San Francisco 49ers linebacker Aldon Smith was charged with a DUI on Jan. 28 in Miami Beach. His arrest earned him three and a half hours in jail and a bond payment of $1,000. According to Florida state law, drivers charged with a DUI can receive up to six months in prison.
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The news forces most football fans, especially fans of the 49ers, to a conflict between sports and justice. Unfortunately, fans often side with the former.
After they get past their initial anger, fans will weigh the interests of the team. The 49ers had the best rushing defense this year, and their star rookie was a huge part of the effort. A frontrunner for the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award, Smith led all rookies with 14 sacks in the regular season, forced two fumbles and recorded a safety.
Despite his performance on the field and the popularity he received from it, Smith deserves to pay the full price of the law. If he does not, his acquittal — by the courts of Miami and public opinion — will only add to his ego, and we will have failed to send a stern message to professional athletes.
Take Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger as an example. Roethlisberger was accused of assaulting a 20-year-old female college student in the restroom of a Milledgeville, Ga., bar. The disciplinary action taken was a four-game suspension. True, his reputation took a huge hit. But Roethlisberger eventually returned to the field, and Steelers nation has been forgiving since he led the team to Super Bowl XLV. The focus shifted from what happened to the young woman to what happened on the gridiron.
Possibly the biggest scandal of all occurred back in 2003 when Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Kobe Bryant was charged with the assault of a 19-year-old female employee of a Colorado hotel. Bryant could have served anything from four years to life in prison or 20 years to life on probation. The charge also carried a fine of up to $750,000. The case never went to trial as it was settled out of court. A year after he was charged with assault, Bryant signed a $136 million contract and regained endorsements from Nike and Coke. Lakers fans have found it easier to accept their franchise player since winning consecutive championships in 2009 and 2010.
Fans are often too willing to let the accused players slide because they are good at their job. Professional sports bring communities together in a way that many other parts of daily life cannot. If a star player were arrested and sentenced to serve jail time, the sports community would protest because their bonding mechanism would have been broken.
Sadly, this results in a diffusion of criminal acts and repeat offenders in sports. While it is easier and simpler to blame athletes, we should blame ourselves for propagating a culture in which entertainment and sports outweigh justice.
