Violence and Sports: When Will It End?

Once again, I awoke to another violent act against an athlete, this time it was Jacksonville Jaguars OT Richard Collier, and once again it was a violent shooting.

Unfortunately this isn't the first time, nor the last I'll wake up to such depressing, unfortunate news.

Another family now being distressed watching their relative claw for minutes of life, another community in shock and fear after the gunshots tore through their hearts like Samurai swords, and another team left to stare at the locker of a fallen teammate.

Will it ever end?

In the wake of violent murders to NFL players Sean Taylor, Darrent Williams, and Miami Hurricane football player Bryan Pata, amongst many other shootings, we as a society are left to try and pick up the pieces...to try and understand why these men had to die at such early ages and so violently, like wild animals.

When these acts occur in our cities, the crimes are usually committed against lower-income individuals, who are victims of their environments.

Athletes tend to be above this threshold, and it only makes us wonder if anyone is safe from this animalistic behavior, including our own families and ourselves.

If you've ever had the unfortunate situation of losing a family member or close friend to violence, you know the tremendous hurt and tears that it causes first-hand.

My heart goes out to all of the individuals and families of those lost in the midst of this senseless, ridiculous violence that has become all too common in our society.

When these situations occur, we usually want to know the motive for the violence as it gives us explanation and insight into why the act occurred. It also makes us feel safer if someone created their own misfortunes by their own actions.

In other words, if someone engages in illegal drug activity and is shot in that process, it explains why the shooting happened, taking away the possibility of a random act of violence.

Contrastingly, if someone is murdered for no reason at random, it puts fear in all of us because it could've been anyone. Mother, father, sister, brother, you...anyone.

Not to take significance away from those who were murdered for obvious motive, but as a society we thrive on karma and punishment for perpetrators and those who engage in disorderly conduct or illegal activity.

At the very least we like to believe that those who create bad or facilitate it get bad, and if you live your life carefully and not recklessly, you'll be spared from that type of violence.

Therefore, athletes who work hard to reach the pinnacle of their lucrative professions usually live far away from this type of violence and behavior, thus making it more mind-blowing when they become victim to it.

The rich nature of athletics, particularly the NBA and NFL, make the athletes who participate targets for impoverished, unruly criminals who look to take what they can from them.

Not every violent act against athletes is motivated by robbery.

We currently don't know what the motive for the Richard Collier shooting was, and to say he was out too late at 2:45 A.M is unfair. We have free will and should be able to be out whenever we want to.

There are many reasons why someone may have wanted to attack Collier, and it's pointless to speculate.

Either way, did he really deserve to be shot multiple times and be fighting for his life?

A motive was never really established in the Bryan Pata shooting, Darrent Williams apparently was an innocent by-stander in the limousine that housed the real perpetrator that the shooters were looking for, and Sean Taylor was the victim of a botched robbery.

Are you serious?

These guys are dead with the exception of Collier who's struggling to live, and for what?

Senseless, asinine gun violence because people think the world owes them something, or just don't care.

It's saddening, depressing, and disheartening.

Nothing in this world is worse than wasted, unused talent, and we are unfortunately witnessing this all too often.

As an educated black male, it is more depressing for me because the statistics tell it all.

Black men are the predominant perpetrators of this wave of gun violence, and signs point to it continuing and crippling the African-American male population.

In addition to all of the violent individuals, many of them are incarcerated as a result of their criminal instincts and behavior.

To make a connection, who are the predominant players in the NFL and NBA, respectively?

You guessed it, African-Americans.

Do we see these types of murders and shootings in the NHL? The MLB? Golf? Soccer or tennis?

Nope.

Pretty much just basketball and football, the two most frequently played sports for African-American males.

What race are the recent gun violence victims? African-American.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a problem.

Sports is meant to bring people together, from all walks of life and skill levels. Fans are supposed to enjoy what the athletes do in peace and unison, even if you're a Cowboys fan next to a 49ers fan.

It's all in good fun, and spirited rivalries.

That's why sports is great, and why all of us Bleacher Report "Creatures" get together and write about it, sharing our thoughts and opinions.

The violence is hindering the game.

It's hurting our societies, our people, our families, and all of us who love sports and wouldn't kill a squirrel, much less a human being.

It's making our nation a virtual war zone, and it needs to stop.

I don't want to see another athlete in the media as a victim of a violent shooting. It would be nice if nobody was ever killed again, but that's obviously unrealistic.

Our athletes have to take responsibility for who they are, where they are, and their place in society. Don't give criminals an easy in by engaging in wrongful activity.

We must use sports as a way to bring us together, and try to continue to escape the sad realities that exist in our everyday lives by watching a great Saturday college rivalry between Michigan and Ohio State, or LaDainian Tomlinson healthy on a Sunday.

That is why sports exists, and we cannot let violence permeate the very thing that we use to escape it.

Violence and sports, a terrible union that needs to stop.

Now.