With the National Football League (NFL) draft coming up in about a month, I would like to reflect on the racism found within it. After taking a class entitled “Communication in Sport” during my first semester at Jewell, this became a focus of mine.

Every year, millions of viewers from around the world watch the NFL Draft; it’s almost like Christmas time for the thirty-two teams because they are getting new faces to help them win. The individuals that are drafted are having new experiences that they have likely dreamed of since they were young.

Each year, hundreds of potential new NFL players go through the NFL Combine, a series of physical and mental tests that determine how high their draft stock should be. As these players are being evaluated, media giants like ESPN and the NFL Network provide coverage of how they are doing during each event. This is where things take a turn for the racist.

During the entire draft process, commentators describe white and black players differently. I encourage you to listen to the broadcasters and how they talk about individuals going through the draft. Almost immediately, you will recognize patterns in how black players are described and how white players are described. Black athletes are more likely than not judged based on pure athletic talent, while white athletes are more likely to be judged on mental strength. Throughout the draft coverage, the analysts will show plays from the players’ collegiate football days. For example, a six-foot, two-hundred pound black running back could make an elusive play, and the analyst would deem that the player was using his pure, natural running ability. On the other hand, if a running back that was the same exact size, but white, his ability to make the play would be because of his intellect and ability to recognize the defensive player’s strategy.

While the running backs could do the exactly same thing, the way it is described perpetuates racial stereotypes in sports. In general, the sports population is conditioned to believe that black athletes have a natural talent, and that white athletes have to develop the ability to be intelligent while on the field.

Running backs are an important part of the game, but the most blatant racism, in my mind, is primarily seen from the quarterback position. Again, I urge you to listen to how these players are described. The white quarterback is often “smart,” “able to make the throw” and “has good playmaking vision,” while the black quarterback is described as “quick on his feet,” having a “rock-hard body” and being a “natural physical specimen.”

Although I have only highlighted the draft, these stereotypes are displayed throughout all sports. They come up in almost any athletic event at any given time. It is hard to change this way of systematic racism, but everyone needs to be aware of it for change. In daily conversation, I have caught myself discussing athletes in this way, but I stop and think about it. This is the best way to combat it. If everyone can become more conscious of this issue, then I strongly believe race-related incidents in sports would decrease dramatically.

The tough man’s game of having your “bell rung,” shaking it off and going back into the game, is and probably should be, long gone. It is my honest belief that the controversy of concussions in American football has been an issue in the last five to ten years.

Although it is the National Football League’s (NFL) responsibility to take care of its players, players need to know and understand the consequences of playing a physical contact sport. They should be aware that new equipment, rather than helping them to prevent injuries, is making them feel comfortable with the idea of “hitting hard,” which could cause traumatic injuries to the head and neck.

A significant number of ex-NFL football players argue that the NFL should be responsible for the concussions and brain injuries that take a toll on them.

At the start of the 2013 season, the Players Union and the NFL itself agreed on a $765 million legal settlement in hopes of putting the issue of concussions to sleep.

“The NFL is responsible, to a major extent. When I was playing we did not know about concussions. No one talked concussions. But in the last 10 years these guys knew that pain to the head was problematic; and, some of these doctors on the sidelines are more concerned, maybe, with pleasing the coach and getting the players back on the field right away . . . I think there is a problem in the NFL,” said Joe Namath, former Jets Quarterback.

The NFL has made attempts to improve since these veteran players have retired.

“The National Football League announced new rules governing concussion management. Players who have had a concussion will now only be allowed to return to the field after being cleared by an independent neurologist,” said Gina Shaw, writer for WEBMD.

The NFL has introduced a panoply of changes including limited contact in practice, crafting rules specifically to protect players from head injuries, establishing warnings of the dangers and consequences for giving concussions.

Regardless of the $765 million legal settlement in 2013, no money can pay for the problems concussions and brain injuries have caused for the former players of the NFL.

Is money really enough to quiet down this issue? According to the ex-NFL players, it is not.

On the flip side of the issue, a lot of people argue that the NFL should not be responsible. Instead, it should be the players’ responsibility to know the dangers of a physical contact sport like football. The NFL does not come down and give the players concussions, Ryan Derenbecker, Football Nation writer, argues. He instead faults sloppy play styles.

“The game has changed over the years because of this attitude among the players. In the early days of pro football, an NFL team’s equipment did not include a padded helmet with a facemask, or a plastic suit of armor that a knight would have envied,” Derenbecker said. “Such equipment was unnecessary, since players understood proper tackling form, and believed in sportsmanship and fair play, not in winning at any cost. Players had at least some form of respect for each other’s bodies and careers.”

He notes that rugby players largely avoid the same injuries even though they lack football players’ safety equipment. The “armor” he describes may be encouraging dangerous behavior rather than protecting players against it.

Derenbecker writes that the concussion lawsuit may ultimately steer talented players away from the game.

“With brain injuries come scared mothers, and potential future athletes being shunted off into baseball or soccer.  Without fresh talent, the game will die. And the cause of all this is those same people who are demanding a phony justice in their lawsuit,” Derenbecker said.

It is up to the players from the NFL to learn the fundamentals, tackle properly and just remember to play safely when they are out there. If they can do that, then they can set an example for younger players who are growing up from junior high to high school to college and then finally into the NFL, Arena Football, Canadian Football, etc.

Everyone can agree that the game of football has changed over time.  Some say it has changed for the better; some say it has changed for the worse.  When it comes down to it, in this scenario, blame the player and not the game.  This is an extreme statement, because people can not completely blame the player and say that he is at fault, but the players of the NFL are and should be responsible for what they are committing to do when they step out there on that football field.  If the players and the NFL work together and take the right precautions to solve the concussion and brain injury problem, then American sports fans can still hope to have the game of American Football.

Wealthy people are ruining soccer. It started in Europe and specifically in the English Premier League (EPL), but its trickle down effects can be seen in Major League Soccer in the United States. An expansion club in the MLS this year is New York City FC, for which a big player in world soccer, Frank Lampard, is supposed to be the designated player, or the most important and potentially highest paid player on the pitch.

In the past few years in the MLS, it has been commonplace for older, big name international players to come to the U.S. to end their careers when they cannotphysically compete in Europe any longer. Examples include David Beckham, Kaka, Jermain Defoe and Robbie Keane. So what is special in the case of Frank Lampard? It begins with Manchester City Football Club, and its run-in with the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the governing body of international soccer, and the Financial Fair Play rules (FFP). In May 2014, MCFC was fined 60 million euros because of overspending on players such as JesúsNavas and Álvaro Negredo in the previous transfer window, which led to the violation of FFP rules.

This seems as if it would have no effect on the MLS and US soccer in general, but in order to alleviate costs from this, MCFC helped to establish NYCFC and gained 80 percent ownership of the new MLS club.

But what about Frank Lampard? Many NYCFC fans are angry with MCFC because they extended the loan period, which originally lasts until just before the beginning of the MLS season through the first two months of the MLS season, even though NYCFC technically owns Lampard. In short, the wealthy owners chose to hold onto Lampard for MCFC’s needs rather than the needs of their new team. Despite using the new club as a way of dispersing debt, MCFC has withheld one of NYCFC’s most important players. MCFC have now come out and said that Lampard was never on a loan deal from NYCFC to MCFC, but rather MCFC owned Lampard, and he has signed an extension with them.

The fact that MCFC has decided to withhold Lampard altogether must be extremely frustrating for NYCFC fans. It reminds me of the commercial with the fisherman holding up a dollar while goading a woman trying to reach it.

Meanwhile, other smaller clubs in the world like Anzhi Makhachkala, who have broken FFP rules in the Russian Premier league, were forced to pay two million euros in fines, even after they were relegated to the secondary league of Russian soccer.

So what is the issue? Both teams broke FFP rules, right? The difference is that MCFC is a global brand, not just a national brand or even a league wide brand. The difference is that the wealthy owners of MCFC were a bit wealthier than those at Anzhi. Consider the sponsors for MCFC, Etihad Airways. A decade ago, there was almost no influence of international business from the Middle East in English soccer, but now the influence of wealthy business owners in Asia and the Middle East has become a big part of the European game.

The wealthy have ruined the game of soccer worldwide. Why? Not only has MCFC been able to create a new club in order to spread out its financial burden, affecting the MLS, but the competitive nature of soccer, especially in Europe, has decreased significantly in cup competitions such as the Football Association (FA) Cup.

Although many Americans are not knowledgeable where the English Premier League is concerned, soccer lovers like myself may have noticed the decreased competition that has come in recent years with the FA cup in England.

Why is this? It all goes back to money. Teams that make it into the EPL simply want to stay there because that is where the money is. The EPL has money because of their TV deals with media sources. This means that they split the money among each time for allowing their teams to be televised. For smaller clubs this provides somewhat of a boost, but for giant clubs like MCFC, this simply widens the gap more. Smaller teams in the EPL like West Ham United simply can’t spend as much on transfers in the summer and January like big clubs can. As a result, the gap between the best and the worst in English soccer widens more and more.

On a European scale, teams like Barcelona have suddenly come into more European success as a result of allowing big foreign businessman to invest in their team as well. I had never heard of Qatar until I saw “Qatar Airways” on the jerseys of Lionel Messi and Andrés Iniesta Luján. Even though Barcelona hasn’t been the best per say in the past few years, there was a period of two to three years when they were. Ironically, those same years in which Barcelona dominated Europe was about the same time as when wealthy investors and shirt sponsors spurred the economy of the club at Barcelona, which resulted in their domination of other teams.

Now, it isn’t necessarily a bad thing that investors have come into world soccer. This helps to grow smaller clubs that otherwise would have no worldwide recognition into mega clubs. The cost of this, though, is the disparity between the money that can be used to build up a team. A small team like West Ham United may be able to develop a youth player into a world-class talent, but eventually that talent will be lured away in favor of a bigger club with more money.

As much as I enjoy watching Real Madrid destroying a small team in La Liga, I feel there should be more equality. The FIFA FFP rules were a good start, but in the next decade soccer fans can only hope to see FIFA help soccer clubs in Europe and America become equally successful. I hope to see the level of competitiveness become an even playing field as opposed to seeing Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, PSG or any other big name European team win the Champions League every year. Maybe someday West Ham United could win the biggest trophy on the biggest stage of European soccer.