12 Comments

Sexual harrassment, rape, and violence against women are fine, and yet no team was willing to sign Colin Kapernick. Funny how apparently domestic violence is more palatable than calling out racism to the NFL.

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As a mom of a former D1 football player, I can tell you the "macho" shit starts in high school. Until we change the toxic culture around sports, not only in this country, but around the world, nothing will change. I restrict my viewing to college football, but as we all know, they have a boatload of issues, too. sigh.

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I think Taylor Swift should stop letting the NFL teams play in her stadiums.

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founding

As one of the Executive Producers of Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering's "The Hunting Ground," I know there's at least one name missing from your list of credibly accused players. Anyone who sees that documentary can see how the sports world conspired to "resolve that."

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God, I hate football.

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This looks and feels like Aubrey Hirsch, but I don't see her name anywhere . . . Poignant as ever.

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author

This is 100% Aubrey Hirsch. That was a posting error. Thanks so much for catching it. It has been fixed!

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Women are often just as misogynistic - this is just more evidence because the women fans could make different choices and then there would be change.

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But in all seriousness, I know nothing about the NFL and I learned a lot from this piece. I am not sure if other major league sports are this toxic. We are whatever is the opposite of a sports family. But this level of racism and misogyny tells me I should be paying more attention, and one of the reasons I subscribe to Roxane Gay is that I learn about things that I should be learning about.

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Wow this post is pretty incredible. Thank you for the clear graphics! My 9 year old son is obsessed with the NFL. It's something he and his dad can connect over. They talk about games, have a fantasy draft together and he always wants to play madden, retrobowl, etc. How can I interject??????

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Agree x100. I am a former Cleveland Browns, and the Watson debacle has made me so sick. It’s so frustrating that these athletes can get away with so much.

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Thanks for this piece and highlighting this issue.

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