Thursday 9/18/14

Recently the NFL has been rocked by scandal. You would have to be living under a rock, or be Roger Goodell, to not be aware of the now famous “Ray-Rice-Elevator-Incident Video.” The video shows Ray Rice (an NFL player at the time) arguing with his then fiancé (now wife), and subsequently striking her in the face, rendering her unconscious. Now domestic violence cases are popping up all over the NFL. Adrian Peterson, another NFL star, has since been suspended for domestic violence, and so, too, has Jonathan Dwyer.

I am not going to get too deep into the ethics of domestic abuse because I don’t think that is necessary. It’s wrong, and it’s unacceptable, period.

The NFL, and Roger Goodell, fumbled the ball on this one. Originally, Ray Rice was given a measly two game suspension for the incident in the elevator. It was only after TMZ produced the video footage of the inside of the elevator that his suspension was made indefinite, essentially ruling out his return this season, and possibly ending the star running back’s career. Now Rice is saying that he told Commissioner Goodell all about the incident back in June, leaving no detail out. Others are coming forward insisting that the NFL head office had seen this video before. The conclusions people are drawing aren’t pretty. It seems that Goodell and the NFL as a whole were going to give Rice what essentially amounts to a free pass until the video evidence went public and the fans’ collective outrage forced their hand. That is simply unacceptable.

With the slew of incidents surfacing around the league now, some people are blaming the game itself, as though the sport of football somehow made these men act out physically against their wives, girlfriends, and children. That’s nonsense. A person is responsible for their actions, no matter what their job is. Blaming the sport for off-field violence is the adult equivalent of a four year old claiming “my friend made me do it.” These are grown men. They’re fully capable of making adult decisions. They’re just making bad ones.

It is not my goal to condemn the sport of football. The NFL messed up big time here, but it’s not all bad. For example, Rice’s wife, Janay, refused to press charges against him. In other words, the legal system will not be pursuing Rice. The NFL does not need anyone to press charges in order to impose a sanction on a player. That means that if it were not for the NFL and its suspension, Rice would receive no punishment at all for his actions.

And Football is light years ahead of other public arenas. Take music, for example. In 2009, musical artist Chris Brown pleaded guilty to assaulting his girlfriend at the time, fellow musical artist Rihanna. He was sentenced to a laughable five years of probation and six months of community service. The result for his career? A miniscule 3% drop in record sales. Ray Rice committed essentially the same crime, and people are demanding that he be banned from football forever.

It works for television personalities, as well. Former Patriot Wes Welker tested positive for opiates (which are considered a “recreational drug” rather than a performance enhancing drug) and was handed down a suspension from the NFL. Again, fans were outraged at his actions. Rush Limbaugh admitted to having an opiate dependency and was praised for his courage. Heath Ledger died from an overdose and has been celebrated. He was even awarded an Oscar posthumously.

When Donald Sterling’s (former owner of the NBA’s LA Clippers) private racist rants were recorded and made public, he was forced to sell his team. When Mel Gibson’s anti-Semitic rants became public, he went right on making movies. Sure, he was mocked, but there wasn’t the indignation present in the Sterling case. People didn’t vow never to watch his movies again the way they vowed not to watch the Clippers if Sterling didn’t sell.

I am not saying these public sports figures deserve better treatment than they got, though I do believe that forgiveness is important, particularly if a person admits wrongdoing, apologizes, and makes the appropriate amends or serves the appropriate sentence. It is an interesting double-standard, though. Why do we hold sports figures to a higher standard than other public figures? What is it about the arena of sports that incites such anger at indecency or foul play?

It’s because sports are supposed to be pure. Movies, music, television, and literature are all given free rein to explore the seedy underbelly of our world. Sports, on the other hand, are supposed to keep clean. In a world where wrongdoers so often go unpunished, sports are a safe haven of order and rules. Just pick up an NFL rulebook. It’s not small. There are multitudes of infractions, specifications, and scenarios. If a player breaks a rule, his punishment is immediate and measured out according to a set code. If an egregious violation gets missed by an official, you can bet someone at the head office is going to talk to that player, and appropriate actions will be taken. In sports, we have instant justice.

Of course, the perfect escape from what is often seen as an unjust world is ruined when we know that the players on the field are not recipients of true justice. When we know that a person escapes legal trial because of a technicality we do not want to see them on the field. That is not a place for them. There is no penalty assessed by the referees for the off-field injustice committed by a player, nor can there be. We just want them gone.

This utopian order is one of the great things about sports, and I for one, am glad it exists. In the real world, life is complicated, and justice is often unclear. I am happy that commissioner Goodell eventually did the right thing, even if it was just a classic case of trying to save face. Now, though, it is time for Goodell’s instant justice. He needs to bow out, like Rice, and take his lumps. Then we can talk about forgiveness and moving forward.