Our View: Shame on the NFL
The NFL has seen plenty of off-the-field issues in the last couple of weeks. The way that both the organization and individual teams have handled these cases of domestic abuse is disgraceful.
Ray Rice’s suspension for beating his wife was two games by the NFL. That was before the video was released of him brutally hitting his then-fiancee and knocking her out. Following the release of the video, the Baltimore Ravens released him, and the NFL suspended him indefinitely. However, the hotel where the incident happened said they sent the video to the NFL and the Associated Press reported that the NFL received the video during the initial investigation. So why the backtracking by the NFL and its commissioner Roger Goodell?
“I spent this week answering seemingly impossible questions about the leagues biggest stars,” said Hannah Storm, ESPN analyst. “‘Mom, why did he do that? Why isn’t he in jail? Why didn’t he get fired?’ And yesterday, ‘Why don’t they even have control over their own players?'”
Then Adrian Peterson, running back for the Vikings, was indicted on charges of child abuse. He even turned himself in, then posted bail to get out of jail. Initially, the Vikings took him off the field. However, when Monday rolled around, the Vikings re-instated him.
“Take him off the field. We’re in a climate right now — I don’t care what it is — take them off the dang gun field,” said Chris Carter, former Viking and an ESPN NFL analyst. “Because that’s the only thing we really respect. We don’t respect no women, we don’t respect no kids. … Take them off the field because they respect that.”
Radisson suspended its sponsorships of the Vikings. Nike took Peterson jerseys out of stores in Minnesota. Anheuser-Busch said that they are “disappointed” and “concerned” with how the NFL has handled these instances. We should all be concerned, especially if Peterson plays and if the NFL Players Association wins their appeal to get Rice back on the field.
“This travesty of justice,” said Keith Olbermann an ESPN Analyst. “This blind eye being turned to a man who bloodied at least two of his own children, a blind eye turned because he is a prominent athlete. That cannot be permitted to happen.”
The Vikings have deferred punishment of Peterson to the legal system. On multiple occasions in the past the Vikings have simply released athletes for off-the-field issues such as domestic violence. Because that is the thing about the NFL and its teams — they don’t have to defer to legal systems. It’s a private business. The Vikings can release Peterson just like the Ravens did to Rice. The NFL can prevent Peterson from playing. They have that power.
So what is it that the NFL is concerned with? Well, we all know. Money. They don’t care about all of the players developing mental illnesses, they don’t care about the black eyes on players’ wives and they don’t care about the blood of the players’ kids. What they care about are the fans buying jerseys of criminals and the sponsors gushing money to put above players.
Yes, there have been a cluster of incidents, but we should not write those off as coincidental. The NFL needs to take a stance on social and human issues rather than concealing videos.
“Are we supposed to simply separate a violent game on the field from violent acts off the field?” Storm said. “And if we do, what message does that send?”
Storm asks a good question. What message does that send? What is Goodell saying by allowing Peterson to play, by hiding the Rice video?
What we are hearing is that the $44 million he made last year is more important than the safety of wives and children of NFL players, and that is concerning.