tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/tom-brady-16967/articlestom brady – The Conversation2021-10-21T14:38:01Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1695192021-10-21T14:38:01Z2021-10-21T14:38:01ZWhat if Tom Brady took a knee instead of Colin Kaepernick?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426736/original/file-20211015-25-fon2ty.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=26%2C10%2C3444%2C2305&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady celebrates after defeating the Kansas City Chiefs in the NFL Super Bowl 55 football game in February, 2021. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Ashley Landis)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The 2021-22 NFL season is underway and Colin Kaepernick is still out of a job. It’s been more than five years <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2020/06/01/colin-kaepernick-kneeling-history/">since he took a knee during the national anthem</a> and in so doing further exposed issues of systemic racism in the NFL. </p>
<p>I’ve been researching and writing about sport and media for several years and I frequently use Kaepernick’s case in my classes. To illuminate the gendered and racialized nature of that case and of the NFL, I ask a hypothetical question: what if Tom Brady took a knee?</p>
<p>Kaepernick’s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/15/sports/nfl-colin-kaepernick-protests-timeline.html">story is now quite familiar</a>. In 2016 he began kneeling during the national anthem to protest police brutality and racial injustice in the United States. In what sports reporter Dave Zirin calls “<a href="https://www.pbs.org/wnet/amanpour-and-company/video/the-kaepernick-effect-how-taking-a-knee-began-a-movement-u6r/">the Kaepernick Effect</a>,” this gesture spurred a movement across different sports.</p>
<p>For the NFL, Kaepernick’s gesture created <a href="https://thesportjournal.org/article/how-the-nfl-responded-to-the-colin-kaepernick-protests-in-2016-2017-and-how-the-league-responded-to-athlete-protests-during-the-black-lives-matter-movement-of-2020-a-sport-study-social-phenomenologi/">a public relations nightmare</a>. </p>
<p>Following the death of George Floyd and swell of the Black Lives Matter movement, the NFL was forced to make public displays in support of inclusivity, which included “allowing” players to post social justice messages such as “End Racism” or “Stop Hate” <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/05/sports/nfl-social-justice.html">on their helmets</a>. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/i-dont-have-an-ounce-of-racism-in-me-jon-gruden-and-the-nfls-whiteness-problem-169806">'I don't have an ounce of racism in me': Jon Gruden and the NFL's whiteness problem</a>
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<p>Whether or not the Kaepernick Effect has lead to any meaningful change in the NFL is up for debate, though the recent controversy surrounding <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/12/sports/football/nfl-jon-gruden-emails.html">Jon Gruden</a> would suggest not. But for all its apparent nods to inclusivity and ending racism, Kaepernick has yet to be re-signed to an NFL team.</p>
<h2>A vitriolic response to protest</h2>
<p>Kaepernick was clear in his <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/video/sports/football/100000004643947/kaepernick-explains-his-protest.html">communications with media</a> that his protest was about police brutality and racial discrimination — he was simply calling attention to well-documented facts. </p>
<p>Yet the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/sep/22/donald-trump-nfl-national-anthem-protests">response to his kneeling quickly turned ugly</a> with fans, team owners, media personnel and then-President Donald Trump calling him un-American and unpatriotic. Several went so far as to call him a traitor. The disconnect between what Kaepernick meant and how his detractors interpreted his protest is remarkable. </p>
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<img alt="Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick kneels during the national anthem." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426746/original/file-20211015-57123-wyokf3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426746/original/file-20211015-57123-wyokf3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=455&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426746/original/file-20211015-57123-wyokf3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=455&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426746/original/file-20211015-57123-wyokf3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=455&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426746/original/file-20211015-57123-wyokf3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=572&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426746/original/file-20211015-57123-wyokf3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=572&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426746/original/file-20211015-57123-wyokf3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=572&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick (7) and outside linebacker Eli Harold (58) kneel during the playing of the national anthem before an NFL football game against the Atlanta Falcons in Atlanta.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/John Bazemore)</span></span>
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<p>The backlash to Kaepernick’s protest is most obviously <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2017/8/6/blackballing-kaepernick-fear-of-the-black-athlete">tied to the fact he is Black</a>. But to understand the peculiar level of vitriol in response to the protest it’s important to understand the NFL and its underlying myths. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.1975.tb00552.x">In a highly influential 1975 essay</a>, communications scholar Michael Real described the sport as “American ideology collectively celebrated.” </p>
<p>He identified football as an aggressive, militaristic, capitalistic enterprise that is both gendered and racialized. He concluded, “if one wanted to create from scratch a sport that reflected the sexual, racial and organizational priorities of American social structure, it is doubtful one could improve on football.” </p>
<p>Not much has changed since 1975.</p>
<p>Borrowing from sociology and anthropology, Real described the NFL as a mythic structure, one that was created from and helped to sustain the dominant social order in the U.S. </p>
<p>Myths function by appearing to be natural or normal. When faced with a challenge to a dominant myth, communities and societies often wilfully ignore concrete evidence in favour of sustaining belief in the existing social order. That’s what happened with Kaepernick.</p>
<h2>Challenging the myth of American exceptionalism</h2>
<p>Kaepernick’s protest called attention to <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2011/10/11/the-myth-of-american-exceptionalism/">the myth of American exceptionalism</a> in a space that is built upon and demands allegiance to that myth. </p>
<p>His protest called attention to police brutality and racial injustice but also challenged the myth that the U.S. is a free and fair country where anyone can succeed through hard work and determination. In refusing to “shut up and play,” he called attention to the deep-seated racial tension that is baked into the DNA of the NFL and the U.S.</p>
<p>In response to this challenge, fans, players, owners and others had to either acknowledge the structural problems of their game and nation or find another avenue to keep the myth intact. </p>
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<img alt="A mural to honour George Floyd and former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick are plastered on a building." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426754/original/file-20211015-16-eleo7q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426754/original/file-20211015-16-eleo7q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426754/original/file-20211015-16-eleo7q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426754/original/file-20211015-16-eleo7q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426754/original/file-20211015-16-eleo7q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426754/original/file-20211015-16-eleo7q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426754/original/file-20211015-16-eleo7q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A pedestrian passes murals to honour George Floyd and former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/David Zalubowski)</span></span>
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<h2>What if Tom Brady took a knee?</h2>
<p>What if it was Brady and not Kaepernick that began the movement in 2016? The absurdity of the question is also what makes it so revealing. </p>
<p>It would be impossible for Tom Brady to take a knee — it would run counter to every other facet of his public persona. Where Kaepernick — as someone who is Black — was described as a traitor disrespecting his flag and country, Brady is quintessentially all-American: white, male, heterosexual, fit, attractive, married to a supermodel, family-man, tremendously wealthy, law-abiding, apolitical (or at least uncritical), multiple championship winner and future Hall-of-Famer. In short, he is a winner. </p>
<p>Brady taking a knee is counter to both the man and the league. Nonetheless, had he done so, he would have been received much more favourably — it would have been relatively easy for football’s mythic structure to absorb Brady taking a knee and remain intact. </p>
<p>The impact of the protest on the myth would have been outweighed by the magnitude of Brady’s American-ness. It would have been too costly (literally and figuratively) to purge Brady from the league as has been done with Kaepernick. And to do so would have acknowledged the racial and gendered hierarchy in America’s social structure — the exact forces central to Brady’s and the NFL’s success.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/169519/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jonathan Finn does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Brady taking a knee is counter to both the man and the league. Nonetheless, had he done so, he would have been received much more favourably.Jonathan Finn, Professor of Communication Studies, Wilfrid Laurier UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1328452020-03-12T19:20:01Z2020-03-12T19:20:01ZCritics who say online gaming is ‘just a game’ completely miss the point<p>Now more than ever before, the stakes are getting higher in professional gaming. E-sports should be taken seriously as both an occupation and a form of leisure. Riot Games, the developers of desktop juggernaut <em>League of Legends</em>, is even taking the game into <em>Monday Night Football</em> territory with its <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2020/3/9/21171439/league-of-legends-lcs-monday-night-league-mnl-esports-twitch-youtube">own weekday broadcast of the game’s major tournament</a>.</p>
<p>Sixteen years ago, National Hockey League goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov provided the sports world with one of its greatest sound bites while being interviewed by reporters: “It’s only a game. Why (do) you have to be mad?”</p>
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<p>Since that day, the phrase has exploded in popularity. Game developer Blizzard Entertainment has even used it as a voice line for the character Zarya in the popular online game, <a href="https://www.bardown.com/one-of-ilya-bryzgalov-s-most-legendary-soundbites-is-now-a-voice-line-in-the-game-overwatch-1.825792">Overwatch</a>. While it’s become a famous meme for sports fans and gamers alike, the phrase “it’s just a game” has recently sparked controversy in the online gaming community. </p>
<p>Celebrity video game streamer Tyler Blevins — popularly known as Ninja — sparked debate on Twitter. He believes the phrase shows a weak mindset consistent with laziness, imperfection and being OK with losing. Ninja suggests that you would not tell athletes like LeBron James or Tom Brady that “it’s just a game”.</p>
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<p>Regardless of whether it’s a sport or a video game, he believes in the importance of competitiveness, respect and pride when it comes to taking a game seriously. </p>
<p>Blevins poses a good question: Why is it that sports are taken more seriously than online video games? </p>
<h2>Gaming and chill?</h2>
<p>I am a part-time gamer but, more importantly, I’m a full-time doctoral student who studies online video games and their place in society. Sports and video games share some similarities. The revenue generated by the activity, along with the possibility for employment and scholarship opportunities, are found in both arenas. </p>
<p>It has been reported that <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2019/01/22/video-game-revenue-tops-43-billion-in-2018-an-18-jump-from-2017/">video game revenue has surpassed the global box office and streaming services worldwide</a>. In a 2019 shareholder letter, Netflix stated that Fortnite, <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2020/1/16/21068938/fortnite-ninja-skin-icon-series-metaverse-tyler-blevins-ultimate-virtual-world-star-wars">the video game popularized by Ninja,</a> is more of a competitor to its service than HBO. </p>
<p>Researchers at the <a href="https://onlinegrad.syracuse.edu/blog/esports-to-with-traditional-sports/">University of Syracuse</a> are estimating that e-sports viewership will surpass every professional sports league in the United States aside from the National Football League by 2021. The rising popularity of online gaming in terms of revenue and viewership should only begin to highlight the seriousness of this form of leisure.</p>
<p>The concept of “serious leisure” has been popularized by University of Calgary sociology professor Robert Stebbins. The concept has been used <a href="https://www.seriousleisure.net/sports--games.html">frequently in discussions surrounding sports or physical activity</a>, but rarely discussed through video games. In Stebbins’ definition, serious leisure refers to the “<a href="https://books.google.ca/books/about/Amateurs_Professionals_and_Serious_Leisu.html?id=J6iXpF7O0_MC&redir_esc=y">systematic pursuit of an amateur, hobbyist or volunteer core activity</a> that is highly substantial, interesting and fulfilling and where, in the typical case, participants find a career in acquiring and expressing a combination of its special skills, knowledge and experience.” </p>
<p>The benefits of serious leisure include <a href="https://books.google.ca/books/about/The_Serious_Leisure_Perspective.html?id=cnYKBAAAQBAJ&redir_esc=y">self-enrichment, self-actualization and a sense of identity, community and accomplishment</a>. When a person seriously commits to online gaming, they are hoping to acquire the skills, knowledge and experience to become a professional “gamer,” or <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgRVDRpLbbc">in the case of Ninja, a professional “streamer”</a> (one who livestreams themselves playing video games on platforms such as Twitch, Mixer or YouTube).</p>
<h2>Practice makes perfect</h2>
<p>In <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/1388726">Stebbins’ idea of amateurism</a>, amateurs in sports and entertainment are those who no longer wish to be novices at an activity. They are motivated by seriousness and commitment, whether through consistent practices or organized schedules. </p>
<p>Amateurs exist within a system of relationships between professionals and the public known as the PAP, or professionals-amateurs-publics. Ninja would be a professional. Those that strive to be the next great video gamer would be known as amateurs. While those suggesting that “it’s just a game” would be considered the public. </p>
<p>Most professionals would start out as amateurs and climb the ranks to become professional. In online gaming, perhaps one starts to stream on Twitch where they build a following. Or one might win a big tournament, like 16-year-old Kyle (Bugha) Giersdorf, who won <a href="https://www.geek.com/games/fortnite-world-champion-teen-made-more-money-than-all-of-us-1797918/">$3 million in a Fortnite tournament</a>. While Ninja and Bugha both started as amateurs, through practice and dedication, they have now made <a href="https://www.esportspedia.com/streamers/Ninja">millions of dollars gaming professionally</a>.</p>
<h2>Online gaming no longer a waste of time</h2>
<p>Gaming is clearly serious business. Professional tournaments now have prize pools of over <a href="https://www.esportsearnings.com/tournaments">$34 million</a>. Colleges and universities offer scholarships to e-sports players. There are 200 schools with an e-sports program, and $15 million in scholarship funding is available in North America. </p>
<p>Some school teams have earned <a href="https://doi.org/10.7202/1065896ar">more than $300,000 in tournament winnings</a>. Gamers known as speed-runners have even raised more than <a href="https://gamesdonequick.com/">$22.3 million</a> over nine years to charities such as Doctors without Borders and the Prevent Cancer Foundation. </p>
<p>So if you ever think that your child, sibling, cousin or loved one is wasting their time on pointless video games, you may want to identify their level of interest. If they are dedicated and continue to progress, your loved one has a chance at making a career out of their serious leisure pursuit. </p>
<p>Of course, it’s possible to enjoy video games in a casual sense. I certainly do. However, Ninja has every right to get angry when someone says to him that “it’s just a game.” He should be considered the LeBron James or Tom Brady of e-sports. He should be considered an inspiration to amateur gamers and serious leisure enthusiasts everywhere.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/132845/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joe Todd does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Video games are becoming just as popular as professional sports, so why do people think it’s only a game?Joe Todd, PhD Student in Recreation and Leisure Studies, University of WaterlooLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1105632019-02-01T11:41:32Z2019-02-01T11:41:32ZBelichick versus McVay: An age-old question of leadership<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/256687/original/file-20190131-109820-wlmmtr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay, left, shakes hands with New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Patriots-Rams-Super-Bowl-Football/6cd52073fd98456a80dce3e9ef3c3a7f/3/0">AP Photo/David J. Phillip</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Super Bowl LIII will pit the Los Angeles Rams against the New England Patriots, but the sidelines will be the setting for another kind of matchup: youth versus experience. </p>
<p>In 2017, Sean McVay, at 30 years old, was the youngest head coach to be hired in NFL history. Now in his second season, he’ll be facing off against Bill Belichick, the league’s longest tenured head coach.</p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=5_mbOXUAAAAJ&hl=en">As a leadership professor</a>, I study how leaders of all ages navigate generational differences, including how to motivate those that might be on the other side of the generation gap.</p>
<p>For Belichick and McVay, the challenges might seem particularly acute. Most of Belichick’s players hadn’t even been born when Belichick secured his first coaching gig. And while McVay can probably talk about social media with his players <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RevWkLfRJg">in a way Belichick can’t</a>, he’s in charge of a coaching staff that includes septuagenarians.</p>
<p>But it doesn’t matter if you’re the greenest of leaders or a grizzled veteran: With some insight into generational dynamics, your age can become irrelevant.</p>
<h2>Bridging the generational divide</h2>
<p>Having a leader at one end of the age spectrum can lead to all kinds of assumptions.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2014.06.001">Research has shown</a> that older leaders are expected to be stable, dependable and interested in upholding the status quo. Younger leaders are thought to be natural change agents and innovators.</p>
<p>There seems to be a basis for these assumptions. Studies have found older leaders do tend to take a more measured approach and lead in ways that are described <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10887150709336612">as structured and conservative</a>. Younger leaders, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10887150709336612">in contrast</a>, are more energetic and have what employees describe as a “take charge” approach.</p>
<p>But one approach isn’t necessarily better than the other. Instead, what matters is the ability of a leader, young or old, to do two things. </p>
<p>First, they must reflect certain leadership qualities. <a href="https://search.proquest.com/openview/9e35acc2a0c883b3f73c4f38b9623105/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=41493">Research shows</a> that people want leaders who they see as inspiring, competent, forward-looking and honest. </p>
<p>Second, a good leader must also understand the needs and perspectives of each team members – specifically, the different kinds of support younger and older employees require from their leaders. Navigating these generational differences requires what I call “gentelligence.” </p>
<p>For example, a young employee and an older employee might interpret the same action differently. While boomers tend to interpret a lack of feedback as a sign that everything is going well, millennials may assume the opposite. Studies show that they expect a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/jls.21474">steady stream of feedback and mentoring</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03075079.2014.981516">We also know</a> that millennials place a lot of weight on how well a leader communicates and connects with them on a personal level, which makes them feel valued. Boomers also want to feel valued, but asking them what they did over the weekend isn’t the way to do it. Instead, a boss could ask them <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/glennllopis/2012/09/17/the-four-things-young-leaders-must-do-to-effectively-lead-older-generations/#5c1401c3686f">to offer advice or input</a>. </p>
<h2>The yang to McVay’s yin</h2>
<p>The Rams aren’t the only organization giving the keys to a young leader: Across many industries, the number of millennial bosses is rising. Those born between 1981 and 1996 now make up <a href="https://www.ddiworld.com/DDI/media/trend-research/glf2018/global-leadership-forecast-2018_ddi_tr.pdf?ext=.pdf">20 percent</a> of organizational leadership roles. Baby boomers like the 66-year-old Bill Belichick currently <a href="https://www.ddiworld.com/DDI/media/trend-research/glf2018/global-leadership-forecast-2018_ddi_tr.pdf?ext=.pdf">hold just 18 percent</a> of these roles.</p>
<p>Baby boomers may appreciate the energy and communication skills of younger leaders. But in order to gain the trust of older employees, young leaders often need to be willing to openly acknowledge what they don’t know yet, and ask others for input. </p>
<p>McVay appears eager to do just this. When asked what it means to have the older, more experienced Wade Phillips as his defensive coordinator, McVay described it as a “yin and yang” dynamic. </p>
<p>“It allows you to have a sounding board from someone who has been through a whole lot more than you have, have somebody to bounce things off of,” <a href="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FqZcyputAZE?start=499">he told NBC Sports’ Mike Tirico</a>. “It’s all about the people you’re around,” he later added, “and not being afraid to say, ‘Hey, help me figure this out.’”</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Sean McVay, who admits he can be too ‘wired’ at times, values the wisdom of his levelheaded assistant, Wade Phillips.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>Belichick never rests on his laurels</h2>
<p>Older leaders need to grapple with a different set of challenges when engaging younger members of their team. </p>
<p>Established leaders such as Belichick grew up in an age when holding positions of leadership meant unquestioned respect. But younger generations are <a href="http://rave.ohiolink.edu/ejournals/article/348372921">less inclined to listen to someone simply because they hold a title</a>. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, older leaders are still well positioned to connect with younger employees who are eager for guidance, and their years of experience make them effective mentors. They also tend to bring <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1080%2F10887150709336612">a calm and consensus-building approach</a>.</p>
<p>Just as important is an older leader’s openness to the ideas of their young employees. It signals that they’re confident enough in their own experience and track record to empower those beneath them.</p>
<p><a href="https://youtu.be/JdnWmKnUcWg?t=90">According to his coaching staff</a>, what makes Belichick such an effective leader is his willingness to listen to and trust his staff.</p>
<p>As former defensive coordinator Matt Patricia explained, “We go to him with new ideas all the time – or what we think are new ideas.” </p>
<p>“He wants you to disagree,” receivers coach Chad O'Shea added. “He respects that. He listens. He trusts us and demonstrates that by letting us go out and make decisions.”</p>
<p>Success, whether in the boardroom or on the field, depends on the talent of a leader to understand and navigate the expectations and needs of all their team members – no matter their age.</p>
<p>For a leader in today’s 21st-century workplace, that may be the most important playbook of all.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/110563/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Megan Gerhardt is founder and owner of The Gerhardt Group, LLC, a leadership consulting organization. </span></em></p>Even though young leaders and old leaders may have different approaches, one isn’t necessarily better than the other. But in order to succeed, a leader better be able to bridge generational divides.Megan Gerhardt, Professor of Management, Farmer School of Business, Miami UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/470742015-09-04T01:11:03Z2015-09-04T01:11:03ZWith NFL’s claim to absolute authority struck down, what happens next?<p>In a forceful, wide-ranging decision issued Thursday, federal judge Richard Berman issued a strong rebuke of the NFL’s disciplinary authority and procedures, vacating the four-game suspension handed down by Commissioner Roger Goodell against star New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.</p>
<p>Berman’s decision finds that the punishment imposed on Brady suffered from multiple and “significant legal deficiencies,” and must therefore be overturned. </p>
<p>Though <a href="http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/13424084/nfl-deflategate-line">the saga</a> isn’t exactly over (the NFL has already announced it will appeal), make no mistake: this is a crushing defeat for the NFL and its commissioner. </p>
<p>For years, the NFL system for disciplining players has operated on one overriding premise: that the Commissioner has unfettered authority to investigate, prosecute, judge and punish players, and that that authority is beyond question, even in a court of law. </p>
<p>To critics who would accuse the Commissioner of making it up as he goes along – applying new and different standards, procedures and punishments in nearly every case – the NFL has responded with a <a href="https://www.scribd.com/doc/273936031/NFL-Memorandum-of-Law-Judge-Berman">defiant shrug</a>. The rights of the players, they argue, begin and end with the collective bargaining agreement (CBA). No fundamental fairness. No procedural due process. Just the Commissioner, making it up as he goes along.</p>
<p>Not any more. Judge Berman’s <a href="http://nesn.com/2015/09/read-judge-bermans-decision-to-vacate-tom-bradys-deflategate-suspension/">decision</a> in the Brady case strikes at the very heart of this kangaroo court, and it begins with a simple statement of law:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The deference due an arbitrator does not extend so far as to require a district court to countenance, much less confirm, an [arbitration] award obtained without the requisites of fairness or due process.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The NFL came to Judge Berman’s court with an audacious claim: That he had no role to play here. He was not to look behind the curtain. The court was merely a rubberstamp for the Commissioner’s decision. </p>
<p>Indeed, it’s clear that this is how the NFL views all of its relationship, whether it’s with players, reporters or sponsors. The league’s power and the Commissioner’s authority are not to be questioned. </p>
<p>It’s a powerful mythology, and even many “legal experts” <a href="http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/13332578/new-england-patriots-quarterback-tom-brady-nflpa-likely-come-short-court-challenge-roger-goodell-decision">bought into it</a>, <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonbelzer/2015/07/24/why-tom-brady-will-win-if-he-sues-roger-goodell-and-the-nfl-over-deflategate/">asserting</a> that Goodell’s power under the CBA was so broad as to be almost unassailable, even by a federal judge. </p>
<p>But it’s a mythology that Judge Berman rejected. Commissioner Goodell is not “free to merely dispense his own brand of industrial justice” (as Judge Berman put it). </p>
<p>He is bound by the same basic principles that guide most disciplinary procedures. NFL players are entitled to advance notice of prohibited conduct and of any potential discipline. NFL players are entitled to fair and consistent treatment. NFL players are entitled to challenge the allegations against them and to employ the basic tools for doing so.</p>
<p>Tom Brady was denied all of these basic protections. He was held to a standard (“general awareness”) created by the NFL <em>after</em> the supposed infraction occurred. He was held responsible for a policy (Competitive Integrity Policy) that by its own terms applies to owners and clubs, not players. Brady received a punishment (a four-game suspension) so severe that he could not have possibly predicted it could be imposed. His legal team was denied the right to examine a key witness (Jeff Pash) with material evidence relevant to the allegations against him. He was denied access to the very documents and witness interviews used as evidence against him.</p>
<p>Berman found that each of these denials were grounds for reversal.</p>
<p>And it’s not just that the NFL lost; it’s <em>how</em> the league lost. These are not small matters; they are the very foundation of how the NFL conceives of its relationship with its players. </p>
<p>Should <a href="http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000520654/article/nfl-officially-appeals-tom-brady-decision">their appeal</a> fail, the NFL must now allow player representatives access to all investigative materials and the opportunity to cross-examine investigators. When cases do not fit neatly within existing rules and remedies, Commissioner Goodell will find it much more difficult to make it up as he goes along, creating new rules and new punishments without notice, or invoking “integrity of a game” however and whenever he sees fit.</p>
<p>It seems clear now that the NFL’s rather bizarre pursuit of Tom Brady was nothing more than a power-play. Sensing the opportunity to solidify the authority of the owners and their Commissioner, to marginalize the players union, and to set the grounds for future collective bargaining negotiations, the NFL went all in. They staked out a position so audacious that, if they won, no player could hope to challenge that authority in the future. But it seems that they overplayed their hand.</p>
<p>This decision is a serious blow to the power of the Commissioner. Had the NFL prevailed, the union would have been forced to expend significant capital to rework the disciplinary system during the negotiations for the next collective bargaining agreement. (The current CBA expires in 2020.) </p>
<p>Now it’s the NFL that’s on the defensive. Perhaps the league will have to give a little to claw back the disciplinary authority lost in Judge Berman’s court.</p>
<p>It’s a public relations nightmare. It’s a self-inflicted wound, the product of arrogance and avarice.</p>
<p>And it couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/47074/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>H. Brian Holland does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In going after Tom Brady, the NFL went all-in – and now must face a new reality.H. Brian Holland, Professor of Law, Texas A&M UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/461192015-08-19T21:42:36Z2015-08-19T21:42:36ZDeflategate has never been about footballs – so what, exactly, is the NFL up to?<p>For the NFL, the second Deflategate hearing this week didn’t go any better than <a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/highlights-of-the-tom-brady-roger-goodell-hearing-in-open-court-184710901.html">the first</a>. In question after question, Judge Richard Berman pressed the NFL on the specifics of its investigation, the conclusions drawn by NFL Commissioner Goodell and even the relative severity of the punishment imposed. </p>
<p>At times, it seemed that the entire disciplinary system of the NFL was under scrutiny. And Judge Berman was clearly skeptical. Now he’s <a href="http://espn.go.com/boston/nfl/story/_/id/13467909/judge-orders-patriots-quarterback-tom-brady-roger-goodell-back-court-aug-31">ordered</a> Roger Goodell and New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady to appear in court on August 31.</p>
<p>It’s the latest twist in the Deflategate saga – which started as an investigation into whether or not Brady instigated a scheme to deflate footballs prior to January’s AFC Championship game.</p>
<p>Since then, it’s evolved into something much bigger. And at stake is something quite universal, an issue that could relate to any employee of any organization. </p>
<p>The question is whether or not Goodell, in asserting his supposed right to punish at will – often based on questionable evidence and seemingly arbitrary procedures – violated the basic right to fundamental fairness claimed by every worker, including famous football players. </p>
<h2>All hail King Roger!</h2>
<p>When it comes to doling out punishment, <a href="https://nfllabor.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/collective-bargaining-agreement-2011-2020.pdf">the league’s collective bargaining agreement</a> (CBA) with the players’ union is clear: NFL Commissioner Goodell is not only judge, jury and executioner, but also lead investigator, prosecutor and the court of appeals. </p>
<p>Call it a kangaroo court or a dictatorship; it doesn’t matter. This is exactly what the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) agreed to when it negotiated the CBA in 2011. The union essentially made a trade, giving Goodell nearly unlimited power to discipline players, in exchange for a greater percentage of the revenue stream.</p>
<p>Controlling the process from beginning to end, Goodell ultimately <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/07/28/sports/football/document-roger-goodell-ruling-on-tom-bradys-appeal.html?_r=0">found</a> – and then affirmed his own finding, when he served as the arbitrator for the appeal in June – that Tom Brady “engaged in conduct detrimental to the integrity of, and public confidence in, the game of professional football.” The penalty was harsh: suspended four games without pay.</p>
<p>Even when Brady and the NFLPA appealed the ruling to federal court in July, Goodell and the NFL were quick on their feet. They beat the union to the courthouse, securing a favorable venue and – so it seemed – a quick dismissal of any challenge to the commissioner’s power.</p>
<p>And, indeed, <a href="https://www.scribd.com/doc/273936031/NFL-Memorandum-of-Law-Judge-Berman">the NFL’s argument</a> is simple: the federal courts are limited to the most narrow review of arbitration decisions and must uphold the penalty imposed “even if the Court were ‘convinced’ that the arbitrator [in this case, Goodell] ‘committed serious error.’” The federal courts, the NFL argues, are “not authorized to review the arbitrator’s decision on the merits,” even if “the decision rests on factual errors.” </p>
<p>So until recently, Roger Goodell and the NFL must have thought that the whole Deflategate mess would be cleaned up and tucked away without much fuss. Yes, they were headed to federal court, but it was just a formality. A rubber stamp for the commissioner.</p>
<p>Welcome to the wonderful world of lawyers and business executives, where real power allows you to insulate yourself from outside scrutiny. With well-crafted contracts and disciplinary provisions, you can circumvent the courts altogether.</p>
<h2>A power play for the NFL</h2>
<p>This is really the most important point: Deflategate has nothing to do with football. And it certainly has nothing to do with “the integrity of the game.”</p>
<p>In a sense, it never did. Instead, Deflategate has always been about power. </p>
<p>Yes, fans hate to hear this. They want to debate right and wrong, guilt and innocence, crime and punishment. They want to argue about Tom Brady’s involvement and his legacy. They want to talk PSI and the Ideal Gas Law. Some want to cast the Jets or Colts as the jealous underlings who started this whole thing, while others want to finally bring Patriots Coach Bill “Beli-cheat” to justice.</p>
<p>But none of that matters. Not to Roger Goodell and the NFL. </p>
<p>What matters is preserving a very lucrative business model, one that requires total and complete control over your product, including raw materials and labor (in the somewhat twisted world of the NFL, players fall into both categories). </p>
<p>And that’s where the CBA comes in. In general, collective bargaining agreements are private agreements that insulate a business from judicial review in all but the most egregious circumstances. </p>
<p>So why has Federal Judge Richard Berman forced the NFL to defend its fact-finding procedures and conclusions – exactly what the NFL assumed it could avoid?</p>
<p>The NFL’s lawyers were clearly thrown off their game. Where was this coming from? After all, certainly Berman must have realized that he had little to no role to play. Certainly he must have understood that the rights of the players had been bargained away. Certainly he must have understood that, in essence, the facts did not matter. </p>
<p>Rather, all that mattered was that Roger Goodell had found Tom Brady guilty. Case closed. </p>
<p>The NFL’s attorney actually said as much during last week’s hearing, when he repeatedly swatted away Judge Berman’s questions by telling him that the only judgment that mattered was that of the commissioner.</p>
<h2>Holes in the NFL’s argument</h2>
<p>In a sense, it’s the height of hubris on the NFL’s part. </p>
<p>Imagine standing before a federal judge, essentially telling him that you have no need to answer his question because your client’s opinion is the only one that matters. Imagine standing before a federal judge who is clearly telegraphing his concerns about the basic fairness of the underlying process and conclusions, and telling that judge that he has no business asking those questions. Imagine standing in front of a federal judge, telling him that he has no role to play here.</p>
<p>There is no doubt that arbitration decisions are granted great deference when challenged in court, but they are not entirely beyond reproach. </p>
<p>While some of the NFLPA’s arguments rehash procedural issues that are unlikely to benefit Brady, other arguments are more compelling. For instance, the NFLPA raises significant questions as to whether the discipline imposed on Tom Brady is “fair and consistent” or “arbitrary and capricious.” Likewise, the NFLPA raises an interesting argument as to whether Brady received adequate notice, as required under the <a href="https://www.ncjrs.gov/App/Publications/abstract.aspx?ID=53640">“law of the shop.”</a></p>
<p>These are not new or novel arguments, but rather standards applied in prior labor cases, including <a href="http://espn.go.com/pdf/2014/1128/141128_rice-summary.pdf">cases involving the NFL</a>.</p>
<p>The NFL’s apparent legal tactic – repeatedly telling Judge Berman that he has no role to play – is not only hubris, it’s foolhardy.</p>
<p>It begs the question that has been dogging many since the beginning of this entire debacle. What, exactly, is the NFL up to? </p>
<p>Why take something that should’ve been solved by a memo and turn it in to a public spectacle? The NFL had been <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/colts/2015/02/19/gm-ryan-grigson-deflategate-patriots-afc-championship-game-ted-wells/23684181/">tipped off</a> prior to the AFC Championship game, so why set up a sting operation rather than simply warning the Patriots? Why go after Brady, one of the league’s most well-known and popular players? Why go after the Patriots, whose owner is one of the more powerful in the league? Why impose such a drastic penalty, almost begging for an appeal? Why take such an extreme position in front of a federal judge, implicitly challenging his authority not only to review the commissioner’s findings but to even to ask questions about the facts?</p>
<p>The answer, I think, is rather simple. Take on the game’s biggest player, the league’s most successful team and even a federal judge. Cut them down to size. Make clear that each is less powerful than the league itself. </p>
<p>But what if you lose? Perhaps the NFL hasn’t even considered this possibility. Of course, in the law, it’s less about losing and more about how or why you lose. </p>
<p>If Judge Berman rules that Brady simply lacked the required notice of his penalty, this really isn’t much of a loss for the NFL at all. As a matter of procedure, it can be corrected going forward, and as a matter of public relations, it looks like Brady is getting off on a technicality.</p>
<p>If, on the other hand, Judge Berman rules that the policies and procedures utilized by the NFL were neither fair nor consistent, but in fact arbitrary and capricious, then the loss could be devastating. </p>
<p>The NFL’s position has always been that its procedures and punishments are unassailable. If Judge Berman were to find otherwise, that powerful mythology would quite suddenly evaporate. The effect on public perception might be even worse. Tom Brady would go from being the man who got off on a technicality to the victim of an injustice.</p>
<p>Of course, were Brady and the NFLPA to prevail, it would likely be on narrow grounds that correct a particular injustice but preserve the status quo. But what if Judge Berman joins Judge David S Doty (who <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/vikings/2015/02/26/adrian-peterson-judge-david-doty-decision-overturns-arbitrator/24059545/">overturned</a> Goodell’s suspension of Adrian Peterson) and retired Judge Barbara Jones (who <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/29/sports/football/ray-rice-ruling-highlights-roger-goodells-missteps.html?_r=0">overturned</a> Goodell’s suspension of Ray Rice) in slapping down the NFL? </p>
<p>Losing a case against a wife beater or a child abuser is one thing. It makes you look good in the public eye. A blitzkrieg based on underinflated footballs – well, that’s something altogether different. </p>
<p>And a loss in this case may well spell the end for Roger Goodell.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/46119/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>H. Brian Holland does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In what’s looking more and more like a power grab, the NFL and Goodell may have overplayed their hand.H. Brian Holland, Professor of Law, Texas A&M UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/417372015-05-15T10:16:44Z2015-05-15T10:16:44ZBetting, battery and doctored footballs: putting ‘deflategate’ in perspective<p>The hype over what has been dubbed “deflategate” has obscured some deeper issues about sports history and what is really at stake when teams take to the field for contests of skill and brute force.</p>
<p>On May 11, the National Football League (NFL) <a href="http://nflcommunications.com/2015/05/11/nfl-statement-on-discipline-imposed-on-new-england-patriots-for-violating-nfl-policy-on-integrity-of-game/">announced</a> disciplinary action against the New England Patriots and star quarterback Tom Brady following a league-sponsored investigation that found that footballs Brady used in a conference game on January 18 had been illegally deflated and that he had known about this. <a href="http://mmqb.si.com/2015/05/13/deflategate-patriots-tom-brady-nfl-fan-reaction/">Reaction</a> to the NFL’s actions, pro and con, has been visceral and fierce. </p>
<p>Some perspective is needed: Generally, disciplinary action against professional athletes by the leagues falls into three categories.</p>
<h2>Sanctions against players for off-field actions</h2>
<p>The first category involves sanctions imposed for actions of players off the field that are unrelated to the games they play. The NFL has experienced a minor epidemic of these recently. Last year, for example, <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2014/5/23/5744964/ray-rice-arrest-assault-statement-apology-ravens">Ray Rice</a> of the Baltimore Ravens received a year-long suspension from the league for hitting his then-fiancée, whom he subsequently married, in an elevator in Atlantic City. <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/2014/9/17/6334793/adrian-peterson-child-abuse-statement-vikings-timeline">Adrian Peterson</a> of the Minnesota Vikings incurred a similar penalty for striking his young son with a tree branch to punish him. </p>
<p>There is something odd about these episodes. Assault is, after all, a crime. The United States has laws, prosecutors, courts and prisons to deal with offenders. A private entertainment company such as the National Football League does not ordinarily function as a parallel legal system.</p>
<p>The accusations against Rice and Peterson were certainly serious, and were in fact investigated by the proper authorities. But for a private company to punish them before the legal procedure in each case had run its course, although permitted by the contract collectively bargained between the NFL and the Player’s Union, has a whiff of vigilante justice.</p>
<h2>The effect of mega millions on ‘fair’ play</h2>
<p>The reason for what the NFL did to Rice and Peterson – which is the reason for much of what happens in professional sports and indeed in supposedly non-professional collegiate athletics and, for that matter, in much of life – is money. </p>
<p>Professional football is a <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/id/101884818">multibillion-dollar</a> enterprise whose immense profitability depends on the good will of the tens of millions of people who fill the palatial stadiums in which its games are played, buy its merchandise and, most important of all, watch the sport on television. The league’s owners fear that if it becomes associated with criminal conduct, it will alienate its customers. Owners are therefore at pains to be seen as vigorously opposing any kind of criminal misconduct. The sanctions for off-field misconduct are, in the end, exercises in image protection and brand management.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/81758/original/image-20150514-28583-ynko1w.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/81758/original/image-20150514-28583-ynko1w.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/81758/original/image-20150514-28583-ynko1w.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=609&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81758/original/image-20150514-28583-ynko1w.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=609&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81758/original/image-20150514-28583-ynko1w.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=609&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81758/original/image-20150514-28583-ynko1w.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=765&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81758/original/image-20150514-28583-ynko1w.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=765&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/81758/original/image-20150514-28583-ynko1w.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=765&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A cartoon ran by various newspapers in 1920 after the breaking of the Black Sox scandal.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eight_men_banned.png">Anderson, Wayne (2004) </a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Misbehaving on the field</h2>
<p>The other two categories of discipline involve misbehavior on the field. The first and more serious of them is cheating to lose. </p>
<p>In the most celebrated of all sports scandals, players for the Chicago White Sox – thereafter known as the <a href="http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/blacksox/blacksoxaccount.html">Black Sox </a> – took money from gamblers to lose the 1919 World Series to the Cincinnati Reds. Losing deliberately strikes at the <a href="http://www.publicaffairsbooks.com/book?isbn=9780786738847">heart of any sport</a>, all of which are contests in which the outcome is not known in advance and both contestants – teams or individuals – strive to win. If one side is instead trying to lose – if both ostensibly opposing contestants are actually seeking the same result – what they are staging is not a game at all. It is a scripted drama, like a play, a movie or <a href="http://theweek.com/articles/447375/heres-what-prowrestling-script-looks-like">professional wrestling</a>.</p>
<p>Gambling offers the biggest temptation to cheat to lose. <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/espn25/story?page=moments/5">Pete Rose</a>, one of baseball’s greatest players, was, like the Black Sox players, banned from his sport for life for doing so. In the 1960s, two prominent professional football players, Paul Hornung and Alex Karras, were each <a href="http://espn.go.com/classic/s/moment010417hornung-karras-betting.html">suspended</a> for a year for gambling.</p>
<h2>When a drive to win turns into cheating</h2>
<p>The third category of sanctions involves cheating to win, which is what the NFL accuses Tom Brady of having done. Sports are contests conducted according to rules, and breaking those rules incurs penalties. While cheating to lose is the equivalent of a crime against sports, cheating to win qualifies merely as a misdemeanor. It violates not the essence of the game, as the Black Sox did, but rather the spirit of fair play in which the games are expected to be conducted.</p>
<p>Because individual athletes and teams ordinarily do whatever they can to achieve victory – which is almost always more financially rewarding than defeat – violations of this kind are common in sports. The widespread use of <a href="http://www.nbcsports.com/baseball/baseballs-steroid-scandals">performance-enhancing drugs</a> by baseball players in the 1990s is perhaps the best-known recent example.</p>
<p>Here, however, the line between clever gamesmanship and outright rule-breaking is a blurry one, something that the Brady case illustrates. While the rules say that footballs must be inflated to at least a minimum pressure, and Brady and the Patriots are accused of deflating the footballs he used to a point below the minimum, it is permitted – or at least not forbidden – to doctor the balls in a variety of other ways, and teams are <a href="http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/01/21/leinart-says-every-quarterback-tampers-with-the-ball-except-one/">known to do so</a>. Some of what they do – making the footballs easier to grip, for example – would seem to help quarterbacks more than lowering the ball’s air pressure could. (Baseball has a long history of pitchers <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/doctoring-tricking-baseballs-tradition-old-game-article-1.1754822">doctoring the balls</a>.)</p>
<h2>The life span of a scandal: Tom Brady in September</h2>
<p>The Brady scandal has gripped the sports world but is likely to have little long-lasting impact. When the season begins again in September, attention will turn to what really interests the sports-following public: the games themselves. Tom Brady will appeal his suspension and, based on recent precedents and the Patriots’ <a href="http://wellsreportcontext.com/ttp://wellsreportcontext.com/">strong rebuttal</a> to the charges against him and them, he stands a good chance of having it reduced if not eliminated entirely. </p>
<p>The episode may tarnish his reputation and cause him to lose some lucrative product endorsements; but over the last 13 years, through multimillion-dollar annual salaries and a raft of such endorsements, he has probably <a href="http://www.forbes.com/profile/tom-brady/">made more money</a> than Bill Clinton has from <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/03/politics/clinton-speaking-fees/">speaking fees</a>.</p>
<p>As for football itself, it does face a major threat to its future, but not from any of the three kinds of infractions that are part of sports history. The challenge comes from the accumulating evidence that playing the game leads to <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/league-of-denial/">serious brain damage</a>. The danger to the sport stems from what it does to the young men who play it, not from what they do to the footballs they use when they play.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/41737/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Patriots owner Robert Kraft supplied a dust-jacket blurb for the author's book: The Meaning of Sports: Why Americans Watch Baseball, Football, and Basketball and What They See When They Do </span></em></p>As Patriots quarterback Tom Brady vows to fight his four-game suspension by the NFL, a scholar examines “deflategate” in the context of sports history and safety.Michael Mandelbaum, Professor of American Foreign Policy, Johns Hopkins UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.