When a big guy slams into another big guy on the football field, we cheer, but when one of those guys is just as violent with a girl it’s not OK.
The NFL has been dealing with domestic violence charges left and right with their players and they’re not handling it well.
“Beat your partner or your child and you lose the privilege of playing football until you sort out your issues, both legal and psychological,” wrote USA Today writer, Nancy Armour.
A common argument is that the game of football is vicious, so sometimes people tend to think that it’s the players’ nature to be violent. It’s still no excuse.
Others debate that the NFL should not be involved in the charges and should let the police handle it. Regardless if that is the best answer, the bigger issue is the inconsistency with NFL suspensions.
Sometimes players were suspended for a game or two, sometimes charges were reduced and sometimes charges were dropped completely and players’ names were cleared.
Just by following NBC and AP Sports accounts on Twitter, it seems like domestic violence charges are popping up every minute. The most talked about charge is with former Baltimore Raven’s player, Ray Rice.
At first, they gave him a two-game suspension, but in the wake of intense criticism, they implemented a six-game unpaid ban. Then all hell broke loose.
Originally the suspensions were solely based on photo evidence and witness accounts until a video released showing him knocking out his wife-to-be.
The video is appalling and clearly shows him punching a woman with full force. After the video was leaked, Ray Rice was released by the Ravens and suspended indefinitely by the NFL. Then more hell broke loose.
The NFL received a lot of backlash from the statement, “indefinitely.” People wanted him gone for good. The NFL was pressured by negative media responses and especially criticized by sponsors.
Carolina general manager Dave Gettleman said the NFL doesn’t have an official protocol to handle these cases.
“There’s no rulebook for this,” said Gettleman in an interview with USA Today. “Our overriding goal has always been to do the right thing.”
Plain and simple, the NFL took too long to handle this case properly because there’s no standard.
I don’t have to try and make the case for why domestic violence is wrong because I’m sure everyone can agree on that. I do think the NFL should take action because it’s a business. If an employee at a bank were arrested on domestic violence charges, they would be fired.
It’s hard to see NFL players as employees because they are public figures, but when it comes down to it, it’s their job and they get paid for doing it. When dealing with these charges, the NFL should handle it like a job.
The NFL should put all conflict of interests aside and see their players as what they are: employees. When employees are arrested, they are fired.The NFL is having trouble with treating players as employees, especially with Minnesota Vikings player Adrian Peterson. Because he is such a good player, they don’t want to suspend him even though he beat his 4-year-old son.
The NFL should fire the player, but they should be allowed to reapply for a job after waiting a good amount of time. A famous player who did this was Michael Vick.
Although the NFL doesn’t have an official policy or a plan of action on domestic violence, a good rule to go by is to see it as job and treat the player like an employee.
Regardless of who the person is, domestic violence is wrong and leaving it alone is criminal.