2008 Woodie Awards
Drawing the line between sports and entertainment
Rashad Morgan
Issue date: 9/15/05 Section: Editorials
- Page 1 of 1
The NFL season has officially started with the first Monday Night Football game played this past Monday. Every sports fan had to tune in to the matchup, which was the Philadelphia Eagles at the Atlanta Falcons.
For the past few years, this matchup has been brewing into a rivalry, for the simple fact that you have Donavann McNabb versus Michael Vick, but this game particularly was significant because it was a rematch of last years' NFC championship game, which the Falcons lost.
Given the setting, everyone's emotions were already high, so the story goes...about an half hour before the game Eagles linebacker Jeremiah Trotter pushed Falcons cornerback Kevin Mathis, then Mathis responded with a punch, which caused a near all-out brawl.
As a result Trotter and Mathis were eventually ejected.
Another brawl nearly broke out right after Eagles' players started to group at midfield standing on top of the Falcons' logo, which caused the whole Falcons team to rush to the 50-yard line and fight for position.
By the looks on the players' faces, this was not pre scripted.
Professional players need to learn to know when to draw the line in the beginning. No man wants to be disrespected in any way, especially when you are in front of a viewing audience, because everyone will fight for superiority, and this could be a never ending battle or turn into a 100-year old rivalry.
The bottom line is that everyone needs to respect others in all aspects of life. In this situation it cost the Eagles their first loss of the season, and it might have indirectly affected the situation that McNabb is in now with the injury he suffered during the game.
For the past few years, this matchup has been brewing into a rivalry, for the simple fact that you have Donavann McNabb versus Michael Vick, but this game particularly was significant because it was a rematch of last years' NFC championship game, which the Falcons lost.
Given the setting, everyone's emotions were already high, so the story goes...about an half hour before the game Eagles linebacker Jeremiah Trotter pushed Falcons cornerback Kevin Mathis, then Mathis responded with a punch, which caused a near all-out brawl.
As a result Trotter and Mathis were eventually ejected.
Another brawl nearly broke out right after Eagles' players started to group at midfield standing on top of the Falcons' logo, which caused the whole Falcons team to rush to the 50-yard line and fight for position.
By the looks on the players' faces, this was not pre scripted.
Professional players need to learn to know when to draw the line in the beginning. No man wants to be disrespected in any way, especially when you are in front of a viewing audience, because everyone will fight for superiority, and this could be a never ending battle or turn into a 100-year old rivalry.
The bottom line is that everyone needs to respect others in all aspects of life. In this situation it cost the Eagles their first loss of the season, and it might have indirectly affected the situation that McNabb is in now with the injury he suffered during the game.
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