While apologies have become a dime a dozen, and most are
either insincere, or filled with qualifications and excuses, this one has some
substance to it. Here’s the background:
Last week, the National Football League’s commissioner
suspended Baltimore Ravens star running back Ray Rice for the first two games
of the coming season.
The penalty was met with overwhelming outrage. Rice had
beaten his then-fiancé (they have since gotten married). Players have suffered
much tougher penalties (at least four game suspensions; sometimes a full
season) for what are perceived as lesser offenses.
Of course, this topic became national fodder for talk
programs of all kinds. One of those programs is ESPN’s First Take. On Friday,
July 25th, Stephen A. Smith, a popular member of the show, made some
(later) admittedly stupid and offensive comments. He left the impression that women should stop "provoking" these attacks they suffer.
You can imagine the explosion of reaction all over the
media, both traditional and social, during the weekend. He was vilified, and
for good reason, based on how he said what he said.
The very next Monday, July 28th, First Take opened
cold with Smith on camera, offering an apology.
Now, so many people have apologized for so many things
lately (certainly since we entered the new era of instant, global
communications), my opinion is their apologies have little value.
However, Smith, first by responding relatively quickly, and taking full responsibility, has done a commendable job. Indeed, he’s one of
the few who did not apologize only to those who may have been offended. He assumed
everyone not only was, but had a right to be offended. His apology sounds and looks
sincere.
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