One of sports coverage’s dominant messages is that the most aggressive athletes are rewarded. Viewers are continually immersed in images that highlight and commentary that praises athletes who most successfully employ physical, aggressive play, as well as toughness. This message was found most often in NBA games, comprising 40 of the 66 exam- ples from our sample. For example, on SportsCenter, after having his toughness called into question, NBA player Brian Grant was awarded redemption by a commen- tator because he showed that he was “not afraid to take it to Karl Malone.” During the NFL games, there were 15 examples of this message, as commentators enthusiastically described.
