What's your Take on Hazing Rituals in Sports?

[Lukester]

Cowboys first round draft pick Dez Bryant has refused to carry veteran teammate Roy Williams' pads to the locker room, defying a time-honoured NFL tradition in which rookies carry senior players' equipment during training camp.

"I'm not doing it," said Bryant. "I feel like I was drafted to play football, not carry another player's pads."

"If I was a free agent, it would still be the same thing. I just feel like I'm here to play football," said the 24th overall pick. "I'm here to try to help win a championship, not carry someone's pads. I'm saying that out of no disrespect to [anyone]."

Rookie hazing in sports in hardly a new phenomenon, and it takes part on all levels of athletics, from 14-year-olds playing amateur hockey to, in this case, elite-level professionals.

Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman, who isn't even a teammate of Bryant's, weighed in about the situation via twitter with this gem of wisdom: "Dump his ass in the COLD TUB".

As for Williams, now 28, he said he carried equipment and paid for meals when he broke into the league with the Detroit Lions back in 2004. But either way, the 21-year-old Bryant's rejection of this age-old ritual has the NFL community buzzing today and, perhaps more significantly, it has jump-started the debate on the merits or pitfalls of rookie initation, or at least how far it should be taken.

There's a long, fabled history of hazing in the sports world.

Some classic examples:

- NHL teams often go out for an absurdly expensive dinner and then leave the rookies to pay the entire bill (hopefully they go on to have long, prosperous careers!)

Prime case study: In January of 2006, the Lightning went out for a steak dinner in Los Angeles; the total attendance that night was 21 players and five trainers. The final bill came to $24,000 (yes, many working people's yearly salary), which was about $900 a person. Then-rookies Paul Ranger, Ryan Craig, Evgeny Artyukhin and Norm Milley were left with the tab and had to pay $6,000 EACH (thanks to the St. Petersburg Times for that tale).

- Often in baseball, when a rookie player hits his first major league home run, his teammates will ignore him completely when he gets back to the dugout, offering no high-fives or words of congratulations and instead greeting him with icy, stone-cold silence intended to degrade him for the worthless rookie garbage that he is (the second home run will be given wicked mad props, though)

More instances of hazing:

- duct-taping football players to the uprights (sometimes overnight)

- shaving off all body hair (and doing far worse things that can't be mentioned in an article on this family-friendly website)

- forced excessive alcohol consumption, spanking, streaking, and general acts of utter and complete (albeit temporary) servitude, and one many of us may be familiar with: yes, I'm speaking of the Atomic wedgie (other suggestions or stories of personal and painful past experiences are welcome in the Your! Call section below)

But while hazing rituals may come as a laugh to some, who consider them rites of passage that everyone has to go through, they are indeed serious business for others; in fact, there are numerous organizations and websites devoted strictly to eliminating initiation rituals from sport.

Critics want to rid athletics of the frat-boy mentality, arguing that it takes away from the enjoyment of the game, and that some more predatory types tend to prey on weaker or less-athletically-inclined individuals, especially in youth sports where all sorts of body types and personalities are involved in the process.

The presence of initiation rituals is not just felt in sport; they are used frequently in high schools, sororities, fraternities and the military. They've been around forever - the question is whether they still belong in 2010.

Of course, it depends on the degree of the initiation. Making somebody eat seven soda crackers in a minute or consume a teaspoon or cinnamon is inarguably less traumatizing than anything involving a pair of handcuffs, a live goat and a spatula (I honestly don't even know what that means). Clearly, there are innocent ways of going about this and there are not-so-innocent ways, so it does depend on the circumstances. Perhaps a full-on ban of initiation would be too far over-the-top and an unnecessary buzz-kill, while on the other end of the spectrum, an anything-goes approach could be dangerous.

Hazing rituals can be anything from name-calling to building sky-high man-pyramids to forced exposure to ridiculously cold temperatures. So what do you think? Is this simply harmless fun; a team-building experience that everyone has to suffer through at some point? Or is it an outdated, antiquated idea for which the time has passed? Is it silly or sadistic? It's Your! Call; let us hear it, and please kindly refrain from any virtual-hazing of your online counterparts. And remember, feel free to share your own hilariously awful experiences. Fortunately for me, I know nothing about that.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go clean the TSN.ca office with a toothbrush.

--Matt Burt of TSN,ca on July 26/2010.

[Ron Mexico]

Every player in every college and pro sport has gone through it. He's a fukin pussy.

If I were him I would tell Williams, I will carry your pads now but your gonna carry mine when your sorry ass is on the bench all year.

[justdonating]

Dez is a d-bag. I see a T.O. like attitude in the making.

[Eleven]

Carrying someones gear? Thats all...I was expecting much worse since its the NFL.

[revnecro1273]

hazing is illegal in fraternities...so why should this be any different? hazing is a pretty stupid thing imo

[revnecro1273]

Originally Posted by Ron Mexico

Every player in every college and pro sport has gone through it. He's a fukin pussy.

If I were him I would tell Williams, I will carry your pads now but your gonna carry mine when your sorry ass is on the bench all year.

he would still get paid...would be my dream job...be overpaid and not have to do anything

[Ron Mexico]

Originally Posted by revnecro1273

hazing is illegal in fraternities...so why should this be any different? hazing is a pretty stupid thing imo

Big difference in pro sports. They dont make them drink til they pass out.

Its just a fun way to be a part of the team.

Usually something like taping them to the field goal post and dumping water on them. Or just making them carry the vets bags. Big deal. Have some fun with it.

Shawn Kelly a pitcher for the Mariners had to carry a Hello Kitty backback with snacks in it to the bullpen for his first two games.



Now thats funny.

[Ron Mexico]

Originally Posted by revnecro1273

he would still get paid...would be my dream job...be overpaid and not have to do anything

His ego would never let him think that.

[Ron Mexico]

Padres rookies in Hooters outfits.



If you cant make fun of yourself then you will never be apart of a team.

[revnecro1273]

Originally Posted by Ron Mexico

His ego would never let him think that.

yeah i guess so...he would want to work hard for his money like his mama did

[Slammer]

Dez Bryant seems to think he's special. He'd be well-advised to be a bit more humble and earn the respect of his new teammates. He'd have had a case if they were forcing him to drink his own piss or something like that, but whining about carrying someone's pads? Get real.

[Bobtheicon]

Originally Posted by revnecro1273

yeah i guess so...he would want to work hard for his money like his mama did

Nice

[Sweetleaf22]

redeye.......................team holds down player and one guy rubs his ass in the dudes face,


at camp,,,,,,blind fold one player make him find the banana in the toilet, only theres only turds

steal all of the rookies underware on the first day of camp.........

we put a turd in the fullback pillow.....................

[TTB]

if you guys want a good read lookup the hazing incident at Robertson High School in Las Vegas, NM.......kids were talking it a bit too far and were ramming broomsticks up asses.....went to trial and everything.....crazy shit

[Romanowski]

broomsticks up the ass after the massage trick

thats gay not hazing

lotta gay high school football coaches I hear