22 Percent Think Myles Garrett Suspension Should Be Permanent, 40 Percent Say NFL Got It Right with Rest of Season; Majority Say Astros Should Be Stripped of 2017 World Championship

38 percent say Kaepernick Tryout was an attempt by the NFL for positive publicity; 37 percent say it was done in good faith.

South Orange NJ, November 22, 2019  — It feels like punishment season in sports. And there is 22 percent support for the NFL decision to suspend Cleveland’s Myles Garrett permanently (still an option for the Commissioner), and 40 percent support for the rest of the season as is currently imposed.  13 percent say “less than the rest of the season or not at all,” with 7 percent saying more than this season, and 9 percent saying they did not know or had no opinion.

Younger respondents tended to be more lenient, with 13 percent of those 18-29 saying the suspension should be permanent, but 25 percent of those 60 and up agreeing.

51 percent said Garrett should not face additional criminal charges, with only 31 percent of the public saying he should.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell denied Garrett’s appeal on Thursday.

Astros and Electronic Sign Stealing
Meanwhile, as the public awaits a decision on the alleged electronic sign stealing by the Houston Astros in the 2017 season, a strong showing of 52 percent vs. 35 percent say that if guilty they should be stripped of their world championship, something that has never happened in Major League Baseball.  14 percent had no opinion or did not know.

These are the findings of a Seton Hall Sports Poll conducted this week of 712 adults on landlines and cellphones across the country.  The poll has a margin of error of +/- 3.7 percent.

Not Just Astros?
As for the Astros, accused of monitoring catcher’s signals with television surveillance, 69 percent felt other teams also engage in electronic sign stealing, with 13 percent saying no, and 18 percent with no opinion.  There have been no such public accusations of any teams.

PEDs Worse?
Only 15 percent felt electronic sign stealing was more serious than the use of performance enhancing drugs.

“These decisions are on the desks of the Commissioners ,” noted Rick Gentile, director of the Seton Hall Sports Poll, which is sponsored by the Sharkey Institute within the Stillman School of Business. “The Astros case is particularly challenging and the public feels an unprecedented punishment (for MLB) may be warranted.” 

The Kaepernick Tryout

The public was evenly divided on Colin Kaepernick’s NFL tryout last week, with 38 percent saying it was an attempt by the NFL for positive publicity and 37 percent saying it was done in good faith, with 25 percent saying they did not know or had no opinion.  As for whether he deserved the special tryout, 57 percent said yes and 29 percent said no.

Questions and breakdowns below.

About the poll:

This poll was conducted by telephone November 18-20 among adults in the United States. The Seton Hall Sports Poll is conducted by the Sharkey Institute within the Stillman School of Business. Phone numbers were dialed from samples of both standard landline and cell phones.  The error for subgroups may be higher. This poll release conforms to the Standards of Disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls. The Seton Hall Sports Poll has been conducted regularly since 2006.Recently chosen for inclusion in iPoll by Cornell’s Roper Center for Public Opinion Research, its findings have been published everywhere from USA Today, ESPN, The New York Times, Washington Post, AP, and Reuters to Fox News and most points in between.

Media: Media: Marty Appel, AppelPR@gmail.com;
Michael Ricciardelli, Associate Director of Media Relations, Seton Hall
michael.ricciardelli@shu.edu, 908-447-3034

The results:

  1. Former NFL Quarterback Colin Kaepernick privately auditioned in front of a portion of NFL teams last Saturday. Do you think he deserved the opportunity to audition in front of any NFL teams?

 

1 – Yes                                                                                        57
2 – No                                                                                         29
3 – Don’t know/No opinion                                                     15

 

  1. Kaepernick didn’t attend the NFL sanctioned audition but decided to set up his own showcase because he felt the league wasn’t acting in good faith. Do you think in setting up the original audition the NFL was acting in good faith or was it just an attempt by the league to gain some positive publicity?

1 – Good faith                                                                          37
2 – Attempt for positive publicity                                         38
3 – Don’t know/No opinion                                                25

  1. Myles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns was ejected from a game for tearing the helmet off the opposing quarterback and hitting him over the head with it.  He was subsequently suspended by the NFL for at least the rest of the season.

Do you think he should have been suspended for the rest of the season, less than that or not at all, more than this season or suspended permanently from the NFL?

1 – Rest of season                                                                     40

2 – Less than rest of season or not at all                               13

3 – More than this season                                                         7

4 – Suspended permanently                                                   22

5 – Don’t know/No opinion                                                       9

  1. Do you think Garrett should face criminal charges for his actions during the game?

 

1 – Yes                                                                                        31

2 – No                                                                                         51

3 – Don’t know/No opinion                                                     18

  1. The NFL has discussed basing a team in London, England. Would you be in favor of a team based in London or not?

 

1 – Yes                                                                                        48

2 – No                                                                                         36

3 – Don’t know/No opinion                                                     16

 

  1. The NFL has also discussed increasing the regular season from 16 games to 17 games. Do you think the regular season should stay at 16 games or increase to 17?

 

1 – Sixteen                                                                                49

2 – Seventeen                                                                          32

3 – Don’t know/No opinion                                                    19

 

  1. The Houston Astros have been accused of electronically stealing opposing catchers’ signs to the pitcher by using a centerfield camera relaying signals to a monitor near the dugout. Do you think other major league teams also engage in electronically stealing signs?

 

1 – Yes                                                                                        69

2 – No                                                                                         13

3 – Don’t know/No opinion                                                     18

 

  1. Since the cheating allegedly took place during the Astros championship season of 2017, if found guilty should the Astros be stripped of their World Series championship?

 

1 – Yes                                                                                        52

2 – No                                                                                         35

3 – Don’t know/No opinion                                                     14

 

  1. Do you think electronic sign stealing is a more serious transgression than using performance enhancing drugs?

 

1 – Yes                                                                                        15

2 – No                                                                                         58

3 – Same                                                                                    21

4 – Don’t know/No opinion                                                      6

ABOUT SETON HALL UNIVERSITY

One of the country’s leading Catholic universities, Seton Hall has been showing the world what great minds can do since 1856. Home to nearly 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students and offering more than 90 rigorous academic programs, Seton Hall’s academic excellence has been singled out for distinction by The Princeton Review, U.S. News & World Report and Bloomberg Businessweek.

Seton Hall embraces students of all religions and prepares them to be exemplary servant leaders and global citizens. In recent years, the University has achieved extraordinary success. Since 2009, it has seen record-breaking undergraduate enrollment growth and an impressive 110-point increase in the average SAT scores of incoming freshmen. In the past decade, Seton Hall students and alumni have received more than 30 Fulbright Scholarships as well as other prestigious academic honors, including Boren Awards, Pickering Fellowships, Udall Scholarships and a Rhodes Scholarship. The University is also proud to be the third most diverse national Catholic university in the nation.

During the past five years, the University has invested more than $165 million in new campus buildings and renovations. And in 2015, Seton Hall launched a School of Medicine as well as a College of Communication and the Arts. The University’s beautiful main campus in suburban South Orange, N.J. is only 14 miles from New York City — offering students a wealth of employment, internship, cultural and entertainment opportunities. Seton Hall’s nationally recognized School of Law is located prominently in downtown Newark. The University’s Interprofessional Health Sciences (IHS) campus in Clifton and Nutley, N.J. opened in the summer of 2018. The IHS campus houses the University’s College of Nursing, School of Health and Medical Sciences and the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine at Seton Hall University.

For more information, visit www.shu.edu.

 

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