On the Couch : By Dr. Richard Lustberg

An Analysis of Current Topics and Issues in Sport
December 26, 2003

Kill: But Don’t Make a Cell Phone Call

Joe Horn’s cell phone antics last week which led to a redux of Terrell Owen’s commercial for Sharpie, and even brought back memories of the Iggy Shuffle, have been vehemently discussed by the media and sports fans.  The pundits and fans have ranted endlessly about the merits of these types of on field behaviors.  I truly found these discussions most amusing as well as perplexing and paradoxical.  Here’s why.

The NFL and the networks that televise football all have been known to glorify the lowest common denominator of a brutal sport in what is a blatant attempt to attract viewers.  As such they are more than tacitly condoning these behaviors. This is a good idea if it works, and it does.

Those who gravitate to the game either as a player or as a fan do so for emotional reasons. It is a sanctioned place where people can vent their angers and frustrations, hopes and dreams, and vent to their hearts content while attempting to escape from their daily routines.

Fans also come to watch a game which is basically an updated sublimated version of the Roman Coliseum where gladiators strut, dance, and pose to name a few of the things football players do.  Football is a game which features players hitting each other with such ferocity and force as to cause many career ending injuries and concussions. It is not a game for the faint of heart.

Football is also a physically challenging game that requires its players to have certain personality traits and skills that allows them to play with focus, controlled aggression, specific skill sets and specialized cognitive skills. It is a miracle that more mayhem and acting out in the manner in which the players do, does not occur more frequently than it does.

Asking players to exercise control and also call upon the required skills and emotions when needed is extremely difficult to do and presents many emotional challenges. It is not everyone that can take or give a beating, or put up with the rigorous physical and mental training it takes to play this game.

Thus, you see players having difficulty controlling their emotions at appropriate times.  I have yet to watch a game where there has not been an unsportsman-like conduct call.  Jeremy Shockey is a perfect example of a player who is having trouble exhibiting self-control. The actions of Owens and Horn are on this continuum.

Psychologically it has to be difficult and perhaps confusing for the players when the game is marketed the way it is, and the coaches and the fans expect and call for ferocious play.  So making a big deal about Joe Horn’s cell phone call is hypocritical and contrary to what they are being asked to do.

Kill but don’t make a cell phone call, a paradoxical situation at best.