Sickening Sight in Superdome

I was looking forward to seeing Auburn play Oklahoma in a matchup I had never seen in my lifetime. To have the chance to see a fully healthy Auburn squad take on a team that hadn’t suffered a loss since September 17th.

Leading up to the game, I had pleasant and friendly experiences with Sooner fans around New Orleans. There was a mutual respect between both sides — recognizing the accolades and achievements of each schools’ successful football programs over the years. I used to hold quite a bit of respect for the University of Oklahoma as an academic institution, as well. However, what I witnessed in the Superdome on Monday night disgusted me, and it wasn’t because of Auburn’s poor play on the field.

I watched in dismay as fans clad in crimson stood and cheered for Joe Mixon as he was shown on the two massive jumbotrons on each end of the stadium. A guy that punched and broke a woman’s face in four different places.

These fans allowed a game to get in the way between what is morally right and wrong.

Here’s my question to the Sooner crowd — what if that had been your daughter? Would you still be cheering? I’m all for supporting your team, but do so in an appropriate manner. Not by celebrating a guy that is part of a longterm problem in sports which is clearly still giant strides away from being solved.

And to Brent Musburger, you had the opportunity in front of the entire nation to address this problem, but instead thought it’d be best to focus on second chances and Mixon’s future NFL career by saying that “he is one of the best” and that you hope he “teaches people with that violent, brutal video.” 

So what is that violent, brutal video teaching people? That in today’s world, as long as you are a talented athlete, you are given a free pass. The longtime ESPN announcer’s statements minimized the impact that violence on women carries, and proved that he was completely clueless on how to handle a situation of this magnitude. 

Musburger, as well as the Sugar Bowl for continuing to show Mixon on the video boards throughout the game, glorified an individual that committed a violent crime on a woman and placed him in the national spotlight for all to see.

I read an interesting tweet from a South Carolina high school football coach during the game. It said, “Every time a guy like Bob Stoops let’s a guy like Joe Mixon play, it makes our job as HS coaches & molder of men harder.” (@Americanfbcamp) 

That video, as well as Stoops’ handling of the situation is teaching kids that there is in fact room for error when it comes to violence against women. Mixon’s “punishment” as a result of the crime was pathetic and insignificant. It was essentially a glorified redshirt. Mixon, a freshman at the time, didn’t lose a year of eligibility and was allowed to keep his scholarship.

This is a guy that should have never even been playing in this game. One that hasn’t truly been held accountable during his college career. Bob Stoops said it himself by stating that if the incident had occurred today, Mixon would have been kicked off the team.

To allow an individual that commits violent acts against women to continue to play a violent sport such as football is completely irresponsible. It’s plain and simple — there must be zero tolerance. 

Joe Mixon understood what he was doing on Monday night. He knew all eyes were on him. And instead of acting humble and gracious of the “second chance” given to him, he was loud and antagonizing toward the Auburn crowd while showing no remorse for his previous actions.

I didn’t want to have to write about this today. I was looking forward to giving you all an analysis of the actual game, but an issue with this much significance would be foolish to ignore.

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