Let me state that the following subject came to mind because I happened to be watching NFL pre-season football the other night. The game played was between the San Francisco 49ers and Denver Broncos. During a break in play the camera panned over to one of the Broncos rookie players who had a funny looking hair cut for which the announcer jokingly stated that the veteran players must be initiating the rookies in camp. After that statement by the announcer I immediately thought that the Denver Broncos and the NFL must know that is hazing.
We are all aware that hazing has been recognized as a problem commonly associated with athletics at all levels of sport. As such, many sport organizations, leagues and institutions have implemented anti-hazing policies. Furthermore, many states have anti-hazing laws in the hope of deterring and stopping hazing all together. However, anti-hazing policies have not stopped the act of hazing by athletes at all levels of sports.
The issue of hazing cannot be ignored by sport leaders at any level. Hazing happens in many different sport settings, comes in many forms, and has varying degrees of ramifications for those involved. Athletic hazing is something that has been around for many years and an internet search shows the number of reported incidents and increased severity of these incidents have continued. Just yesterday this was reported regarding hazing.
By Fred Cromartie, Ed.D.
Dr. Cromartie, is the Director of Doctoral Studies at the United States Sports Academy, and can be reached at cromarti@ussa.edu.