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Old 06-09-2005   #92
Hostile
Right Kind of Guy
 
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Apr 2004
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LaTunaNostra
There's another factor too - the fact that football is one of the few professions grounded in physical violence, in hitting, and contact and aggression. You can't be a milquetoast and play the pro game.

The use of steroids (of course, illegally) only escalates the over abundance of testosterone. I am willing to bet that psychologically as well as physically, there are some players who are less equipped to 'switch off' the aggression mode when they return to 'civilian' life.

This was always the "Gastineau" rationale/cop out and it's no excuse for violence, but the nature of the game, which is fundamentally to excel at controlled violence, coupled with the environmental influences of deprived backgrounds for so many, PLUS being young and dumb..well...it probably takes considerably more character for a rich, young pro athlete to stay out of trouble than most of us.
More good points. These guys can go into a bar or restaurant with enough money to buy the entire place a meal and can easily walk out later that night having been comped every drink and meal.

They can walk into a strip club and actually leave with the dancers as opposed to fantacizing about it.

It is a lifestyle of privilege. You add anything like alcohol, drugs, peer pressure, steroids, etc. to the mix and it can be a ticking bomb.
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