The last week and a half was not a good one for the National Football League.
Three players have had violent incidents tied to their names in the past week. Ray Rice of the Baltimore Ravens, Ray McDonald of the San Francisco 49ers, and Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings, have created the domestic abuse/child abuse trifecta in the last week, and their actions have brought scorn and given the the NFL an unfair, undeserved black mark as the 2014-15 season begins.
The incidents are public record, and can be read elsewhere. It will not be rehashed here. This article will address the utter ridiculousness of somehow holding the National Football League responsible for the actions of it's players off the field, a viewpoint that has festered for going on ten years now and something that is not only patently unfair, but it addresses something that is failing in this country: the concept of personal accountability for ones actions.
Indicting the league, as some media outlets are wont to do these days is a useless gesture. The game did not cause these men to do what they did...allegedly or otherwise...and though they have not "acted properly" in the interests of fairness the league went on the information they had in front of them.
Then again, no one will ever be completely satisfied by any punitive actions handed down, short of a "Pete Rose" lifetime ban action which may or not be forthcoming.
Even then the Rose ban in Major League Baseball is coming under fire as some would say Rose has done enough time...some 25 years...to justify lifting the lifetime ban levied on him by Bart Giamatti.
Either way, the NFL is caught between the rock and hard place here.
The question to this writers mind is how much culpability does Roger Goodell and the NFL have when it comes to the incidents and how much of a deterrent would swifter and stronger actions like a lifetime ban be in the overall scheme of things.
It is fair to say that the Players Association will try to make the case that these incidents took place off the playing field and that Rice, McDonald and Peterson should be allowed to play, but what message will that send to those who hold these players out as role models?
Clearly this is something that will not go away and the League must ride through the rough seas that are ahead of it. The right thing to do is to take these players off the field until such time as the charges are disposed of in a legal setting, for the good of the game.
The disturbing element of all this is that popular perception, which has an annoying habit of becoming reality, has the game being the reason that Rice punched his wife, McDonald beat up his pregnant fiance' and Peterson used a switch on his sons. That is wrong. The game should not be made to suffer for the actions of it's players.
ENDNOTE: This article is not an endorsement in any way of the violence committed by Ray Rice, Ray McDonald, and Adrian Peterson. The legal system presumes them innocent until proven guilty, and it is hoped the reader takes that into account when this entry is read. The evidence is damning but, regardless of that no legal ruling has been exercised on these individuals and as such they remain, as of this writing, accused and therefore innocent until proven guilty. --Rich.
Three players have had violent incidents tied to their names in the past week. Ray Rice of the Baltimore Ravens, Ray McDonald of the San Francisco 49ers, and Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings, have created the domestic abuse/child abuse trifecta in the last week, and their actions have brought scorn and given the the NFL an unfair, undeserved black mark as the 2014-15 season begins.
The incidents are public record, and can be read elsewhere. It will not be rehashed here. This article will address the utter ridiculousness of somehow holding the National Football League responsible for the actions of it's players off the field, a viewpoint that has festered for going on ten years now and something that is not only patently unfair, but it addresses something that is failing in this country: the concept of personal accountability for ones actions.
Indicting the league, as some media outlets are wont to do these days is a useless gesture. The game did not cause these men to do what they did...allegedly or otherwise...and though they have not "acted properly" in the interests of fairness the league went on the information they had in front of them.
Then again, no one will ever be completely satisfied by any punitive actions handed down, short of a "Pete Rose" lifetime ban action which may or not be forthcoming.
Even then the Rose ban in Major League Baseball is coming under fire as some would say Rose has done enough time...some 25 years...to justify lifting the lifetime ban levied on him by Bart Giamatti.
Either way, the NFL is caught between the rock and hard place here.
The question to this writers mind is how much culpability does Roger Goodell and the NFL have when it comes to the incidents and how much of a deterrent would swifter and stronger actions like a lifetime ban be in the overall scheme of things.
It is fair to say that the Players Association will try to make the case that these incidents took place off the playing field and that Rice, McDonald and Peterson should be allowed to play, but what message will that send to those who hold these players out as role models?
Clearly this is something that will not go away and the League must ride through the rough seas that are ahead of it. The right thing to do is to take these players off the field until such time as the charges are disposed of in a legal setting, for the good of the game.
The disturbing element of all this is that popular perception, which has an annoying habit of becoming reality, has the game being the reason that Rice punched his wife, McDonald beat up his pregnant fiance' and Peterson used a switch on his sons. That is wrong. The game should not be made to suffer for the actions of it's players.
ENDNOTE: This article is not an endorsement in any way of the violence committed by Ray Rice, Ray McDonald, and Adrian Peterson. The legal system presumes them innocent until proven guilty, and it is hoped the reader takes that into account when this entry is read. The evidence is damning but, regardless of that no legal ruling has been exercised on these individuals and as such they remain, as of this writing, accused and therefore innocent until proven guilty. --Rich.
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