On ABC's "World News Tonight" on Sunday, ESPN's Dan
Patrick reported on the NFL's attempt to ban its players
from making the throat-slashing gesture. Patrick said
"apparently somebody didn't get the league memo," as Saints
DL Willie Whitehead did the gesture after a sack Sunday vs.
the Rams. Patrick: "He was not penalized, but we're sure he
will hear from the league office" ("World News Tonight,"
11/28). Whitehead, on his gesture: "It wasn't that. I was
doing something else; I was giving to God. Nobody said
anything about it on the field" (USA TODAY, 11/29).
THE FINAL CUT? In Chicago, Melissa Isaacson compares
the NFL's throat-slashing ban to the cases of Colts DB Steve
Muhammad (charged of battery against his late wife and their
6-year-old son) and Panthers WR Rae Carruth (charged with
conspiring to kill his pregnant girlfriend) under the
header, "Off-The-Field Gestures Worse Than Those On It."
Isaacson: "The league is big on faxes. And Web sites. And
feel-good commercials that make its officials, players and
coaches appear like members of one big, deliriously happy
family. But try as it might, it can't do anything about
those weekly stories on family members who beat up their
pregnant wives and shoot their girlfriends" (CHICAGO
TRIBUNE, 11/29). ESPN's Dick Schaap, on the league's
efforts to curb acts/gestures of violence: "Isn't there a
double standard at work here? This is a league that in its
promos, its videos, promotes violence and then says, 'But we
don't want to look like we're violent.'" Bob Ryan: "Of
course. They've always had this problem with ... drawing
the line -- the fine line between aggression and proper
football technique and violence." Mike Lupica: "It's about
time [the league banned] that throat-slashing thing" ("The
Sports Reporters," 11/28). In Palm Beach, Mark Woods: "I'm
not in favor of the gesture. I'm in favor of the opportunity
to make it. ... Football is a violent game. And although
the NFL would never admit it, it doesn't want to eliminate
all the real violence. Just the pretend stuff" (PALM BEACH
POST, 11/28). In N.Y., William Rhoden: "I'm not a fan of
the slash, but I am a fan of freedom of expression,
especially in the context of a game." Noting the case of
Carruth, Rhoden wrote the "more difficult task for the NFL
is balancing symbolic gestures, which mean nothing, with
conflicting images, which mean everything. This is a job
the league is not equipped to handle" (N.Y. TIMES, 11/27).
Pro Football Weekly Senior Editor Michael Lev: "I personally
think it's an overreaction on the part of the league. The
N.F.L. should have greater concerns than how players
celebrate a touchdown." Smith College Economics Professor
Andrew Zimbalist: "They [the NFL] have a product to promote
and want to market it in an attractive way. Some fans think
it's obnoxious -- and there might be some racism in that --
but the N.F.L. doesn't want to turn white fans off" (N.Y.
TIMES, 11/28). In Cincinnati, Tim Sullivan: "Paul Tagliabue,
in the interests of his game, has an obligation to penalize
such behavior. The players should make it their challenge
to come up with something more clever" (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER,
11/28). CBS SportsLine's Len Pasquarelli wrote that the
gesture "had no place in the game. There are times when the
league seems to have sanitized the game way too much. The
action taken on the spate of 'throat slash' moves ... was
not one of those examples" (CBS SportsLine, 11/26). In
Miami, Greg Cote wrote that the gesture "is an affront to
sportsmanship and deserved to be banned. Nobody said the
NFL was a democracy" (MIAMI HERALD, 11/26). In DC, Leonard
Shapiro wrote that the league's TV partners should "stop
showing the gestures" (WASHINGTON POST, 11/27).
IN FOCUS: ABC's "Good Morning America" examined
domestic violence in relation to pro sports, focusing
particularly on the cases of Muhammad and Carruth. ABC's
Robin Roberts: "The league has looked into it, they do have
policies. But there needs to be zero-tolerance when it
comes to something like this." "Pros and Cons" author Jeff
Benedict said the NFL has "a policy that they tote as a get-
tough crime policy, but it really doesn't have any teeth in
it." Roberts: "Why not be proactive?" (ABC, 11/29).
