Jones/Fleming1

Dia Jones and Manuel Fleming

Lynn Raymond
UWRT 1103-104
17 July 2014
Stereotypes in Sports
The purpose of our topic is to discuss and address the many different stereotypes that
both female and male athletes face in America and around the world. Through our discussion we
plan to particularly focus on the stereotypes of football players. We will also exhibit those play-
ers who embrace the negative stereotypes and also the ones who have broken free of the grasp
that plagues football players. We want to gain a deeper understanding on where the stereotypes
originated from and when, while also learning what players today are doing to prove the stereo-
type is either correct or incorrect. While researching these various topics we will use the linguis-
tic mode, aural mode, and visual mode.
Before we begin the research, we will deicide who we will focus on, as in which players
we will highlight and put under scrutiny. We have decided to focus on Tim Tebow, Richard
Sherman and Adam Pacman Jones. These three players are great examples of the stereotypes
in the National Football League. Richard Sherman and Tim Tebow are the antithesis of the gen-
eral stereotypical football player while Adam Jones has proven time and time again to be the
epitome of it. We chose to use two positive players and one negative player to show that there
are more constructive football players that are not featured in the news rather than the undesira-
ble players that tend to be publicized. Since we know what players we are using, we will re-
search their backgrounds to understand who they are and why they either fit the stereotype or
why they do not. After finding all this information, we will research the stereotypes that are giv-
Jones/Fleming2

en to football players and where they originated. To show our topic, we will utilize Prezi and
Youtube videos. Prezi will be used to present our research and our conclusion on stereotypes of
football players. Youtube will be used to show interviews with players and how others portray
football players.
By finding background information on the players we intend to use we are strengthening
our topic and our argument because we will then know the player grew up and if it affects their
portrayal in the media. The findings on how and when the stereotypes of football players came
about will aid our presentation because it will give us the time period which we believe will
prove to be a enormous factor on the stereotypes. Lastly, utilizing Youtube will help with the jus-
tification of our project because the interviews will give a clear representation on how the play-
ers talk and carry themselves and how it contributes to their depiction to the public.
As partners, we will work together on the project. We will research the players we have
chosen and subsequently decide which facts we want to put in our presentation, as well as the
facts on how stereotypes began. Dia will work on the Prezi, while Manuel will look up videos
and pictures to place in the Prezi. There will be times when we will research together and times
when we do not. The times we research by ourselves will be during the week and on the week-
ends we plan to collaborate and decide what will go into the presentation. In the meantime of re-
searching, Manuel will find interviews and videos that will correlate with our topic. By the be-
ginning of the fifth week, all the information will be ready to put into the Prezi. Dias goal is to
have the Prezi finished by July 30, 2014.