I recently read an article of Brett Favre playing with multiple injuries that sparked my interest. In week 8, against the New England Patriots, Myron Pryor who plays defensive end for New England tacked Brett Favre who was left with a laceration on his chin. Favre needed 8 stitches to close the cut and was interviewed later saying that he planned on playing in week 9. This alone is over-conforming to norms in sports but this was not all that was wrong with the All-Pro quaterback. Favre was later quoted saying, "I have a broken foot. I have eight stitches in my chin. I've had tendinitis in my elbow, but I threw it as well as I have all season." Playing with this many injuries is ridiculous, let alone that he is over 40 years old. Favre has been doing this his entire career, never missing a start since his first start. This is a perfect example of over-conformity.
Levi L.
kin 332I.S3200
2 comments:
I thought over-conformity in sports was one the most interesting subjects we talked about this semester. I feel this way because it is so relatable for many of us in this class. I could be wrong, but I assume that many of us do have a sports participation background, recreational or on competitive teams. Even if none of us have participated in some form of over-conforming, I’m sure we know of someone else that has. Professional athletes still do this, as shown in this Favre example, but even college and high school athletes do it too. Over-conformity in sports is a tough subject. The athletes that excel and accomplish what they want are often those that have engaged in over-conformity in ways such as playing through injuries or doing whatever it takes. This idea of hurting yourself, physically or mentally, is suppose to be looked down upon, but it’s actually encouraged in sport because it’s supposed to benefit you and your team/sport performance. Over-conformity is a product of the individual, but also of coaches. They are the ones that should draw the line for athletes and step in to say when enough is enough. Instead, they are often just as enthralled with the idea of winning that they themselves will do whatever it takes for their team to win, such as playing their best athlete when they want to even when injured. I sprained my ankle in eighth grade and had to sit out the end of the soccer season. If I believed in over-conforming, I would have had the mindset of doing whatever it takes and play through the pain. Trying to toughen up and play through it would not have benefited me or my team so there wasn’t a need to risk injuring myself even more. I’m also glad that my coach didn’t push the idea of over-conforming on me either. Coaches are supposed to help us make the right decisions; some do and some don’t. I think that over-conforming in way of playing through an injury is just as bad as over-conforming and participating in the action of hazing.
T. Richmond
Kinesiology 332I, Sect 3017
Over-conformity in sports is something that will always stick with it regardless of what occurs. When you're a professional athlete, your job is the play in games and perform. Having a tough mental side to will yourself to perform in games while you are hurt shows courage, leadership, and determination. To these athletes, this is what they strive and practice for. They want all the glory they can have, whatever that cost might be. Playing injured can be justified for these elite athletes because their bodies are trained to deal with pain. Sure there is always a threshold of pain where you just can't go and that was seen tonight with Favre. The ultimate iron man finally rusted. Favre's over conformity has caused him pain and trouble, but its apart of being an athlete and he did all he could to make sure he showed up to work every day and never take a day off.
Steve C.
kin 332I.S3200
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