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A potential top NFL Draft pick, Jalen Carter will likely face an arrest warrant for his alleged role in a fatal January car crash. Apparently, Jalen was street racing with a Georgia staffer and teammate who then crashed the vehicle into telephone poles resulting in the teammate’s death. This story is disappointing because I feel like things like this happen too frequently. Just when you’re approaching the peak of your professional sports career, athletes tend to go crazy and do something outrageous. Professional athletes don’t seem to appreciate the opportunities bestowed upon them to the point where they would cost another person’s life.

Some professional athletes, such as Olympic swimmer, Michael Phelps, can get away with stuff like this. In short, he was arrested for drunk driving yet was still “eligible” to compete. Though this wasn’t as extreme as killing someone, it was an Olympic policy an athlete got away with for breaking as opposed to an NFL prospect. Professional associations and leagues should recognize behaviors such as these for all athletes regardless of their status or money. In addition, athletes who break rules should recognize that there are consequences for their actions. Sha’Carri Richardson who was dropped from Team USA after testing positive for marijuana had fans defending her for breaking a rule she signed on a document. This situation aggravated me because it said a lot about our culture in the 2020s.