This weekend all NFL teams had patches on their jerseys to
celebrate the Hall of Fame’s 50th Anniversary. Minnesota Vikings
punter, Chris Kluwe is who is often outspoken about important causes, mostly
gay rights. Used a post-it note to cover the Hall of Fame patch, the post-it
said “Vote Ray Guy”. Ray Guy is an ex-NFL punter who was in the top five
punters in the league during his 14-year career. Chris Kluwe wants to see Ray
Guy to become the first punter induced into the NFL Hall of Fame, yet the Hall
of Fame voters don’t usually honor players whose only contribution is on
special teams. Chris Kluwe is excepting to receive a $5k fine from the league
for placing the post-it on his uniform but he has said that his actions are
worth the fine if it means opening the eyes of the Hall of Fame voters to truly
understand what punters do for teams. This act is showing that professional
athletes use their stardom to help aid in what they believe is true and to try
and get others to follow and to open the eyes of those that do not understand.
This was explain the in film “More then just a game” by Dave Zirin, when he
showed another NFL player, Scott Fujita who used his stardom to help aid in gay
rights, even though he was not homosexual, he showed that with stardom
individuals will follow a cause if they see professional athletes standing up
for a cause they believe in.
KIN 332I
T/TH 9:30-10:45
Alfred Becerra
3 comments:
This is truly an example of a professional athlete using his celebrity status to implicate a form of social change. Although the social change is minor; it was an action to get fans to perceive the hall-of-fame induction in a different spectrum, apart from the status quo. Chris Kluwe knew he would be fined for having a post-it note covering the hall-of-fame patch and decided to go through with his idea anyway, hoping for fans to just think about inducting players in all positions. Kluwe had the right idea because this action was blown up on ESPN and made NFL news for the week; even if fans do not agree with Kluwe, his opinions have been heard and have got the fans to at least acknowledge and ponder about the idea. Kluwe has had millions of people/fans spark up conversation about the subject of "punters being inducted into the hall-of-fame," by this post-it note idea that he knew would catch the media's attention. Kluew used the media to broadcast his opinion; and the $5,000 fine, given by the NFL, was nothing compared to the cost of advertising a product on national television. Celebrities and athletes have a very big impact on a matter of social change and they have all of the resources to achieve it: popularity among society, network connections, and upper-class income.
First comment on "Vote RAY Guy" was by Michael Miller, KIN332i sec.06
-i forgot to post my name and class
Like Scott Fujita, Chris Kluwe uses his position as a NFL player to send a message. In addition to supporting Ray Guy, Kluwe has been an open opposition to an amendment in Minnesota that would ban gay marriage. Kluwe sees the bigger picture in that, football is only for a short span of their lives and use their platform to make a difference in society.
-Ken Nakagawa (008817742)
Tue/Thu 12:30-1:45
Post a Comment