Jaguars head coach Jack Del Rio made headlines Monday when it was revealed he ended the practice of hazing at Jacksonville's training camp. The question is simply: Good move or bad move?
There is no reason for hazing in the NFL, college or high school. Hazing is a form of harassment. Jack Del Rio was 100 percent right to end the practice. I am amazed that grown men playing in the NFL feel the compulsion to harass teammates with a silly form of initiation, especially when the rookies are probably working to take the veterans' jobs. Did you ever notice that the guys doing the hazing are usually the vets on the cut line?
Excellent move, and I applaud Jack Del Rio. Hazing is something that used to be done in good cheer (in theory, anyway), and to welcome guys to the team. Over time, the hazing often took on a crueler tone, and the rookies now come in with less inclination to subject themselves to the pranks with a smile. Best move? Eliminate it, and let the competition on the field establish the "fraternity."
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</table> I don't have a problem with a coach setting out team rules, though this strikes me as a bit much. While there are likely some Jags players wondering why this edict didn't come down when *they* were rookies, I can totally understand it.
Hazing is a serious issue at younger levels -- middle school and high school -- and sending a message that it's unacceptable at the pro level can only help reinforce it to kids. If that comes at the expense of some fun for some Jags veterans, then so be it.
The game is always evolving, as are training regimes and coaching tactics and motivational techniques, so it makes sense that the behavior of football players follows suit. You don't want to suck all of the fun out of it, and I'm sure certain good-natured stuff will be tolerated, but I don't have a problem with Jack Del Rio making this decision.
What is wrong with a little hazing? Anybody familiar with the film Full Metal Jacket knows that nothing bad could ever come from hazing.
Kidding.
Before we congratulate Del Rio for stamping out hazing, realize that rookies will still sing their school fight song, perform in a rookie talent show and carry the vets' pads. The only thing Del Rio has really disallowed is shaving a player's head. Considering Del Rio was one of the coaches who lobbied to wear a suit on the sidelines, he now reigns as coaching's biggest metrosexual.
And really, when we are talking about rookie hazing, wasn't the most egregious form of hazing enacted with the new rookie salary system? Cam Newton is still trying to recover from the pay cut he is taking this year.
It's a good move if Del Rio thinks hazing serves little purpose. The Jags head coach played more than a decade as a linebacker and was a pretty good player. He would know if hazing brought teams together and created respect and camaraderie, or if it was just wasted energy. Besides, it's dangerous. Remember, in Old School, a pledge died during hazing ... my boy Blue. I guess that was a different scenario.
Eh, no big deal. I'm generally disinclined to agree with the puritans who want to stamp out fun for politically correct reasons, but hazing rituals like taping a guy to the goal post have absolutely no value -- symbolic, comedic or otherwise. They've continued only because of the "I had to do it so you do too" principle. If players feel like they need these rites of passage to help bring the team together, they should all head over to a bar on karaoke night and make the rookies sing some Cher numbers… or maybe they can just chop some wood together.
