The Dumb Jock Stereotype Rebuked

The Dumb Jock Stereotype Rebuked

The stereotype of the jock is one that has been portrayed adversely in aspects of media today from film to literature. Being a jock is linked intently to being stupid, commonly referred to as the dumb jock. Both of these aspects are considered in the television series “Blue Mountain State,” which tells the fictional story of a football team playing at Blue Mountain State College. The main character, Alex Moran, is rising in rank as quarterback and bounds from second string quarterback to first string quarterback as he begins accepting more responsibility. The series is a comedy through and through but the team faces a new problem every episode, most times caused by the players themselves. Alex and costar Thad Castle, who is usually the reason for most problems, have to work together to solve them to save the team, which on most occasions is from the law or from NCAA sports allegations. These struggles call attention to the dumb jock stereotype but through quick thinking and hard work, the players solve their problem, causing viewers to question the stereotypes legitimacy. With plot, situation and the aid of sexuality and masculinity themes, Blue Mountain State expresses and attacks the stereotype of the dumb jock. And even further, other referenced articles that relate to the stereotype attack the stigma and provide support to the falsity of the dumb jock claim.

The source, “Those dumb jocks are at it again: A comparison of the educational performances of athletes and nonathletes in north Carolina high schools from 1993 through 1996,” with many references including B.B. Durbin, combats the concept of the dumb jock stereotype. The passage from his article states that “from 133 of the 301 member schools of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association…athletes had higher …GPA, a much better attendance rate, a lower discipline referral percentage, a lower drop out percentage, and a higher graduation rate than the nonathletes,” (Durbin 1). The dumb jock myth with regards to this statement and its statistical support behind seems overplayed. The reasoning behind this though is that the athletes are held to a higher standard than are the non-athletes. Another statement made is that “coaches, teachers, and parents take an interest in athletes, including their classroom performance,” (Durbin 2). With such attention, any slip ups would be noticeable and the athletes would be required to fulfill his obligations to that class work. With so many people behind the athletes, pushing them forward, the non-athletes have nobody to enforce them, except for their parents maybe. The athletes have much easier access to help with so many more people backing them up when the non-athletes can seeming slip under the radar and down the GPA scale without notice. The big difference though between non-athletes and athletes in school is that “athletes are motivated to perform at higher levels in order to remain eligible,” (Durbin 2). The students have all the backing and all the eyes from their higher authorities, but it is not needed in most cases. When the person has the want to play and is willing to work hard for it, they can rely on themselves for the motivation, the drive to finish their work, because without doing it, the athletes would be able to play their sport, to follow their passions. With non-athletes, they are not required to maintain a minimum grade point average in school and have the ability to slack off, not do their work, and still be able to do what they enjoy, unless their parents step in and force them to improve the grades. Even so, the non-athletes do not have the same requirements that athletes have, and with more requirements, the athletes are monitored more to ensure they do not fall short of them, that is to say if the athlete is even facing the problem such a problem at all.
In the article, “They shot down the ‘dumb jock’ label: Athletes prove they have both brains and brawn,” by Bill Berry, the dumb jock stigma is further deterred. The article tells how a client of a law firm is astounded to see Chicago Bears defensive end Alan Page working at a law firm and at first he cannot believe it. Page says in the passage, “nobody ever suggested I was dumb to my face, but I don’t doubt that there were those who said it behind my back,” (Berry 1). Nobody would ever suspect seeing a large hulking football player to be researching and studying for such things as a defense for a client as was an example in the case of Alan Page. The dumb jock stigma keep people from thinking that such an accomplishment was capable by an athlete. Dewey Selmon, a linebacker from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, feels “the myth that athletes are dumb does exist, but he insists that ‘anybody who is dumb wouldn’t make it’ in professional sports today…You have to think fast and be able to reason abstractly…This kind of reasoning requires a significant degree of intelligence,” (Berry 2). The decisions that need to be made on the field in sports need to happen almost instantaneously, and being able to make decisions and react in such a way takes a skill, a different type of intelligence.

Such a different type of intelligence can be related to Blue Mountain State, because where the team does not excel in the classroom, the series is still trying to push that athletes are actually smart by putting the players in situations of extreme stress and they are forced to problem solve, they need to react quickly and precisely in order to get themselves out of trouble. One such example is when the players face failing their English final, so Alex recruits the help of the professors mother to blackmail the professors mother by forcing him to give the entire team in his class a C on the test, or they would release a soft-core porn movie with the professors’ mother in it. It is a disturbing way to reach their goal, but when backed down, they were forced to react quickly for self-preservation.