Another major theme that emerged in my study centered around the way others grouped football players together, for better or worse, and this theme was called deindividuation of football players. This social grouping, or deindividuation, was often mirrored within the culture and structure of American football, again, for better or worse.
Most of the participants noted the visibility of being an athlete and therefore the strong identification as a football player by others. For themselves, most participants described the importance of their athletic identity on a personal and social level. Their athletic identification was a positive source of pride and a social facilitator in most situations. Many shared that being a football player opened doors, both during and after college, to rare social and occupational opportunities. Within their team, all of the participants described a sense of family, brotherhood, and accountability to your teammates as a vital element within football. Additionally, many participants described the "put it on film" culture of football, and the opportunity to give and receive feedback as an equalizing force in which each person was responsible to their teammates and each player had the opportunity to provide valuable input to advance the team's success.
However, a majority of the participants described the limiting messages and stereotypes (i.e. “the dumb jock”) they received regarding their academic and emotional abilities as football players. Importantly, the participants who also identified as men of color were particularly aware of messages that spoke to their value, and some were given the message that football was their primary, if not only, avenue for success. Additionally, because of increased visibility, several participants described instances in which they were targeted as football players, usually at parties or local bars, and would get caught up in physical altercations. Within their team, a majority of the participants criticized the prevalent deindividualized values of sacrificing one's body and playing through pain within football culture. These values, coupled with the focus on individual statistics, often left participants feeling like "a piece of man meat"...a replaceable unit in a greater system.
Similarly, participants highlighted the glorification and vicarious experience of violence within football as part of broader American culture. More on that in the next post…
***Based on results from my dissertation: "No pain, no gain: American football players' attitudes towards help-seeking and barriers to mental health service utilization" (2015).