stillers4me
08-24-2014, 10:12 AM
Working in a business where the slightest misstep lands a player on the front page of the newspaper and the lead story on the nightly news, Steelers cornerback William Gay quietly goes about his business of playing football working as an advocate against domestic violence.
It’s an issue that hits way too close to home for Gay, whose mother was a victim in a murder-suicide when the second of her three sons was just seven years old.
But don’t count Gay among those who are happy Ravens running back Ray Rice is suspended by the NFL for the first two games of the regular season following an incident involving domestic violence, including a Sept. 7 meeting with the Steelers.
The NFL drew harsh criticism for what many felt was too light a penalty against Rice. In addition to the two game checks he will lose, the league fined Rice $58,000.
The public outcry over Rice’s punishment caused the league to consider stiffer penalties in the future for such events.
But in Gay’s ideal world, the league wouldn’t need to concern itself with the issue at all. In Gay’s ideal world, domestic violence wouldn’t happen.
And his mother would still be alive and well.
Growing up without his mother, Gay learned the harsh realities of domestic violence. The victims aren’t just the abused, but the children of the abused as well.
Twenty-two years later, he not only finds himself a professional athlete, but an advocate for women’s shelters and anti-domestic abuse groups.............
read more @ http://www.observer-reporter.com/article/20140823/SPORTS0403/140829738#.U_oCa5V0ycy
It’s an issue that hits way too close to home for Gay, whose mother was a victim in a murder-suicide when the second of her three sons was just seven years old.
But don’t count Gay among those who are happy Ravens running back Ray Rice is suspended by the NFL for the first two games of the regular season following an incident involving domestic violence, including a Sept. 7 meeting with the Steelers.
The NFL drew harsh criticism for what many felt was too light a penalty against Rice. In addition to the two game checks he will lose, the league fined Rice $58,000.
The public outcry over Rice’s punishment caused the league to consider stiffer penalties in the future for such events.
But in Gay’s ideal world, the league wouldn’t need to concern itself with the issue at all. In Gay’s ideal world, domestic violence wouldn’t happen.
And his mother would still be alive and well.
Growing up without his mother, Gay learned the harsh realities of domestic violence. The victims aren’t just the abused, but the children of the abused as well.
Twenty-two years later, he not only finds himself a professional athlete, but an advocate for women’s shelters and anti-domestic abuse groups.............
read more @ http://www.observer-reporter.com/article/20140823/SPORTS0403/140829738#.U_oCa5V0ycy