Efectos Del Mundial Sub 20 En Colombia

Running head: BOUNTY GATE

Bounty Gate
SPG 305 Ethical & Legal Aspects of Sport
Prof. Robert J. Romano
St. John’s University
Javier Pinto
March 21, 2012


The NFL had its inaugural season in 1920, and at the time of its inception it was considered a tough, physical and, at times, violent sport. It was this toughness that made it popular amongst hard working Americans,eventually making it the most attended domestic sport in the United States, with an average attendance of 66,960. Although, now-a-days, the NFL is followed by millions of viewers worldwide and has been for years, many changes have occurred throughout the course of the years that have changed the degree of violent hits and physical play in the game. With its new direction of promoting a tough and physical,yet safe game, reports of a bounty system created by players and endorsed by coaches has potentially damaged the important health and safety first image the NFL and its Commissioner, Roger Goodell have long strived to achieve. “Bountygate” stands to potentially have long term damaging effects on the image and integrity of the NFL if the Commissioner does not handle the situation effectively andpromptly. The NFLPA, on the other hand, has taken a slower approach to investigating and determining what if any wrongdoing occurred with the recently uncovered Bounty scandal. This ongoing scandal will serve to effectively change the future of the game no matter what is decided by the NFL and the NFLPA, if not in the near future then in the next Collective Bargaining Agreement.
The Evolution ofthe NFL
Since 1920, the NFL has had a total of 93 rule changes that have all been made with the intentions of improving the game in order to make it more exciting for the millions of fans that watch. These changes also have been made to make the game safe, by reducing the number of injuries that occur on certain types of plays. By focusing of safety rules, the NFL, as well as the team owners hascreated ways to keep the players safe and to protect their health. Whether its adding field judges in 1929, enforcing new equipment like helmets in 1943, enforcing face mask rules in 1962 or moving up the kickoff line to the 35 yard line in 2011, the “NFL has established a strong set of rules through the years focused on player safety” (NFL.Com). These rules as mentioned have been designed topromote fair competition while also helping to minimize the risk of harm from violent hits and unprotected players during games. The NFL has also increased discipline for illegal hits to the head and neck since 2010 with larger fines and even suspensions. The league also implemented a sideline assessment policy, which takes 7-10 minutes to evaluate players that show signs of a possible concussion inorder to keep player safety as a main priority.
On February 4, Commissioner Goodell gave his annual State of The League address. The most important topics he discussed were concussions issues with former and current NFL players as well as making a commitment to make the game safer. Goodell said, “We will always make sure that player health and safety is the No. 1 priority in the NFL” (SportsBusiness Daily). Part of his address was mentioning how the league and the NFLPA had set up a legacy fund for former players to help them deal with post career expenses, as well as committing over $1 billion to retired players. One of the main driving points for this is because in recent years the NFL has had an increasing number of law suits by former players over head injuries. Goodell also said,“We are going to continue to do what we possibly can to help our retired players, the current payers, and future players by making the game safer. We will do that with rules. We will do that with improving the equipment and we will do it by making sure that we pioneer research that’s going to make sure we understand all there is about brain injuries and brain disease; and make sure that we are...