Hazing: Much Ado About Not Much

Hazer and Hazee

 

I very much enjoyed John McClain's anecdotes about hazing in the NFL from decades' past, particularly stories about Houston teams. There are much more recent instances close to home, though.

Star linebacker Brian Cushing came into training camp the summer of 2009 with the long flowing locks he had worn in college. He walked out with a not-very-well-done Mohawk, courtesy of, amongst others, quarterback Matt Schaub. The Texans' front office actually played it up for the publicity.

And much more recently than that, the Texans were still milking Hazing for laughs. On the their website, there's a very entertaining video from Sept. 12 of 2012 starring Arian Foster, JJ Watt and many others that does a tongue-in-cheek turn on Hazing. It's titled "On the Nose with Shaun Cody - Rookie Hazing":

http://www.houstontexans.com/tv-media/videos/On-the-Nose-with-Shaun-Cody-Rookie-Hazing/b87b66cf-dd59-45df-809d-efc001f4d02f

There's little doubt that Hazing is juvenile and unbecoming of adults. That said, I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't entertained every time.

Pete Smith
Cypress, TX