According to InfoPlease, there are about 1,696 players in the National Football League (NFL). The average income for an NFL player is about 1.9 million dollars per year. Some players even make over $10 million a year. What would you do with all that money, with all that power? Fame and money give you power because with money you can buy things and with fame you rise in the popularity scale. It's not just the NFL. It’s also the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Major League Baseball (MLB). According to Merriam-Webster, the definition of power is the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events. When someone has too much power, their actions are changed by the amount of power they have. Often athletes think they’re the best players in their sport and in society. Therefore, they abuse their power in three ways: domestic violence, sexual abuse and cheating.

Power drives the actions of the human body. This is definitely the case of ex-football player Ray Rice. According to SBNation,  Ray Rice was in an elevator with his now ex wife and they began a heated argument in February of 2014. He hit first and then she hit back. He then delivered the knockout blow. The videotape was found months earlier in early September of 2014. Ray Rice’s career was very successful. He was a Pro Bowl player and won the Super Bowl with the Baltimore Ravens in 2012. It can be argued that he thought he was the best player. After winning the Super Bowl he had an semi-good career, some more touchdowns and such. However, the fame took over him. He became more over-confident and spoiled with the power he was receiving. He thought he was the best. Therefore, when his wife talked back to him, he thought no one could do this. Therefore, he hit her thinking nothing would happen to him.

Similarly, O.J. Simpson was the same. He was an amazing football player, but received too much power and fame. This did not turn out well. Sadly, he abused and killed his then wife and ex wife Nicole Brown. Mike Gilbert, O.J.’s agent at the time said, “I have found evidence stating that Nicole came to the door with a knife.” This was found in RadarOnline. O.J. wasn’t used to someone holding a knife to him, so he killer her. He also was found not guilty when it was obvious he did these acts. He wasn’t found guilty because he was O.J. Simpson. O.J. was a very popular person at the time and no one wanted the blame for O.J. to be put in jail. His power convinced the African-American community. He made them believe that they were accusing him of doing the things he did because he was black. He made people think they were just being racist because he was black. In DailyMail, an african american juror named Lionel Cryer, who convinced the jury that O.J. was innocent. O.J. convinced Lionel that he was innocent. This case was broadcasted a little in live TV. Todd Boyd said to CBS, “I think the O.J. Simpson case is ultimately the reality TV show.” This shows that no one truly took it seriously because everyone thought O.J. did nothing. It shaped the way people think of African-Americans and the way athletes think of their ability to do things. Likewise, the african-american community used collective power to persuade the the jury that O.J. was not guilty. But it seemed that he realized his wrong doing. O.J. was condor however and came out and said he committed the crime.

Other famous sports figures have abused their power as well, such as Jerry Sandusky. Jerry was a Penn State defensive coordinator for the football team. He was trusted to run a youth football clinic with very young kids. He sexually abused the children in the clinic. He abused up to 10 kids as of 2011. The parents trusted him to take good care of the kids in the clinic, but he abused that power and harassed the children. He worked for Penn State, one of the biggest colleges in the country. Penn State knew exactly what he was doing and didn’t do anything and turned the other way. On The Washington Post, it states, “Four other former assistant football coaches at the school also were aware of Sandusky acting inappropriately with boys”. This further backs up that Penn State didn’t do anything even though they knew. He was never caught during it because of an important reason. Penn State was a powerhouse at the time; no one wanted to get in their way. This was a horrible thing and he shouldn’t have gotten away with it. This connects to my thesis statement because he sexually abused these kids, which is a form of abusing power.

The last way a sports player abused their power isn’t abuse. Tom Brady, one of the most famous, best quarterbacks for the NFL of all time. In January of 2015, Tom Brady was in a playoff game against the Indianapolis Colts. Tom Brady deflated his team’s footballs so he could get a better grip on them. They won the game and went onto the superbowl. He abused his power because he is such a great and popular quarterback that he thought he would get away with it just like all the other sports players that have abused their power.
Someone may ask, “So what if they abuse their power?” Well, what if that person was the child that Jerry Sandusky abused, or Ray Rice’s wife, or Nicole Brown? These events teach us to not trust athletes or coaches. They may seem nice on the outside but on the inside they could be very different. From this point on, the NBA, NFL and MLB should pay their players and coaches less money so they won’t feel obligated to abuse their power for abusive reasons. Ray Rice and O.J. domestically abused their wives, Jerry sexually abused the children and Tom Brady cheated by deflating the football. Power is a very dominant thing. It is inevitable that at some point there will be a case of abusing power in sports. The case when a sports player will abuse power in inevitable. It’s like everytime this happens we have deja vu. Thus if you get money and power, be careful on how you use it. It could affect you in the long run.