Until, that is, something with a "BREAKING NEWS" popped up on SportsCenter. Now the concept of "breaking news" on a sports program requires a bit of mental adjustment; while such a graphic might cause alarm when seen on a network or a news channel, in most cases such graphic on ESPN isn't cause for legitimate panic. (September 11, 2001 would be one exception.) And indeed, such was the case here. in the training camp of the New York Jets, a fight had broken out in the locker room that resulted in a broken jaw for the team's quarterback, Geno Smith. So there are sports ramifications to the story, for sure; the Jets are likely to be without their starting quarterback for about half the forthcoming season, which should cause some difficulties for the team.
Still, it was a bit bizarre to watch ESPN pursue the story with the fervor with which CNN might pursue a major political assassin (or perhaps a missing airliner). Announcement. Analysts. Press with one of the principals (head coach in this case). More analysts. Background on Smith. Background on "assailant," a deep-bench linebacker named I.K. Enemkpali. News that Enemkpali had been released by the Jets. Repeat press appearance by head coach. More analysts. Background on the backup quarterback who will be elevated by the incident, Ryan Fitzpatrick. More analysts, or the same analysts again.
It was a bit of a surreal experience, but I suppose a 24-hour sports network needs to fill its day somehow.
But before I tore myself away to go back to the office, the analytic discourse took a somewhat more provocative turn, towards the thing that inevitably comes up in these situations. Where is the borderline between the violence required to be successful on the football field and the restraint necessary to be a basic civilized person off of it? And what gradations impose themselves between gridiron and home, or whatever public off-field life a player has?
There are the obvious prohibitions; you can't go off slugging the quarterback in the jaw (at least not if you're a fourth-string linebacker; what might have happened to a more prominent teammate is an open question). You can't go slugging your wife (at least not if there might be cameras around). You certainly can't kill somebody.
Then there are the more ambiguous types of violence. Terrorizing a teammate. "Dirty" play. This person.
What I can't figure out is where the switch is. You know, the switch. The one you flip "on" when you go on the field, and flip to "off" when the game's over. I've never quite understood it.
Evidently some people manage it. While a lot of football players do end up in the headlines for inappropriate violence, that number is less than 100%, substantially so. Some guys manage to keep it together off the field, and even live prestigious lives off the field. (Or end up in Congress. Not sure how prestigious that is anymore.)
Of course, the on-field violence has its own stigma these days. That hasn't always been the case, of course, even when it had horrific off-field consequences.
It's easy to slip into an attitude of "what do you expect?" when a story like today's broken jaw comes along. Well, whadaya expect? These guys go around beating each other up every week, of course they're gonna beat up each other off the field. But of course we really don't believe that, otherwise we wouldn't be so shocked when Ray Rice decks his fiancee in an elevator or Adrian Peterson gets charged with abusing his children. Clearly we expect them to flip the switch to the "off" position, and get offended when they don't.
(Let's not pretend that football players even have it the worst in this regard. But I find it wiser to let war veterans speak for themselves.)
So where's the switch? Or why do some guys seem to be able to manage it, and some guys can't?
Lord knows there are enough folks who never played football who seem to have their violence switch in the "on" position in perpetuity. It's hard enough to contain oneself sometimes without being a practitioner of violence on a regular basis.
So where's the switch? I'd really like to know.
Before he became The Guy Who Broke Geno Smith's Jaw
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