There has been an increasing amount of disrespect and questionable actions in professional sports recently. On Nov. 22, 2020, the Tennessee Titans and Baltimore Ravens matched up in a regular season game. Before the game started, the Titans had their pregame huddle on the Raven’s logo, and that did not go well with the Ravens. Raven’s Head Coach John Harbaugh began yelling at the Titans players and their head coach, Mike Vrabel.
“There really is no reason or need to show that level of disrespect towards another team,” senior Lucas Bentley said. “Opponents are trying just as hard as the other team, so when the fame doesn’t turn out in their favor, it’s crushing.”
The Titans won the game 30-24, even after the disrespectful actions done at the beginning of the game. Later on in the playoffs, they faced each other again; however, this time the ending was not the same. This time nobody did their pregame huddle on the opposing teams logo, but near the end of the game, the Titans quarterback threw an interception and all the Ravens players started kicking the Titans logo and messing up the dirt on the field.
“I feel like what the Ravens did was revenge because the Titans basically did the same thing to the Ravens earlier that season,” senior Jared Wolf said. “I understand if someone sees it as disrespect, but they just beat them in the game so to me they have a right to trash talk, especially if the Titans did it to them previously.”
Though the National Football League thinks it is disrespectful, other people see it as an entertainment.
“I think that it is hilarious and people just need to chill out, the Titans just need to come back and beat them next time, then do the same thing back,” senior Logan Hopkins said.
Many people have different opinions on what happened and all of that is based on whether or not you are a fan of that team and who you are supporting. If you play Football you tend to view things differently than non Football players and fans.
“It happens a lot more than people realize. I don’t think there should be any disrespect at that level of play,” Bentley said. “They are professional athletes and they need to set good examples for the younger generations. If young children see how disrespectful players can be, then they will see it as normal and they themselves can start being disrespectful to imitate their favorite players.”
Whether or not one agrees with the statement above, the NFL is highly against disrespectful deminers and the professional sports leagues are doing their hardest to stop it.
