Sports media research has often found that athletes are depicted differently based on stereotypes attached to their racialized bodies, and often along a Black/white racial binary. Furthermore, Black men often receive more and harsher penalties for drug use compared to all other racial and gender categories. Using critical discourse analysis, this study explores how NFL athletes who either openly admitted to using illicit drugs or failed National Football League (NFL)-mandated drug tests were covered by sports media. Four NFL athletes (two Black, two white) were selected based on their prominence — Josh Gordon, Randy Gregory, Chris Long, and Aaron Rodgers. The findings tell us that the selected Black athletes were often demonized in coverage by being portrayed as addicts or criminals and objectified as commodities whose value rose and fell with each suspension/return. Additionally, journalists often deployed neoliberal logics to both criticize and defend Black and white athletes. The white athletes in the study were portrayed as intellectuals looking to challenge the NFL’s authority, “good person(s),” and went unpunished for their drug admittance. This study finds that monolithic coverage of athletes is not fair, however the stereotypical notions of the Black/white binary are present when analyzing media discourse on athletic drug use.

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遵守规则比赛（和吸烟）：体育媒体对运动员吸毒的种族化报道

体育媒体研究经常发现，根据对运动员种族化身体的刻板印象，对运动员的描述有所不同，而且通常遵循黑人/白人种族二元论。此外，与所有其他种族和性别类别相比，黑人男性往往因吸毒而受到更多、更严厉的处罚。本研究利用批判性话语分析，探讨了体育媒体如何报道公开承认使用非法药物或未通过国家橄榄球联盟 (NFL) 规定的药物测试的 NFL 运动员。四名 NFL 运动员（两名黑人，两名白人）根据他们的杰出表现被选中：乔什·戈登、兰迪·格雷戈里、克里斯·朗和亚伦·罗杰斯。研究结果告诉我们，选定的黑人运动员经常在报道中被妖魔化，被描绘成瘾君子或罪犯，并被客观化为商品，其价值随着每次停赛/回归而升降。此外，记者经常运用新自由主义逻辑来批评和捍卫黑人和白人运动员。研究中的白人运动员被描绘成寻求挑战 NFL 权威的知识分子、“好人”，并且因吸毒而没有受到惩罚。这项研究发现，对运动员的单一报道是不公平的，但是在分析有关运动药物使用的媒体话语时，存在黑白二元的刻板印象。