Β The football field is the gridiron. Β A place where modern-day warriors wage war on the opposition. Β Nobody has time to watch their language, right?
The Fritz-Pollard alliance, which checks, the NFL for diversity, wants the league to put in a rule in which the players would be penalized 15 yards for using certain words, like the n-word or the f-bomb. Β They don’t mean “trash talk”, they mean hateful, discriminatory language that doesn’t have a place in the game.
But not everyone agrees. Β Some feel the move would layer yet another unnecessary rule on the game, and that players can police themselves if they really want to. Β Still others say, expecting players to soften up their language while they’re beating the crap out of each other is just unrealistic.
But with the Jonathan Martin/Richie Incognito situation still in memory, and the presence of openly gay players on the horizon, the league is taking a harder look at language. Β But should curbing it be an official part of the game?
Our Man on the Edge, Robert Wilder, took to the streets of Panthers Country to get some answers…
