Utilitarian or Communitarian... good question

In the Dallas Cowboys article the football team is involved in a major crisis and the way they handled the crisis, in my opinion was not the best way to do it. According to the newspapers there was a fight that broke out between two players, Irvin and McIver, which lead to a deep cut in the throat of McIver. The immediate response that was given from the Dallas Cowboys head coach and the NFL was the that this occurred on accident after the two players were "horsing around." However, this was not the picture that the broadcast and print journalist painted for the community.

According to the article, written by Lambiase and Dempsey, there are two ways to communicate this confrontation to the public. The Cowboys took the utilitarian approach, which was for everyone to keep quite about the situation because that was what was best for the team. However, once the media started receiving inside sources who were telling a different story, the NFL and the head coach found themselves "screwed." Even though, the NFL and the Cowboys were facing skepticism from their community as well as the media they never faltered from their original story, claiming it was all an accident.

As public relations professionals we are supposed to pride ourselves in being the truth tellers and communicators to the public. Grant it every situation, especially delicate situations, must be handled with caution. In my opinion if the Cowboys team kept more of a communitarian approach, which focused more on the well-being of the injured player, as opposed to covering up the story the media would have been more receptive. And then once all the information was gathered and the situation/confrontation was affirmed, they could have expressed that the fight was a result of "horse play," which turned tragic and that both players would be penalized and be forced to sit out during the pre-season game.

If this approach was taken it would have discredited any doubt in the community and it would have shown the Cowboys team to be fair and partial in the sentencing of these two players.