Arian Foster: It's hypocritical for sports fans to be outraged over Myles Garrett incident
'If you watch football you condone assault'
Thursday night's incident that featured Myles Garrett slamming Mason Rudolph's helmet into the quarterback's unprotected head sent shockwaves through the sports world. People were outraged and horrified, and there's no doubt that it certainly was a pretty brutal and unsettling thing to see. Even Baker Mayfield couldn't defend his teammate's actions.
But not everyone thought the general response to the incident was fair or just, and you can include former NFL running back Arian Foster in that group of skeptics. From Foster's point of view, it's hypocritical for football fans who actively support a violent product every day to be outraged over a violent act just because it doesn't fall within the rules of the game.
best take on it https://t.co/Grdl6ErUfG
— feeno (@ArianFoster) November 15, 2019
if you watch football you condone assault https://t.co/hyTvRr7FxU
— feeno (@ArianFoster) November 15, 2019
Several people challenged Foster's viewpoint and attempted to draw a line between the "normal" level of violence in a regular football game with what Garrett pulled at the end of Thursday's contest. Foster wasn't having any of it.
this is what we call cognitive dissonance https://t.co/9zaRAvmqpT
— feeno (@ArianFoster) November 15, 2019
collateral damage is just a euphemism to make people feel better about said act. same consequences apply https://t.co/P38t9k48UQ
— feeno (@ArianFoster) November 15, 2019
The former running back also compared the public's response to violent football incidents with how they receive violent altercations in other sports, including hockey and baseball.
the outrage is dumb. baseball and hockey fight all the time. everytime football and basketball players get into it it’s some ethical issue lol. so stupid https://t.co/6Ggy1duQrl
— feeno (@ArianFoster) November 15, 2019
When a follower pushed back on that take by saying that a violence to this degree rarely happens in baseball, Foster responded by saying "pitchers intentionally hit batters with a [expletive] rock all the time. Y'all are weird, man."
Honestly, Foster makes some solid points and reasoning to his argument, and it's fair to see how a person could land on either side of this debate. It's an interesting discussion to come out of an ugly incident but, regardless of where you fall, it's undeniable that Rudolph and Garrett can consider themselves pretty lucky the end result wasn't worse.
















