The Chris Moeller Archives

The NFL's code of silence

The NFL season begins again this week, and I have to be reminded each year how different the atmosphere is from that of baseball. Let's just simplify to start and say that "the bar" is lower. I watched the Pittsburgh/Tennessee game Thursday night waiting for some commentary from General Electric's Al Michaels or Cris Collinsworth about the off-season rape allegations that were leveled against Steelers QB Ben Rothlisberger. If there was any discussion on the telecast, I missed it. At one point in the third quarter, I caught Collinsworth in mid-conversation describing how Rothlisberger felt he had to apologize to his teammates. Because of the unwanted publicity and distraction of the rape case, I wondered? No, because the quarterback stays in the pocket for a long time and gets sacked a lot, which then reflects badly on his line protection.

I can't remember a Major League Baseball Game of the Week broadcast this year in which Joe Buck and Tim McCarver didn't harp on Manny Ramirez for at least an inning, and that's even during games that don't involve the Dodgers. I wouldn't quite equate rape with ingesting a banned hormone either. Can you recall the last time you heard a discussion about steroids during an NFL broadcast? The idea that steroids are more prevalent in baseball than football is laughable, but the social code is different in the NFL. The network broadcasters are company men eager to close ranks.

If you get the San Diego Chargers game on your television this weekend, listen close for any commentary about Shawn Merriman's off-the-field exploits. Merriman is a once-suspended steroid user and Pro Bowl (that same year) linebacker arrested and charged with choking and restraining his girlfriend, MTV reality star Tila Tequila, last week. "Lights Out" Merriman once told Playboy magazine, "I've been able to knock somebody out... I must have split personalities... I'm so dangerous right now I scare myself." Merriman's is another case of 'he said, she said,' and charges were dropped Friday for lack of prosecuting evidence, but well before Friday, a blogger at the San Francisco Chronicle began speculating about what Tequila may have done to provoke the NFL star. She's admittedly "bipolar," you understand, not to mention-- are you ready for this one?-- "bisexual." It's similar to the time that slut Rihanna was rumored to be running around on Chris Brown, and may have given him herpes, so he had to beat the shit out of her.

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House Democrats are pursuing a censure resolution condemning Representative Joe Wilson of South Carolina for shouting "You lie!" at President Obama during a Congressional address Wednesday. Heckling the president: egregious. Torture: not so much.

posted by CM @ 9:19 AM