’s teammate needlessly suffered a career-ending knee injury on the resulting play. (Meggyesy, 1970).Coaches can also coerce and control an athlete’s life outside the playing field. When Meggyesy began dating a girl in high school, his coach told him that a football player could not simultaneously sustain a relationship with a girl, adequately complete schoolwork, and be fully dedicated to football. He coerced Meggyesy into ending the relationship and then demonstrated his power by promising him a football scholarship to Syracuse University for complying with his wishes. (Meggyesy, 1970)The power of coercion and control possessed by coaches was also seen as Meggyesy was trying to decide on where to attend college. After verbally committing to Syracuse University, Meggyesy reconsidered his decision and opted for Louisiana State University. Upon hearing his decision, the outraged Syracuse coaching staff flew him to campus for a meeting. By pressuring the teenage Meggyesy with feelings of guilt, the coaching staff coerced him into attending Syracuse University. (Meggyesy, 1970)The third category conflict theorists study is the development of commercialism in society through sports. Such studies can focus on whether athletes are exploited to promote capitalistic expansion by crating profits for large corporations and wealthy people. (Coakley, 1998) Meggyesy provided an example of this in examining the operations of NFL team owners. During Meggyesy’s professional career, the profits of the NFL increased 4,300 percent but player salaries increased by only 73.6 percent. (Meggyesy, 1970) Subtracting the rises in the cost of living brought the salary increases to only 48.4 percent. (Meggyesy, 1970) Another example that Meggyesy provided was when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. Against the wishes of the players, the NFL decided not to postpone its games in the wake of one of the darkest tragedies in American h...
