NFL
By: Zachary Draves
The tragic and untimely death of Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Dwayne Haskins shocked the sports world.
When the news broke that the 24 year old was struck and killed by a truck in Florida this past weekend it sent a flurry of reaction all over social media, with the overwhelming majority giving their condolences and memorializing him as a loving man who cared about his family, friends, and fans.
However, there were at least two reactions that took away from his humanity and instead reduced him to a subhuman object.
The first being from ESPN’s Adam Schefter, who proceeded to put out this tweet once it came to light.
How about “ Dwayne Haskins, son, husband, buckeye brother, friend, beloved teammate has passed away” TF his career ups and downs have to do with him unfortunately losing his life🤦🏾♂️ STFU! Let his family & friends grieve instead of throwing shade. Praying for the Haskins family!! pic.twitter.com/gb1D9KcgCQ
— Cardale Jones (@CJ1two) April 9, 2022
The idea that in a moment where his loved ones are grieving you put out his shortcomings as a player as if a football player was all that he was about was not only grossly insensitive but simply not necessary.
But Schefter’s tweet pales in comparison to what was put out by NFL Hall of Famer Gil Brandt on the NFL Network’s Satellite Radio show.
Here is @Gil_Brandt on NFL radio when asked about Dwayne Haskins.
“He was a guy that was living to be dead.”
“It was always something” with Haskins
“Maybe it he stayed in school a year he wouldn’t do silly things [like] jogging on a highway.” pic.twitter.com/cuZZdqYOck— Pete Damilatis (@PeteDamilatis) April 9, 2022
He then had the audacity to attack Dwayne for hosting a bowling party during the 2019 draft and charging people $50.
Both commentators’ issues apologies but the damage was already done.
The fact remains that Dwayne was a good and decent man who loved life and it was tragically taken away from him at a young age and that’s all that matters.
His skill as a player and whatever supposed faults he had in his personal life are inconsequential to how he died.
Unfortunately, this is nothing new when it comes to how black men and women are treated posthumously when their lives are reduced to pathology rather than humanity in certain cases such as Trayvon Martin, George Floyd, Eric Garner, Breonna Taylor, Attiana Jefferson, and Sandra Bland to name a few.
If god forbid Tom Brady was struck by a moving vehicle and died right before he makes his comeback from a quick retirement, nobody on god’s green earth would ever minimize him in any capacity.
Furthermore, we should remember Dwayne as a survivor of abuse when it was revealed last year that his wife was charged with physically assaulting him in a Las Vegas hotel room which resulted in him losing a tooth and cut upper lip.
His story helped shine a light on male trauma survivors in a society that wants to stigmatize vulnerability among men and boys who are often trapped in a box that narrowly constructs manhood with little room for escape.
In other words, Dwayne’s story showed that domestic violence can happen to anyone and that all survivors regardless of gender or identity should be validated, believed, and supported.
At the end of the day, both Brandt and Schefter should be ashamed of themselves and one would hope that they would know better.
Athletes constitute a representation of strength, skill, and stamina that forces us to marvel at their abilities and accomplishments and due to the hyper exalted and commercialization of athletic bodies, we tend to see them as robotic product placement without any true sense of feeling, mind, or spirit.
Hopefully, the death of Dwayne Haskins reminds us that athletes are just as human as anyone else and that they shouldn’t be forced into commercialized and societal objectification in order to feel validation and love.
(Courtesy:Brian Westerholt/Associated Press)
My former college basketball coach provided myself and my teammates with a simple check list on what matters in life and they were the following:
Family
School
Basketball
Let’s model those principles, shall we?
Rest in Peace Dwayne Haskins
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