1000 word proposal essay

Essay 3 Proposal Thesis and Researched Prewriting Template

What You Plan to Propose on Your Topic: violence and domestic abuse is a direct result of the game of football, we need to take preventative measures with the players induction, and even earlier, to ensure that violent behavior is not an option once they begin playing.

Essay 3, Proposal on how to prevent violence and abuse as a result of football.

Sources (At Least 4):

Gordon, Aaron. “What the NFL Can and Should Do about Domestic Violence” 24 Feb. 2015

sports.vice.com/amp/en_us/article/wn39z5/what-the-nfl-can-and-should-do-about-domestic-violence

Kogod, Sara. “Players don't think the NFL's domestic violence training is working.” SB Nation.

6 May 2015 www.sbnation.com/platform/amp/nfl/2015/5/6/8209087/nfl-domestic-violence-training-presentation-nflpa

Luther, Jessica “What the NFL Has Done – and Still Needs to Do – to Address Domestic

Violence” Teen Vogue. 2 Feb. 2017. www.teenvogue.com/story/nfl-domestic-violence/amp

Stieg, Cory. “What Is The NFL Players Association Really Doing To Prevent Domestic Violence?” Refinery 29. 18 Jun. 2018 www.refinery29.com/amp/en-us/2018/06/202140/nfl-players-association-domestic-violence

· Identifying The Problem

· Hook: We’ve seen a dramatic uptick over the years as violence and domestic abuse continues to become more and more prevalent. This problem has not been resolved, and we need to address it now.

· Lead-in: We have seen the NFL respond in many ways: denial, reprimand, rehabilitation, and most recently mandatory training. Is this enough?

· Transition to Thesis: The punishment of players is too little too late. There is no “capital punishment” in sports – NFL players are one-of-a-kind and too good a commodity to lose. Since the NFL is not willing to raise the stakes, they’ve provided mandatory abuse/violence training that hasn’t been working as well as it should.

· Thesis That States Your Proposed Solution for the Identified Problem: The NFL holds the most power in the industry, by a long shot. They need to use their clout and reach to put an end to the violence and abuse that prevails in the industry overall, not just the league. Even the high school and college football teams are a part of this issue. The NFL needs to get involved in the fight against violence in several ways: provide more effective training, make quality therapy available to their players, strongly support the organizations in place that are working to prevent this problem, and implement stronger teammate accountability programs.

· The Problem

Description of the problem you intend to address: There are a high number of assault, abuse, and domestic violence cases directly related to football every year, particularly within the NFL. This has been going on for decades and it has not been resolved. The mild attempts to reprimand the players has not worked and will not fix the problem moving forward. We need to do more to prevent these outbursts in the first place.

· Why We Must Help

Explanation of Why the Issue Deserves Attention (What is at stake?): Women and men are being horribly affected by the violence and domestic abuse coming from the NFL players. It is considered dangerous to be involved with a player, whether friend or spouse. In addition, the sport itself seems to advocate the violent behavior in the game – is this encouraging even the viewers to unleash their fury on loved ones? Whether we like it or not, America’s sport is changing us, threatening lives, careers, and mental stability. There is too much at stake to let this issue continue to go untreated.

· The Solution

Strong and specific proposal including identification of the key reasons for taking the proposed action and the effects taking this action will have:

· Proposal/Recommendation/Solution:

· Starting at ground zero, beginning intensive and personal training with football players or sports players in general to teach about abuse, violence, and ways to avoid it in everyday life.

· Mandating regular training throughout the careers of football players, whether they’re part of the NFL or not.

· The NFL needs to participate, sponsor, advocate, and really get involved with domestic abuse and anti-violence programs and organizations that already exist today. Seeing these programs as allies and working with them to promote equality, respect, and peace will help to spread the awareness and resolution of these issues.

· Implementing a stricter buddy-system wherein players will keep each other accountable for their actions on a regular basis, checking in and calling them out.

· Key reasons for proposal:

· Focusing on preventative measures rather than punishment after the fact is primarily because NFL players are celebrated stars, practically immortal in the justice system. Most celebrity-related arrests are not sustained, and criminal cases are usually settled out of court quietly. The number of arrests on record over the past twenty years is severely disproportionate to the number of sequential charges carried out. These players are not scared of the penalties of their actions, there is no finality to their career if they make a mistake off the field. The punishment angle is not working, so we are forced to take the prevention approach.

· Effects of taking this proposed action:

· If the prevention method works, we will see a massive decline in the number of abuse/violence cases overall, since the NFL makes up a large portion of the domestic abuse arrests each year.

· Football will become less associated with destruction and fear.

· Football will be a sport American can proudly stand behind as a reputable sport and pastime that does not inevitably lead to violent behavior.

· The NFL will receive better press, the abuse/violence organizations and programs that exist today will receive more awareness and support as a result of the NFL’s involvement.

· Sports teams in general will provide better education and preventative measures for their teams, leading to fewer cases of violence in their careers.

· Men and women throughout the country will be safer.

· Connection between proposal and the attention the issue deserves:

· This issue deserves attention because the number of abuse-related arrests within the NFL alone is not decreasing with the methods currently in place. The press and awareness raised through the efforts and participation of the NFL, organizations like MEND and many others will be better supported and enabled to make a difference.

· Demonstration of ways in which the proposal addresses the need:

· The need to take action and enforce a new preventative protocol to ward off abuse and violence. Training sports players as they enter the football world will start them off on the right foot; continued education and therapy throughout their career will enforce the matter – repetition is the mother of learning. If they’re being so repetitive with the violence on the field, we need to be just as repetitive off the field as we engrain in them that domestic abuse is not an option.

· Strong evidence that the proposal will achieve the desired outcome:

· "I don't know there's any other organization that could change the culture of violence as much as the NFL could." (sports vice)

· The proposed actions stated above will achieve success because these tactics have not been enforced before and have not received enough support to make the NFL take notice.

· Sir Arthur Conan Doyle said it best: when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. We are forced to take these actions because all other attempts to make a change have failed. Because this is our only recourse, we must put all of our efforts and hope into this proposal.

· Alternative Efforts

· Consideration of alternative ways to achieve the desired outcome and a discussion of why these may not work: Some may be more intent on enforcing the rules, focusing on the punishment of those who break them. We’ve seen the NFL put new punishment policies into place for their players, stating that any violations will result in a six-game suspension without pay, however the guidelines were tested, and the NFL failed to abide. Take for example New York Giants’ Josh Brown, where a “one-game suspension was mitigated by a lack of clarity about what happened and a lack of cooperation from law enforcement and witnesses.” They can pretend that they’ve taken action to punish their players, but the fact is they haven’t, the players are too valuable to lose.

· How It Works

· Demonstration that your proposal is feasible and an explanation of how it may be implemented: It is clear that the NFL has the funds to implement training and therapy on a regular basis. In fact, several pieces are already in place, just at a low and ineffective level. Considering the number of people already involved and speaking up about these issues, it should be easy to make a big change in the current structure. If the League can be convinced that the good press will help the League in the long run, the training and therapy available to players will actually help their performance and their long-term status within the League, then they’ll be more apt to participate in the plan of action.

· What Others May Say

· Counterargument/Counterclaim in which you acknowledge opposing viewpoints or reasons people may not agree with your proposal: Some forms of training have already been mandated by the NFL. However, “according to the players, the league's domestic violence training is incredibly flawed…The majority of the players spoken to just didn't feel that the program works.” (sbnation) In addition, the NFL already supports a non-profit anti-violence association called No More, but there seems to be little support actually being provided; “Deadspin's Diana Moskovitz described the NFL's main partner, No More, as "a branding campaign" akin to Pinktober, the NFL's breast cancer awareness campaign that doesn't actually give any money to breast cancer research.” (sports vice) The NFL could be doing a lot more as far as actually supporting organizations that educate and assist players, coaches, and others in the football industry. The problem is getting the NFL and sports teams involved.

**Mrs. Bradshaw, I’m aware this content is probably in the wrong paragraph, but I wasn’t sure where it should be. Is it too harsh to put in the counterargument section? Feedback needed here.**

· In Summary

· Conclusion in which you briefly restate the proposal and explain why it is necessary for readers to take action: The numbers do not lie, the domestic abuse and assault charges against football players within the NFL are on a steady incline and the actions they’ve taken to stop it haven’t worked. We need to get involved, encourage the League to take part in organizations and campaigns against domestic violence, train their players continually and personally, and hold each other accountable. The voices of the people, the increase of citizens, sports teams, and businesses getting involved and standing up for this heartbreaking cause is helping the NFL take this more seriously. We must continue to fight against these issues, and citizen support, business support, and community involvement are all ways we can help spread the word about domestic violence and create a change in the sports industry.