"THE MAN BOX - A CALL TO MEN"
Just read that "four Auburn University football players have been kicked off the team after being arrested and charged with robbery, burglary and theft." Reading about the alleged criminal activities of the four AU players reminded me of a post I wrote in January after reading about Lizzy Seeberg, the St. Mary's College student who committed suicide after an alleged sexual assault by a Notre Dame star football player: What happened in South Bend bears no resemblance to what happened in Auburn, but the comments I made about the mentality of some football players may be relevant to some in trying to understand why student-athletes get involved in these situations.
The Lizzy Seeberg case is complex, has many layers, no easy answers, a CYA mentality by Notre Dame, and at its core, is a very sad situation. The article delves into the accused football player's background, going back to his predisposition to violence and bullying since the 5th grade. Tom Seeberg, Lizzy's father had this thought: "That this player was recruited despite this history is shocking only because my alma mater touts how carefully it selects players. "They sell themselves as living their beliefs."
My reaction to this quote was Hello, do people really understand the mentality of a lot of football players. Football at the highest level is legalized combat. Most players are aggressive by nature and utilize football as a means to unleash their fury and anger. It's legalized assault and battery. The player in question is exactly the type of player that coaches want to recruit.
Tony Porter, in his speech entitled "A Call to Men" talks about "The Man Box." It's a box of qualities that most men adhere to at the cost of their humanity. The challenge that we have as men is to break outside of this self imposed box. Here's more info on Porter's programs - "A Call To Men - Committed to ending violence against women:"
The following comment by Tony Porter sums up his core message:
"COLLECTIVELY, WE AS MEN ARE TAUGHT TO HAVE LESS VALUE IN WOMEN; TO VIEW THEM AS PROPERTY AND THE OBJECTS OF MEN. WE SEE THIS AS AN EQUATION THAT EQUALS VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN."
I strongly encourage every High School and College coach of male athletes to share this video with their athletes. Have a discussion after viewing it and utilize your influence to change the notion of what it means to be a man. {Also encourage HS & college coaches to have their players listen to Mychael Thompson's radio broadcast the day he found out his son Klay Thompson was suspended because of marijuana possession. Worth a discussion with the troops.}
As for Lizzy Seeberg, I'm sorry that she felt the need to end her pain by taking her life.
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"In relation to total population of college student arrest rates, the numbers are about the same. See "HEY WE CAN SEE THE WHOLE WORLD FROM HERE," and that doesn't even take into account that a football team is all male compared to total 'co-ed' college population."
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