After reading what the news reported, fans we’re probably expecting a “I’m so very sorry, it’ll never happen again” type of statement. After all, it was reported that he had bloodshot eyes, he was slurring his words, and could not even pass a field sobriety test. Those three things just scream he was drunk. According to Hines and his manager Andrew Ree, Hines was not driving under the influence “From our preliminary investigation, we can tell you that we are confident that the facts show Hines was not impaired by alcohol while driving." This was part of the statement released by Hines’s manager. Although he also went on to say that, “Hines is deeply saddened by this incident and apologizes to his fans and the Steelers organization for this distraction.”
Most fans just accepted his apology and forgot about it. Some were still very disappointed. Ray Rice, Baltimore Ravens running back, even took to twitter on how he felt about the whole situation. When asked about his criticism of Hines he said "I don't care if you're a Pittsburgh Steeler or a Baltimore Raven or whoever you are, if you get caught drunk driving, that's not a smart judgment." Even after all of the criticism from fans and fellow players Hines still stuck by his story and said he was not driving drunk. Which must have been enough for the judge because the DUI charges were dropped and Hines pled guilty to reckless driving.
Let me just say that I love Hines Ward. He was my favorite Steeler from my early childhood. However, I honestly forgot about this incident until just now. It's interesting how apologia, time, and winning all have a masking affect on anything wrong they've done. I wrote about this type of thing in my blog too. I think it has more to do with letting time pass and being a winning player than it does with the actual apology, but still the apology has to have some positive affect on the situation.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to be the case that the more severe the crime, the weaker the apologies get. Like I stated in another comment, the athletes admit that there was wrongdoing, but they always deny the greater charge. Obviously, this is to aide in their image repair, and it seems to work. The celebrity of the athlete does play a factor, but it seems as if they get off a little too easy sometimes.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the reason for the weaker apology is because of two things. One is because they think that they don't have to because they are big time athletes and the fact that they really don't have anything else to say. This because they can't talk their way out of it.
ReplyDeleteI feel like I'm beating a dead horse on most of my comments, but if you're a big star, you tend to get away with things. I stand by what Ray Rice said, driving under the influence is foolish. Don't think I'm siding with him because I don't like the Steelers, I was actually a fan of Hines Ward. I even own his jersey.....
ReplyDeleteThis definitely displays denial. But once again, I do not even remember this happening. Hines has definitely repaired his image successfully since then. Like others said, he is a big enough star that it almost doesn't matter what he did, people will still be behind him.
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