At SXSW's sports event, talk of ending domestic violence

AUSTIN — Fans can help solve the problem of domestic violence in sports — and in society.

When accusations arise, such as the recent high-profile cases of then-Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice and Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston, they can serve as teachable moments to begin to break a cycle of violence.

Unless children learn about the issues of power and control in relationships, domestic violence will likely continue among athletes and regular people, said Jane Randel, founder of No More, a domestic violence and sexual assault awareness group.

"I hate the phrase, but these are times to start to have this conversation about what is a healthy relationship if someone is texting you 30-40 times an hour saying where are you, who are you with — that is probably not a good thing," she said.

Randel participated in a panel entitled "Can Sports Help End a Culture of Violence?" here Friday, as part of the South By Southwest festival's SXSports three-day event.

Violence committed by athletes is part of a larger ingrained societal problem, she and other speakers said. The problem will continue unless people talk about it and learn to recognize the root causes, they said.

For a family, when a favorite or well-known pro or college athlete is accused of domestic violence or sexual assault, that is an opportunity to "start the conversation with your children in a positive way," said Randel, who is consulting with the National Football League about the issues.

NoMore.org created a television commercial about domestic violence that ran during the Super Bowl. The ad was based on a real case in which a woman called 911 and acted as if she had called a pizza delivery service because she was fearful of violence at home. It's since gotten 7.3 million views on YouTube.

"That is a way to start the conversation," said Katie Hnida, another panelist who a decade ago publicly spoke of the harassment and rape she suffered as a kicker on the University of Colorado football team. She was the first woman to score points in a Division 1 game at University of New Mexico. "I have friends who said they used that to speak to their children because everybody was watching the game together."

At the core, domestic violence committed by men against women comes from societal shortcomings. That must be addressed to prevent having this same conversation for decades, said Don McPherson, a former NFL quarterback and All-American quarterback at Syracuse University who now works as an activist and educator about domestic violence and other social justice issues.

"We are not talking about (the) violent masculinity that is learned at a very, very early age," he said. "It's glorified. It's lionized, and boys grow up with that being part of what it means to be a man."

Rather than having a "victim-centric" conversation, we need to find a way to eliminate future perpetrators of domestic violence, McPherson said.

It's not just sports league officials, coaches and school officials who are at fault in high-profile cases, he said. Want a sign of how ingrained this violent culture is that serves to protect athletes — and others — who might be accused of domestic violence or sexual assault?

Amid the backdrop of white cops shooting unarmed black teens in several incidents across the country, "here were these two black guys (Rice and Winston) who committed crimes that we knew about, we had DNA evidence and we had video evidence, and the white police did nothing about it in either case," McPherson said. "That is entitlement of an athlete."

Follow Mike Snider on Twitter: @MikeSnider