be over $4 billion for the 2017-18 season. 

During his time, there have been three lockouts, including one that wiped out the 2004-05 season in its entirety. Also during his time, Bettman was responsible for expansion teams in Florida, Anaheim, Nashville, Winnipeg (by way of Atlanta, replacing for the former-Jets club), Minnesota, Columbus and Las Vegas, a team in its inaugural season this year.

Bettman may not be the most popular commissioner with fans, but he’s done a lot to raise the wealth of the league’s owners. The average franchise is worth $594 million and the league secured a 10-year, $2 billion TV deal with NBC/Comcast that began in 2011. 

Bettman’s tenure has seen some peaks and valleys, but he’s been generally good for a league that’s still trying to figure out where it stands in the overall sports landscape. Right now, the Islanders are in the midst of building a new home at Belmont Park on Long Island and will play nearly half of their games back at their old home, the Nassau Coliseum, over the next three years after the move to Brooklyn didn’t work out. The Senators have plans to start construction on a new arena in 2019 after rumors about relocation from Ottawa surfaced – feeding into league-wide fears for a few struggling teams as Seattle seems primed to welcome an NHL team in the near-future. 

Still, 25 years is quite a milestone for a commissioner like Bettman, who like most commissioners, is known mainly for the boos he receives when it comes time to present the championship trophy at the end of the season.

- Phillip Barnett 

Of note: 

• The Republican National Committee named Todd Ricketts its new finance chairman. Ricketts is a board member of brokerage firm TD Ameritrade as well as the co-owner of the Chicago Cubs.

• Houston’s famed Astrodome will be designated as a Texas state landmark at a date to be determined. It was home to the Astros, the former Oilers (now Tennessee Titans) and briefly, the Rockets.

• LPGA star Suzann Pettersen has denied making comments about President Trump’s golf game. The former second-ranked golfer in the world countered recent reports where she told Norwegian newspaper, Verdens Gang, that the avid golfer “cheats like hell” on the links.

• Free agent outfielder Jayson Werth attended the State of the Union address as an invited guest of Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Illinois). Werth, who has a farm in Illinois, has recently become involved as a spokesperson for organic farming.

• The U.S. government released a watchlist of over 200 prominent Russian oligarchs and political figures who are believed to have ties to the Kremlin. Among them are Brooklyn Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov, Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich and Arsenal co-owner Alisher Usmanov.

• Former Miami Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria will not be sharing any profits from his sale of the team with Miami-Dade County, contrary to the 2008 agreement he made with local officials for the construction of Marlins Park.

• Despite grand plans for Las Vegas to become a “major league city,” a new ballpark being built for the Triple-A Las Vegas 51s could throw a wrench into any plans to bring a MLB franchise to Southern Nevada.

• Recently, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced that the league will host its own esports competitions, surrounding the EA Sports NHL video game series. The hockey league joins a growing number of sports organizations enriching the genre so much that pro gamers who play FIFA games make more money than players in the English Football League system which includes Premier League, Championship, League One and League Two.

• That said, many gamers believe that they’ve become addicted to compulsive spending on lootboxes and other micro transactions in the most popular of games.

• Former Colorado Rockies and Florida Marlins pitcher Marcos Cavajal died of pneumonia in his native Venezuela. Due to the economic crisis in the nation, there has been a shortage of critical medicines that could have saved his life.

• Another former student at Baylor University is suing the school under Title IX over its response to her accusations of a sexual assault by another student.

• The Undefeated profiled Fred Whitfield, who is the only black chief operating officer of a NBA franchise, the Charlotte Hornets, and his involvement in the repeal of HB2 and the league returning the All-Star Game to North Carolina. 

• When the upcoming Formula 1 season begins, a longtime staple will be gone from the track – the “grid girls.” The racing circuit announced that the female promotional models will no longer appear at races, a decision made in consideration of how women should be valued. Some of the women, however, have spoken out against the decision.

- Jason Clinkscales

For the record books: This week in sports politics history

"I don't understand, Pop. What's that two months of baseball got to do with all the jumping and running and fieldwork I did in Stockholm?" - Jim Thorpe to Pop Warner after he was stripped of his Olympic medals 

This week marks the 105th anniversary of sports legend Jim Thorpe being stripped of his two Olympic medals because he violated the International Olympic Committee's amateurism rule. 

Jim Thorpe was the proto-hyphenate athlete – he played professional baseball, football (he was instrumental in founding what eventually become the National Football League), and basketball. He also competed for the U.S. at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden, finishing first in the pentathlon and decathlon. Thorpe became a national hero overnight and a point of pride to Native Americans as member of the Sac and Fox Nation, and a star of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School college football team, which was coached by Pop Warner. 

But the Olympic glory was short lived. On January 23, 1913, the Worcester Telegram published a story revealing that Thorpe had played semi-professional baseball between 1909 and 1910. Thorpe was stripped of his medals shortly after. 

In 1984, more than 30 years after his death, the IOC returned Thorpe's medals to his family.  

''It's a damn shame it took that long, but that's the way things work sometimes. I think it would have been restored long ago," Richard Thorpe, one of his four sons, told the New York Times. "But Avery Brundage was the chairman of the International Olympic Committee for many years. He competed in 1912 and got beat real bad by my dad." 

Brundage, who also competed for the United States in the pentathlon and decathlon, finished fifth and 14th respectively.

''And of course, in 1912, there was a little bit of prejudice against Indians," he added.

- Fidel Martinez