Football, Sexual (and Other) Violence, and Homophobia - Part I

I just read that my NFL team, the San Francisco 49ers, signed Perrish Cox. I thought I hadn't heard of him until I read the article about him being acquitted of sexual assault. Thanks to a reader’s comment because the NFL’s Executive of the Year General Manager Trent Baalke’s statement—sentence?—gave no hint of the serious charges that Cox had been facing until a little more than a week ago.

Coach Jim Harbaugh who won the NFL’s Coach of the Year talked a LOT about character last season. He led a team that he often praised for their character to the NFC Championship Game, a win away from the Super Bowl.

My extremely condensed version of Cox’s sexual assault charges and trial: Cox carried an unconscious woman to a man’s bed in Cox’s house. Cox’s girlfriend was asleep in the house. The woman’s date was asleep in the house. The unconscious woman became pregnant. Tests have determined that the chances are 99% sure that the child is Cox’s. Not the woman’s date or Cox’s roommate who was sleeping in the house. The woman does not remember having sex with him. He says he did not have sex with her. Cox went to trail and was acquitted of sexual assault.

Acquittal isn’t guilty and it’s not innocent. Even guilty or innocent verdicts aren’t always accurate. There’s no denying that Cox looks bad in this situation. The criminal case is closed. Maybe the woman will file civil charges. Maybe not. Hopefully…what do I say? I want to say: hopefully, she heals and justice is served at some point by someone. As an outsider, it looks like that person is Cox. In the meantime, Cox is not alone in looking bad.

The 49ers’ owner John York, General Manager Baalke, and everyone involved in the decision to hire Cox look bad. The character battle is lost already and training camp hasn’t even started. Games are won by points scored, but remember that the next time Harbaugh, Baalke, or York talk about the team and its character.

This is the first in a 4-part series. We'll move to homophobia in sports, with a focus on the NFL in part 2. In part 3, I'll write about gay--former--NFL players. Part 4's discussion looks at "domestic violence" from the personal to the political. I'll include a list of works cited and resources the end of Part 4. See you in the Bleachers!