So why did Coy Wire and several other
NFL stars, such as Jonathan Vilma, participate in purposely inflicting pain to opposing
NFL players? According to Wire, the teams were falling susceptible to
groupthink. Wire explains the idea of groupthink as, “a group of individuals
who come together and do bad, irrational things that when as individuals they
would see and assess that same situation as being wrong.” Thus he claims the
players could not see the bad in the situation because they were too focused on
winning. The players were accepting that their behaviors were ok because they
were going along with how their teammates were behaving.
After hearing Wire’s perspective on
the situation one cannot help to wonder, is groupthink really to blame here, or
was the money giving the football players incentive to behave barbarically? In
my opinion, groupthink affected the way the players were thinking. It seems
that the players were behaving unethically only because the rest of the team
though it was ok to do so. These men sign large contracts for thousands, if not
millions, of dollars. Thus, the thought that they were acting out on account of
the money is unthinkable. Could the extra $1,000 to $1,500 really be
significant enough to cause this type of behavior? I am interested in hearing
anyone’s take to the situation.
Is there ever a limit to money? Millionaires and even billionaires continue to work in order to become richer. These players were trying to earn easy money, but I do not think that was the main reason. Players who "hit hard" are considered a good player. If NFL players are getting extra money to do something that will make them look like a better player, why not? Of course it is wrong to intentionally hurt other players, but pride and ignorance can make a person make terrible decisions.
ReplyDeleteI side with groupthink over money. Think about it, people do stupid stuff everyday with their friends and in teams where money isn't even a factor. Groupthink is especially real in high charged team sports such as football. Where it is all about acceptance and winning. Plus that $1000-$1500 is like one night out on the town for them.
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