Interestingly enough, last Sunday I happened to be watching a little bit of football, although mostly I was searching the channels for something interesting to watch. I landed on NBC Sports during the conversation between former football stars Ahmad Rashad and Chris Collinsworth, along with the news reporter who broke the story involving the latest Michael Irvin (of the Dallas Cowboys) incident.
Because I love to hear stories that expose the moral ideologies of today’s inflated sports heroes, I tuned in to hear the latest information about Irvin’s most recent escapade. Apart from the fact that Irvin is already a convicted criminal (cocaine possession) and should be currently serving out his debt to society (were it not for his association with the disgustingly rich and powerful within the sports community), he does have rights, right?
To my disbelief, what I heard was the appalling comments of Chris Collinsworth during his interview with the reporter. After the reporter went into a grisly account of a woman who claims to have been raped at gunpoint while Michael Irvin of the Dallas Cowboys took a video, Collinsworth proceeded to ask the reporter a few questions, which, I’m sure, he felt were completely appropriate. One of the questions pompously asked of the reporter was something like, I’ve been told that this woman may be an ‘exotic dancer.’ Is this true, and how credible of a witness can she actually be?
I couldn’t believe my ears! Here is a man speaking on national television who is perpetuating the archaic and chauvinistic principle that has led to rape, and the repeated acquittal of some of our country’s most dangerous criminals.
I’m sure throughout Collinsworth’s noble career he’s known and enjoyed the entertainment of hundreds if not thousands of exotic dancers. I wonder if he recalls any of them in particular who would enjoy or deserve to have a gun held to their heads while men raped her, while, all along, videotaping the whole thing!?
Even though this woman may have been or is currently an exotic dancer, does this justify his on-air probe into her motivation and credibility before he knows if she was, in fact, brutalized?
And then, he has the nerve to voice his deep concern for the public’s perception, as if this is all that distresses him, by saying something like, this kind of negative attention is just plain bad for the kids to see.
Oh, how terrible for your omnipotent, sports hero image, Mr. Collinsworth! Does he fear that the country, and especially its children, will finally see these parasites for what they are? Does he care about the woman or her family who may have been forever changed as a result of a man’s inability to positively deal with his immense ego, which I’m sure has been swelling since his high school days of scoring with cheerleaders?
Collinsworth should show a little compassion and integrity. There may be something at stake here besides the precious “hero” image that he and his colleagues struggle so valiantly to protect, namely, a woman’s psychological well being for the rest of her life.
For the time being, it is not known if this alleged if not ubiquitous event ever happened. But if it did, Collinsworth should have at least had the decency to first consider the implications and severity of the act before attacking the victim.
Being a national sports reporter and former football star, he should have used his position to convey the concern for the increasingly common incidents where untouchable sports heroes abuse their absurd gift of societal influence and iconic power.
Instead, he chose to rush to the defense of your sordid colleague by implying that this event probably never took place, and the woman, who may be an “exotic dancer”, was not a “credible” witness and could not be taken seriously. Oh well, if nothing else, we have inadvertently heard a little more from the moral doctrine of yet another of our arrogant and overpaid icons who’ve been weaned on sports and notoriety.
Jason Andrea is a junior scientist in the Department of Soil, Water and Climate