"BE A MAN!" Artifact Project Proposal
“5:03 to go and someone has run on the field… some guy with a bra!”. It is late in the fourth quarter of one of the most anticipated Super Bowl matchups in the game’s history. The greatest of all time, doing it at 43 years old, against the young buck who already has an MVP, and a Super Bowl ring to his name. Despite it all, the attention completely shifted for a couple of minutes as the blowout Super Bowl was coming to a close, and a victory for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. A man decided to “streak”, running on the field in between snaps, wearing nothing but shorts around his knees, and what could be described as a pink, exotic singlet. What a look. While Jim Nantz and Tony Romo had the television broadcast for CBS, it was the legendary sports broadcaster, Kevin Harlan, who was calling the radio play by play of Super Bowl LV for Learfield IMG on ESPN Radio… a job that he has held for years now, as well as the call of Monday Night Football each week. Harlan is incredibly respected throughout the industry as one of the best, and there is absolutely no doubt about it. But, what he said into his headset and across the airwaves of the nation that night, leaves a stain on his career and craft forever.
On September 12th 2016, a very similar situation occurred. The 49ers were absolutely laying it on the Rams, leading 21-0 with under twelve minutes to play in the fourth quarter. A “spirited” ‘niners fan took the field with speed, and took his shirt off for the world to see. Like every Monday night in the NFL, Kevin Harlan was on the call for Learfield IMG on ESPN Radio, when he delivered one of the most memorable calls of his career. He gave exact play by play of the streaker, as well as the convergence of Levi Stadium security and police. The industry saw it as absolutely brilliant. Fans at home thought it was hilarious. Harlan will always be remembered for delivering in the special moment. Here we are, 4 seasons later, and the opportunity arises, for Harlan to parody his memorable moment… this time, on arguably the world’s biggest stage… the Super Bowl. At first, it was perfect! It was funny. Everybody listening remembered the first time like it was yesterday, it was great! He said things like, “pull up your pants, my man!”, and called the oddity like it was a play within the football game, even counting down the yards to the endzone… “he breaks a tackle from a security guard at the 20. Down the middle the 10. The 5. He slides down at the 1, and they converge on him at the goaline!”. Then, it happened. After what felt like an eternity of a pause, Harlan said, “Pull up your pants, take off the bra, and BE A MAN!”.
There is a lot to unpack here. There are a lot of different directions that these few short words can lead, but one thing is clear. As a broadcaster, you have to be incredibly careful. One word can end your career. We saw it earlier this year as the long time play by play man for the Cincinnati Reds on Fox Sports Ohio forever lost his job after an insensitive slur went out over the air on what nobody knew was a hot microphone. As a public figure, your image is everything. It defines you forever. With the internet and social media, this has been elevated to an even higher level. When I first heard Kevin Harlan say to pull up your pants, take off the bra, and be a man, I instantly knew that he should not have let those words leave his mouth. They were insensitive to a lot of people, rude, and I am sure hurt a lot of people as well. We live in a time where society around us is changing. Stereotypes and definitions of what a man or a woman is are blurred. Gone. Erased. We also live in a time where a game like football is no longer just a thing for the guys. This year, the National Football League made history. Not once, but twice. Early in the season, for the first time ever, three women played an active role in an NFL game. Both competing teams had a female on their coaching staffs, and the game was also officiated by a woman. That same woman, Sarah Thomas, went on to be the first female to officiate in a Super Bowl. This being at the same Super Bowl that Kevin Harlan made the infamous streaker parody. The tide is changing across the sport. This fall, Sarah Fuller became the first woman to play Division 1 FBS football, as a kicker for Vanderbilt University. She made headlines with the slogan, “Play Like A Girl”. We also live in a time where the stereotype of a man has changed right within the confined walls of football, with current and former NFL players coming out as homosexual. Football backs up almost every claim made in the documentary, “Tough Guise 2”, that we studied right here in this SUPA Writing 105 class. It is violent. It is aggressive. It is dangerous. It is rough. It epitomizes toxic masculinity. And for whatever reason (myself included), we freaking love it.
What speaks volumes to some of the flaws in our society, and shocks me the most, is the fact that Kevin Harlan was praised after the Super Bowl, for making yet another historic call. Now, I do not believe Harlan was trying to offend anybody. I don’t think he was in any way malicious with his comments. But, what he said is not okay. Even more corrupt, it flew right over the heads of major sporting enterprises such as ESPN, Sports Illustrated, Bleacher Report, and many more, that played this call over and over again via social media platforms and television broadcasts. Some could say that they even turned the blind eye. There was no backlash. There was no gasps. There was no comments. There was football. There was a streaker. There was a Super Bowl Champion that night. In this project, I will study Kevin Harlan’s words, and how his insensitivity shines a light on everything wrong with American football today.
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