COLUMN: NFL may now require acting lessons

There are times that I wonder why professional athletes do the things they do. Many make salaries that most of us may never see in a lifetime. Millions of dollars get dropped on them and they still can’t manage to stay out of controversy.

Take Tiger Woods for example. His rise to the top as the world’s best golfer just wasn’t enough so he had to go and fool around on his gorgeous European wife.

Then there was the Michael Vick controversy some years back. When does making millions justify the cruelty of running a dog-fighting ring?

To top it all off, many Americans sat on the edge of their seats all summer hoping the NFL lockout would be resolved before the start of the season. An insane amount of money gets thrown around, but it never seems like enough.

Two weeks ago, another NFL related issues came to center stage. On Sept. 19, two players for the New York Giants had to showcase their drama skills by pretending to be hurt when the St. Louis Rams were running a no-huddle rush down the field.

Defensive players Deon Grant and Jacquian Williams both fell to the field like sacks of potatoes, even though they had survived the last play and were walking around just fine moments before that.

When I heard about this, I was literally shocked. Who in their right mind would do something like that with all the cameras rolling?
I never played football as a youth, but I did play soccer. I reveled in every moment I could play and hated taking an injury timeout. There were times I would shake off a slide tackle and continue limping around the field. I refused to succumb to the pain.

After the Giants’ fiasco, the NFL commission issued a warning to all the teams saying that they wouldn’t tolerate these kinds of actions on field and would start issue fines for observing any blatantly fake injuries.

I wondered at that point if college athletics had any kind of rules in place to prevent our own players from committing a falsified injury. I sought out a few people on campus to see if they could enlighten me on the subject.

In the athletic office, I had a moment to talk with NIC Booster Club and Athletics Activities Coordinator Patty Stewart and she shared a similar view. She felt that many of our student athletes wouldn’t fake any kind of injury because every moment was precious on the field.

When a group of unpaid student athletes are fighting for game time, it’s not likely anyone wants to give up their spot easily. That is true love for the game.

Before I finalized my opinion, I sought out the head of it all, Athletic Director Al Williams. What he said about everything actually opened my mind to a new view.
He explained that though it might be unethical to fake an injury, many sporting events over the years have been decided by strategic moves played on the field.
If our players are running out of gas, it might be a pivotal move to fake an injury and allow the team to recover for a minute. Those extra moments to catch their breath could be the deciding factor on who wins.

I won’t defend the Giants’ action on the field that Monday night, especially when they were ahead that game, but I do see both sides of the fence.
Maybe the NFL players could benefit from a couple acting classes. It’s not like they can’t afford it. At least they should be conscious that the camera is always rolling, so play that “strategic move“ with care.