After years of denying concussions were causing CTE is players brains, resulting in numerous deaths of former players, the heart breaking death of Junior Seau puts a twist to the story. The NFL has done a poor job of handling CTE related death of former players. "Whether a sudden crisis occurs or an ongoing issue continues for months despite the best efforts of management, the organization must address the situation; it cannot be ignored" (Newman, 2013, p. 28). Proper handling of crisis management, allows for both parties to avoid lawsuits and confrontations, and should be handled in a quick and professional manner. In the case of Junior Seau and his death at 43, was the tipping point for the NFL to wake up about the dangers of concussion. Junior Seau has a very long and decorated career for the Chargers, Dolphins and the Patriots making a name for himself as one of the leagues best linebackers. However, after his football career Junior struggled with many challenges because of the damage he took to this brain. In may of 2012, Seau took his own life and left many great things behind, including the support of his family, friends, and fans. His family has since, filed a lawsuit against the NFL. "Plaintiffs are listed as Gina Seau, Junior's ex-wife; Junior's children Tyler, Sydney, Jake and Hunter, and Bette Hoffman, trustee of Seau's estate. The lawsuit accuses the league of glorifying the violence in pro football, and creating the impression that delivering big hits "is a badge of courage which does not seriously threaten one's health." It singles out NFL Films and some of its videos for promoting the brutality of the game"(ESPN/Associated Press, 2013). The NFL began doing more research and taking responsibility in cases involving CTE and concussions following this lawsuit, despite denying any wrong doing at first. References: Newman, T. (2013). Social media in sport marketing. Scottsdale, Arizona: Holcomb Hathaway, Publishers. Associated Press. (2013, January 24). Junior Seau's family files wrongful death suit vs. NFL. Retrieved from http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/8872778/junior-seau-family-files-wrongful-death-suit-vs-nfl
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The purpose of a crisis communication plan is to minimize and eliminate all potential risk and threats that will affect those in attendance. The purpose of this plan is to assess a situation and quickly and efficiently dissect the situation while promptly responding in a timely fashion. Duke University has a crisis communication plan, which outlines a set of objectives to be executed for the organization in case of a crisis. They include: “Our guiding principle will be to communicate facts as quickly as possible, updating information regularly as circumstances change, to ensure the safety of the Duke community and the continued operation of essential services. Our efforts to be simultaneously accurate and quick may mean that some communications are incomplete. We accept this, knowing that how we communicate in an emergency or a crisis will affect public perceptions of the university. Honesty and speed are the most effective means to avoid lasting damage to the institution and widespread second-guessing by the public, which expects immediate access to accurate information. A good offense is the best defense. At the same time, we realize that in a crisis, people will likely expect us to have more information than we may actually have. That makes it imperative to speak with accuracy about what we know and not to speculate about details we do not know. We will use multiple mediums to reach as many people as possible with accurate, timely information. This is especially important in the first hours and days of an emergency or a crisis. Our goal is to be open, accountable and accessible to all audiences, while also being mindful of legal and privacy concerns” (Duke University, Crisis Plan). The New England Patriots are a good example of a team that has experienced a few issues that led to a crisis. The New England Patriots have been involved in the infamous spy-gate and deflate gate. In terms of Spy-gate, the NFL, and the Patriots had to address the issue quickly and come to a solution. Every team in the league was furious with the Patriots for spy-gate. Deflate-gate, on the other hand, is when that Patriots were caught using balls that were under the league regulation in terms of air pressure. The Patriots were fined $250,000 and Belichick was fined $500,000 also losing their first round draft pick for the role in spy-gate. Brady was sentenced to serve a four-game suspension for his role in the deflate-gate and the Patriots lost their first and fourth rounds draft picks along with a team fine of $1 million. If this situation were to happen again, a crisis plan will effectively manage the situation. 1. Address the team/coach/owners involved as well as the other 31 teams in the NFL immediately and address the issue that occurred. The goal is to not let the media get ahold of the story because it can ruin the league. 2. The party involved must address the issue to the other teams and potentially the media after all details are discovered. 3. The League needs to address the issue with the media, stating the facts received and the course of action to be taken. 4. A secondary response needs to be issued by the team involved and the league itself 5. This punishment needs to be set and each party should serve the punishment issued by the league. Reference: http://emergency.duke.edu/plan/ |
AuthorMyles Jackson is from Cincinnati, OH. Where he grew up playing Baseball, Basketball and Football. Myles attended Tiffin University and played for the Tiffin Dragons as a middle infielder. Myles graduated from Tiffin in 2016 with a Bachelors in Sports Administration and is currently completing his Masters. Archives
June 2017
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