Why Athletes Get into so Much Trouble and How We Can Stop It

By Robert Williams and Neil Norris

This book will highlight adverse athletic behavior as a global societal problem, backed up with key discussions among coaches, athletic directors, and, of course, the athletes themselves. Readers will find case studies of adverse athletic behavior through the lives of individuals such as Lance Armstrong, O. J. Simpson, and Ray Rice. There are also tough but necessary truths to be discovered about educational institutions, concussions, and the internal operations of athletic organizations like the NFL and NCAA.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jun 29, 2017
• ISBN: 9781524696306

Robert Williams

Robert Williams received his degree in astrophysics from the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in 1998, and is a former array operator for the Very Large Array, the world's largest phased radio telescope. His previous novels include Peculiar, MO, The Storms of Eternity, and The Remembrance.

Book preview

WHY

ATHLETES

GET INTO SO MUCH

TROUBLE,

AND HOW WE CAN STOP IT

Robert Williams

AuthorHouse™

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.authorhouse.com

Phone: [phone]

©

2017 Robert Williams. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,

or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 06/09/2017

ISBN: 978-1-5246-9629-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5246-9630-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017909236

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and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Shutterstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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CONTENTS

Disclaimer

Foreword

Introduction

Chapter 1 The Growing Epidemic of Adverse Athlete Behavior

Chapter 2 The Price They Pay

Chapter 3 The Truth about Concussions

Chapter 4 Who Is to Blame?

Chapter 5 Am I My Brother’s Keeper?

Chapter 6 The Hard Truth

Chapter 7 Changing the Game

Chapter 8 One Solution to the Problem

Contact the Williams Program

Special Thanks

Bibliography

Written by: Robert Williams

Edited by: Kevin Quirk

Cover Design: Daniel Lorenzano

For general inquiries contact: Sunquilla Publishing PO Box 522 Fishkill, NY 12524 [phone]

Disclaimer

The information contained in this book is for general information purposes only. The book makes no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability of the information, products or services, for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is, therefore, strictly at your own risk.

The author takes no responsibility for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from the contents of this book.

Liability Disclaimer:

By reading this book, you assume all risks associated with using the advice, data and suggestions given below, with a full understanding that you, solely, are responsible for anything that may occur as a result of putting this information into action in any way, and regardless of your interpretation of the advice. Further, due to FERPA and or HIPPA regulations the names, identities and locations of certain individuals that appear in this book have been changed to protect the privacy of the individuals involve.

Foreword

A mistake repeated more than once is a decision

- Paolo Coelho

I’m brash, I’m loud, I’m passionate, I’m vocal, I’m opinionated and I’m complicated. At first glance, these personality traits could easily be misconstrued as negative. Under certain circumstances, they make for a volatile combination that opens the door for tons of poor decisions and lots of negative behavior. However, as I learned to accept these character traits, I also had to learn to balance them. Moreover, I had to master the ability to leverage them and put them to good use. But I needed a little help along the way.

In retrospect, I have failed way more times than I have succeeded. I can recall countless times where I said or did something that wasn’t in my best interest. The results were usually disastrous. When I found myself in these situations, I always replayed them in my head to determine if another outcome were possible. My memories are filled with these stored moments. I have spent lots of time hitting that replay button to walk through the choices I made as well as the alternate choices that were available and how those choices impacted me and others.

When considering all the trials and tribulations we go through in this thing called life, we would be remiss not to understand all the tools we have at our disposal when it comes to decision making and informed choices. Every waking moment provides an opportunity to make a choice that could help or hinder our progression on this journey. Growing up in East Baltimore provided me with an infinite amount of opportunities to make choices that could positively or negatively impact my life going forward. Now this is my chance to pay it forward by sharing some insight into what it takes to maintain self-discipline and own up to being your brother’s keeper.

There is a shared responsibility when it comes to getting through the tough times growing up. Friends, homies, peers, contemporaries, associates and acquaintances all play a part in shaping your character as an adolescent. When it comes time to make a decision or venture out to that proverbial fork in the road, what do we do? Do we have rhetorical conversations with ourselves? Do we lean on our support system for advice? Or do we throw caution to the wind and make an on-the-spot decision that will jeopardize our present and possibly our future?

Most of us have thrown caution to the wind on more than one occasion. We have scoffed at common sense and that gut feeling we get before we make a really bad decision. I know that I have. When I was young, I could run faster and jump higher than most of my friends. I made my way onto a few teams, but each time I would butt heads with the coach and wind up quitting. When it came to organized sports, I was my own worst enemy.

Had I not learned anything from my decisions, I would have continued to display destructive behaviors without taking accountability for them. I was never one to point fingers at anyone for my missteps. I was also never one to play the victim of my own piss-poor decisions. I had to take ownership of my decisions and my behaviors and finally figure out how to address them.

When I learned to own up to my actions and to help others in the process, I became the most powerful person I knew. As an adult, I came back to organized sports as a youth football, baseball and soccer coach and provided college access strategies to high school student-athletes. I have discovered that accountability is a quality that comes with trial and error. It’s a lifetime journey of self-actualization, mistakes and missteps. But with that journey comes the clarity and strength to reach out to others for help and to offer insight and assistance to those who may need it.

I have learned to trust my instincts and to leverage those qualities that I mentioned at the start of this Foreword. I’m still brash, loud, passionate, opinionated and vocal. However, through developing relationships with mentors, mentees, peers and contemporaries, I can juxtapose these qualities with sound advice, sound advising, candid conversations and dynamic work environments that challenge me to demonstrate my ability to remain calm, to call upon reason, to contemplate, to research and to listen. Relationships are important to personal and professional growth. Knowing that there is an exchange of so much in this give and take is how we truly become our brother’s keeper.

Neil Norris

President/COO

Athcorp

Introduction

Why are more and more athletes getting into serious trouble these days?

That’s the question we can’t help asking ourselves when we see and hear all the media stories about sports stars in the public spotlight not for something great they did on the field but for something bad they did off the field. Instead of trying to keep up with the latest leaders in home runs or touchdowns, we’re tracking the latest charges leveled against athletes all over the country, some whose names we already knew as superstars and others whose names and reputations will be forever attached to what they did wrong. The crimes spill out like categories of sports statistics: rape, domestic violence, assault, theft, burglary, possession or distribution of drugs, embezzlement and even homicide.

We shake our heads and wonder what’s going on. Where did all these bad apples come from? How can anyone who has gained fame or fortune playing a game they love turn into a common criminal? We want to throw the bums in jail, lock the door and throw away the key—unless the bad apple plays for our team, in which case we immediately assume he or she has been falsely accused and hope that athlete finds some way to get off the hook.

One thing’s for sure. This problem shows no signs of going away any time soon. On the contrary, all signs point to a continued increase in the numbers of athletes getting into serious trouble outside of their sport. If left unchecked, athletes will go on displaying negative behavior that has a resounding effect not only on their lives, their families, their teams and their communities but on all of society. Athlete involved incidents of criminal or destructive behavior will keep popping up in the news at a steady rate until the whole issue is understood, progressively addressed and steered toward a bold new solution.

That’s right, someone or something is going to have to emerge to stop this cycle of sports heroes acting totally out of line. At least the problem is beginning to become the subject of some talk shows. So-called experts appear and point out the obvious: from Little League to high school to college to pro sports, more and more athletes, along with many coaches and parents, are making news because of incidents of bad behavior. They also note that these incidents of misconduct are increasing exponentially in seriousness and scope.

We have even witnessed examples of entire sports programs torn apart because of criminal behavior. None were more jolting or dramatic than the controversy surrounding the Penn State football program. Due to the fallout linked to the criminal acts of Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, head football coach Joe Paterno and other coaches and administrators were suspended, fired, arrested outright or had their reputations permanently tarnished. The NCAA leveled extreme sanctions against the school’s athletic program, including fines, probation, a long postseason ban and the rescinding of victories from previous years. Some of those sanctions were eventually rescinded, but this was one of many cases that shocked the public and drove home the reality that something hideous had latched itself onto a landscape that we want to believe is all about fun. More recently, the Baylor University athletics program is yet again embroiled in another scandal involving its football program. A member of the women’s volleyball team was reportedly drugged and gang raped by as many as eight members of the football team. According to a lawsuit already on file involving precious incidents, approximately 31 Baylor football players are alleged to have committed at least 52 sexually related crimes between 2011 and 2014.

So, we know the problem is real. It’s being talked about more these days partly because we have recently begun to see a change in how the sports media responds to these sad stories. Instead of minimizing or practically ignoring these incidents of adverse athlete behavior, they’re beaming the spotlight on them. As a result, sports insiders no longer have the luxury of maintaining their out of sight, out of mind mentality. Administrators and team officials are being held responsible for their athletes’ actions and their own handling of what happens when an athlete does something wrong. The do nothing approach by which sports administrators could ignore these problems doesn’t work anymore. Sports fans and the general public have begun to recognize that these sports superstars are not so super after all.

The reality is that these individuals are just as vulnerable and equally susceptible to the same life conditions that affect us all. In other words, we all have an equal opportunity to screw up. The only difference is that most of these guys and gals have a lot more money and resources to call upon when they get caught committing some destructive or criminal act, and they hope those resources will just make the problem go away. In pro sports especially, teams also ratchet up their power and money to try to squash the story. But that tactic doesn’t always work nowadays, as a growing surge of people are demanding that these incidents are taken seriously, with real punishment being dished out.

Despite all the increased attention on this glaring problem in sports, we haven’t seen many suggestions on how to solve it. Very little is being done to stop this negative behavior and everything that contributes to it.

There is little or no emphasis on educating athletes from youth sports to the pros regarding what these harmful or criminal acts are and how to avoid falling into them. There is little being done to make sure athletes are held accountable for their actions, not just when it escalates into the worst misdeeds but way back when negative behavior first showed up in their lives. There is little being done to mentor athletes when they do something wrong, to support and guide them so that one incident does not breed many more. There is little attention given, especially in high school and college sports, to caring for our athletes as people and not just performers.

My mission is to do what I can to be an important and effective part of that badly needed solution. That’s why I launched the Williams Program, a comprehensive approach to adverse athlete behavior and poor decision-making exhibited by athletes and sports organizations at any level. Through our work with colleges and universities, we are taking a proactive approach to reduce or mitigate the number of adverse incidents involving that school’s student-athletes. We aim to directly address and modify adverse behavioral tendencies, one athlete at a time.

Our behavioral enhancement program includes an educational component to teach athletes what they really need to know to stay out of trouble, a mentoring system to ensure that athletes have day-to-day support to navigate their personal lives as well as their athletic involvement, a commitment to work with athletic and university officials to ensure accountability for athletes’ misconduct, and support and guidance for those young men and women who do commit misdeeds. From the time we implement our program, our goal is to assist coaches and athletic administrators in understanding why they