Analysis of a New Story

Erik Kramer Story

Erik Kramer is a man that has been surrounded by a major tragedy and has himself been majorly tragic. Between the drug-related death of his son and his attempted suicide that may or may not be tied to head trauma induced during his time in the National Football League, Erik Kramer is a man that is obviously very tortured and may not be acting under his own devices. The burning question is whether he is more like Chris Benoit in that his mind and his faculties are leaving him or if there is any hope for Kramer after the tragedy, trauma and pain he has endured for much of his life. He is a hero in the sense in that he is the only man to win an NFL playoff game for the Detroit Lions since the 1950's but so much of the rest of his life has been an unmitigated mess. While some may disagree with the emotional and tragedy-related rhetoric of the story, the methodology used in the story works quite well at evoking an emotional response.

Analysis

One of the major themes of the Detroit Free Press article is whether Mr. Kramer has endured football-related head trauma to the extent that he now suffers, in whole or in part, from behavioral or other mental problems as a direct results of said trauma (USA Today, 2015). This idea is stated when the U.S.A. Today article says "he (Kramer) would be the latest former NFL player to attempt or commit suicide under similar circumstances, including Junior Seau and Dave Duerson, both of whom suffered self-inflicted gunshot wounds" (USA Today, 2015). The rhetoric used here clearly links the Kramer tragedy to that of football players that have endured similar situations in the fairly recent past. The clip misses the chance to cite CTE, which is short for chronic traumatic encephalopathy. This is important because that is very important to the context of what happened to Seau and Duerson and what is probably happening to Kramer (USA Today, 2015). An ESPN article on the subject references Seau as well and it notes that Seau was confirmed to have the disorder. Even so, the article (which was written in 2013) notes that the study and knowledge of CTE is still in its "infancy" (Fainaru-Wada, Avila & Fainaru, 2013). Even with the missed reference, the Detroit Free Press/USA Today article does make the point it needs to make with the reference. They reference fellow football players that also tried to commit suicide, thus using rhetoric to link the Kramer tragedy to other historical events that are clearly related to Kramer, at least that's the indication they wish to give (USA Today, 2015).

There is also a large amount of content dedicated to the tragic death of Erik's son Griffen, who died of a drug overdose. Perhaps the best quote about that subject is a quote from Marshawn Linville-Kramer (the ex-wife) when she says "We lost a son to murder. Call it what you will because the bottom line he had over four hours to be saved and instead was drug by his feet up a driveway and hid for over 12 hours" (USA Today, 2015). She punctuated her statement by again stating "that's murder" even though she had stated it once before at the onset of the quote used above (USA Today, 2015). This particular stanza of the story is extremely loaded with emotion, passion and grief. Marshawn Linville-Kramer clearly believes that even though her son presumably used drugs of his own volition, the way in which he was handled and dealt with when he was vulnerable due to an overdose was tantamount to murder even if the law generally does not see it that way (Nolo, 2015). Between this quote and other quotes in the story, it is clear that they are heavily relying on the emotional and desperate emotions articulated by Marshawn, thus adding a personal and human element to the story. It speaks of a man (Griffen) who clearly made some mistakes but was greatly betrayed by someone that he presumably trusted. One could draw correlations between that and what has happened to Kramer and other football players who have experience head trauma while playing football but perhaps were not (or perhaps still are not) aware of the implications of engaging in such behavior. The link between Erik and Griffen Kramer is made by no less than Marshawn who was quoted in a different section of the story (the third paragraph) asserting that Erik is "an amazing father and man" and that "he would never leave his sons never." It is clear that Marshawn is claiming that Erik is not himself due to what he endured in terms of head trauma and it is also clear that the U.S.A. Today/Detroit Free Press story is making the same overall point given their subsequent reference to the deaths/suicides of Seau and Duerson. (USA Today, 2015).

A final theme of the Kramer story that can be mentioned is the not-so-subtle reference to the fact that he is the only Lions quarterback in the last several generations to win a playoff game. Indeed, the story mentions this when it says "he led the Lions to a 12-4 record and an appearance in the 1991 NFC Championship game. That year, he led the Lions to their lone playoff win since 1957." Even with the tragedies that Erik and his family have had to endure, he does represent a time in the history of the Detroit Lions that many of their fans remember fondly. Indeed, when a man is the only quarterback in two to three generations that won a playoff game, this will create a bit of loyalty and respect that would not be afforded to other players. The U.S.A. story plays on that loyalty and makes sure to include that fact more than once, perhaps as a way to offset the terrible things that have happened in his life including the head trauma, the death of his son and perhaps even the divorce from Marshawn that was surely contributed to from the other actions. The story does a great job of sewing those all together to paint a picture of a very tragic, complex and in some ways heroic situation all at the same time (USA Today, 2015).