The Huddle
Hank Nuwer has written four books on
hazing and spent more than three decades analyzing cases in which it has been taken to sometimes criminal and tragic extremes. He does not take lightly the current issue involving Dallas Cowboys rookie Dez
Bryant and his refusal to carry a veteran's shoulder pads off the practice field.
"It's non-criminal, but what you're dealing with is the idea of humiliation," says Nuwer, an associate professor of journalism at Franklin College in Indiana.
Nuwer has seen the opinions expressed by news media members, including those of former coaches and players, that Bryant should have gone along with what they say is a routine rite of passage. He doesn't buy that.
"It's wrong to humiliate people, and we're in an age of sexting and harassment and so forth. To allow this kind of behavior among adults is wrong," he says.
Cowboys coach Wade Phillips has said he will not tolerate hazing on his team. But Nuwer says professional athletes carry extra responsibility.
"They are role models for high school students who are being arrested ... getting felony charges for hazing and who don't know how to hold it within boundaries."
In a blog posting at HankNuwer.com, Nuwer calls on the commissioners of the major pro sports leagues to institute policies defining and prohibiting hazing. He writes:
"Call it entitlement. Call it what you will, commissioners, but you must call players on it. When it comes to passing the buck on hazing, no one passes it better than the likes of Bud Selig, Roger Goodell and David Stern -- and their respective predecessors as commissioners."
The NFL says matters such as whether rookies have to carry the shoulders pads of veterans is a "club matter."
"None of this is an adult thing to do," Nuwer says.
Nuwer says the NCAA and the National Federation of State High School Associations have taken stands against hazing.
"We're in an age of extremes, but we're also in an age when players have gone through lecture after lecture at the high school and college level to say that you don't have to put up with hazing," he says. "And then you suddenly get into the NFL, and it's OK. But it isn't." -- Gary Mihoces
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