Celebrities often take very public stands in order to help foundations that deal with all sorts of problems. George Clooney works to help those in Sudan. Bono has done countless concerts for charities for Africa. Angelina Jolie has served as a good will ambassador for the United Nations for 12 years. It’s no secret that getting a superstar to endorse a cause will certainly do more good than harm.
Personally, I see nothing wrong with this.
Often times these celebrities are not endorsing things that are controversial or harmful in any way and they have the power to make people notice things that they would otherwise shun from the consciousness.
Perhaps that is the reason why the NFL has closely aligned itself with Breast Cancer Awareness month which, for those of you that are unaware, is the month of October.
During this month, players can wear pink shoes, shoe laces, gloves with a splash of pink – anything to symbolize the league’s stand to create awareness for breast cancer studies and prevention.
A noble cause indeed.
However, in the Bears’ game last week against the New York Giants, one of the monsters of the Midway – wide receiver Brandon Marshall – opted instead not to wear pink, but green.
Marshall’s choice was not that of a fashion statement, but a different statement of awareness. Last week was Mental Health Awareness week and Marshall was trying to promote awareness for this cause much in the way the NFL tries to promote breast cancer awareness.
Perhaps what makes the situation even more engaging is that Marshall suffers from mental health issues. He was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder in 2010.
Yet what makes this situation a problem is that Marhsall is being fined $5,250 for his actions. When I heard this, I was extremely puzzled and even a little aggravated.
Why should Marshall be punished for doing exactly what the NFL is doing, only for a different cause. Certainly one cause is no less important than the other. Both are causes extremely worthy of promotion.
Though some may see Marshall’s actions as being unnecessary as it deviates from a league sanctioned uniform mandate, I suggest that they look at the situation logically. The official month for Mental Health Awareness is in May. Football is out of season in May.
Now, Marshall had an opportunity to say what he had to say through his uniform last week and he did it. (Perhaps it is one of the greatest coincidences and boosts for Marshall’s cause that Mental Health Awareness week happened to fall on the week that Chicago and New York – two of the country’s biggest television markets – would square off against one another.)
Brandon Marshall technically broke the rules. Fine. I understand that if the NFL doesn’t enforce rules or do so selectively it creates a precedent to (an extreme point) where all people are exceptions. But this is a case where the words of the law crush the spirit of the law.
It seems hypocritical that Marshall should be fined for promoting a cause that is not only worthy of promotion, but one that is close to his heart. There is no B.S. behind this promotion. It’s not some artificial publicity grab – being different for the sake of being different. There is genuineness to Marshall’s promotion…and it was only for one game.
Marshall wasn’t trying to ignore the established theme of the month of October. In fact, Marshall has said he will even match the NFL’s fine and donate the same dollar amount to a charity for breast cancer research. For one game, he was trying to slip in the promotion of the millions who suffer from some form of mental illness – a cause genuinely close to Marshall’s heart.
However, Marshall likely knew that wearing his emerald slippers would result in some sort of disciplinary action and thus would yield large press, if not good press.
This move would of course bring even more awareness to Marshall’s cause.
In a way, it was a win-win situation for Marshall.
He clearly wanted to give his cause a voice, was willing to pay the fines that he knew would come and knew that any which way the coin was flipped someone would hear about what he was doing and thus the cause he supports.
It is a smart move on Marshall’s behalf.
Very smart indeed. And though he may be out over $10,000 he set out to do exactly what he had planned to do.
Brian Laughran
Senior Viewpoints Editor
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