Redskins defensive tackle, Albert Haynesworth, will be added to the long list of professional athletes who have had run ins with the law; two of the common problems athletes find themselves in trouble for are sexual abuse/harassment, and assault. He was indicted on a misdemeanor charge of sexual assault Tuesday, April 26, for an incident that occurred with a waitress at the W Hotel in Washington, DC. Allegedly he caressed the breast of the waitress white she was clearing his table in February and he will be arraigned on May 10 for his charges. Haynesworth, was also recent charged with assault in connection with a road rage incident on the Fairfax County Parkway, in Northern Virginia February 2. He allegedly hit the driver while he was sitting in his vehicle. The trial to settle this dispute is scheduled for May 26.
After reading this short story in the local section of the post it brought a few
things to mind. First, did Albert think the man sitting in his car on the parkway was an offensive lineman from the famous Skins rival the Dallas Cowboys? Even though these charges are "alleged" what in the world was he thinking. Second, I thought about the charges of sexual assault. Not only can he not "allegedly" drive in the active lanes of a four lane parkway, but he also can't "allegedly" keep his hands to himself. Has he officially gone over the edge? Last summer when Albert was having trouble passing the team conditioning test in order to participate in training camp team practices the team should have really decided if he was worth keeping around. And with all these misdemeanor charges and local press attention he isn't contributing to the rebuild of his reputation with Washington Redskins fans and local sports enthusiasts. Third, I thought about the website we looked at in class today listing all the arrests in professional and collegiate sports. Have we created a society that celebrates athletes arrests and criminal activity of sports and celebrities, while downplaying their positive contributions to their local communities? Yep! When you're watching a TV show and a disclaimer taking up the bottom fourth of the screen says "Lindsay Lohan is back in Jain for 120 days" with frequent interruptions updating you of the progress in the story you realize this just might be the case? Do you think we do this because we would rather see someone, we feel has it all, fail than succeed culturally? Is it because we prefer to talk about all the bad versus all of the good? Or do you think the bad is more exciting?
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