Sports can bring out the best in people, and they can bring out the worst in people.
I can remember watching a Cowboys vs. Eagles game that turned out to be the last game in which Cowboys receiver Michael Irvin ever played. Irvin went down on the turf and didn’t get back up, as he was left temporarily paralyzed.
Philadelphia fans cheered while Irvin was being put on a stretcher.
I remembered this awful event because of the actions of some classless fans this past Sunday.
Late in the game between the San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals, defensive end Calais Campbell was down on the field because of what looked like a neck injury.
While Campbell was being attended, there was a small contingent of fans that took it upon themselves to start the wave.
That’s right, while a player lay motionless on the field, the fans in San Francisco thought it would be a great idea to ignore the gravity of the situation and do the wave.
Several 49ers' players took to Twitter to admonish the disrespectful fans, but we shouldn’t be surprised by such a despicable act.
This sort of thing happens all too often at sporting events, where buying a ticket entitles the worst of our society to act as drunk, crass and disrespectful as they can.
We should all learn from this unfortunate event and remind ourselves that we can root for our teams passionately and in a respectful way without losing our decorum at public events.
Reach the reporter at lzazueta@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @lorenzozazueta
