Biography

In this assignment, we were asked to create and analyze a topic regarding sports media
and how it directly affects society. We analyzed the concept called “American Exceptionalism”,
which is the idea that American sports societies are unique, superior and exemplary as compared
to other nations. Furthermore, we analyzed how American exceptionalism is portrayed in a post
9/11 world. After such tragedy, society became more bonded and unified by the power of trauma.
We analyzed how the relationship between the US military and American sports organizations,
such as the NFL, work together to create a patriotic American sports society. Because this
relationship has developed more than ever before, it is obvious that in a post 9/11 society there is
a need for an exceptionalist attitude filled with pride and patriotism as well as resilience. We
used our research to further understand the reality of the relationship between the military and
sports. Before this research, we were blind to the extent of this relationship (especially the
economic aspect) and the importance of it to both parties involved. This allowed us to understand
why there is so much military representation at sporting events; these include, military
homecomings, honores salutes, memorials etc. These representations are done to further the idea
of American exceptionalism in order to keep and build a very patriotic image. In this project
each group member worked equivalently in each aspect of the project. We all conducted research
for each subtopic as well as each supporting point. Through this, we were able to analyze each
source and decide which evidence fit each topic the best. We broke down each article and used
critical, specific pieces of evidence that furthered our understanding and elaborated on the most
important aspects of each subtopic. The more detailed we went, the more our research came
together and ultimately gave us our desired outcome for this research. We narrowed our focus
towards the NFL, rather than every American sport association. This narrowed focus allowed us
to get detailed information regarding economic findings, as well as uncovering the dark truth
about business relationships in the NFL. While we, the audience, sees military representation as
a positive, lighthearted representation, the business behind it made us question the true, sad
intentions of what exactly is American Exceptionalism within American sports societies. In the
end, we were able to explore what exactly is American exceptionalism and how business
relationships play a role in how the rest of society views American sports