The National Football League has once again found itself tangled in controversy.
On Wednesday, former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole. He was also convicted of multiple weapons ammunitions charges related to the crime.
In June 2013, the body of Odin Lloyd, the boyfriend of Hernandez’s fiancee’s sister, was found shot six times in a pit near Hernandez’s home in North Attleboro, MA. According to The New York Times, the prosecution argued that Hernandez’s motive for the shooting was his dislike for people Lloyd was speaking with at a bar in Boston.
This conviction will undoubtedly bring more negative press to an already floundering NFL. While Hernandez is the first NFL player to be convicted of murder since Rae Carruth in 2001, several players have come under fire for assault and weaponry charges in recent years.
In 2014, Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice was accused of violently assaulting his fiancee in an elevator, ultimately knocking her unconscious. The NFL did not respond to this accusation until after video evidence of the event had surfaced, and even then Rice was only suspended from the team for a short time, during which he still received his paycheck.
These violent crimes didn’t necessarily stem from a poor influence within the NFL. For example, 21-year-old projected first-round NFL draft pick Jameis Winston faced sexual assault and shoplifting charges as a student at Florida State University before his involvement in the league.
Since Rice’s scandal erupted, multiple domestic violence campaigns have come out against the NFL as a whole, arguing that officials have become much too lenient with regard to violent crimes. Instead of punishing Rice for his blatant violence, the Ravens rewarded him for his behavior by defending him and keeping him on paid leave.
The same could be said about assault charges brought against former Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis back in 2000. Lewis is now one of the most celebrated players in the league’s history. He holds an on-air position at ESPN, and even had a statue commemorated in his name in front of M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore late last year.
All of this is undoubtedly concerning, yet NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has not taken the severity of these accusations and charges seriously. Rather than signing and rewarding these suspected and sometimes convicted violent players for their unacceptable behavior, perhaps the NFL should reward law-abiding potential NFL draftees.
According to The Boston Globe, the NFL has an extensive background check process and teams are bound to find out about any suspicious behavior before signing any players. Therefore, enacting any greater background check is unnecessary.
But can Hernandez and other players be judged based on past accusations that may or may not actually be true? After all, Hernandez was never officially charged in the supposed shootings in 2007. The NFL cannot discriminate based on suspicion. Additionally, while “preventive measures” against instances such as these may be enacted, there is really no way to predict someone’s likeliness to commit violent crimes.
If we can’t effectively psychoanalyze people before they purchase guns, we definitely can’t psychoanalyze someone before they play professional football.
While not all of these violent tendencies came from experience in the NFL, hiring someone with a seedy past only encourages him to act out in the future. By enlisting players with violent tendencies to a sport that ultimately requires violence in itself, the NFL is doing nobody any favors. Not to mention, if one was able to circumvent the criminal justice system while still outside the NFL, it seems only natural that they would continue to do so once drafted.
To this effect, there is something to be said about the fact that although Hernandez was transferred from a first-round draft pick to a fourth due to his violent past, the Patriots still signed him. It seems that talent can override anything.
The question then becomes, where should the NFL draw the line when it comes to the law? Does Winston’s shoplifting amount to the punishment as his rape accusations or as Rice’s domestic abuse charges? While shoplifting charges may be detrimental to the store itself, other charges involving physical abuse of another human being are more of a cause for concern. However, shoplifting may be telling of overall character. If one shoplifts and comes away unscathed by the law, who is to say they won’t further challenge the system in more dangerous ways?
Alas, the NFL is a multi-billion dollar corporation. It’s a business. These seemingly significant crimes and accusations are mere blips on the NFL’s radar. Regardless of these issues, fans are never going to stop watching football and feeding the league’s revenue stream.
The controversy here is that the NFL seems to value profit over societal well-being. Do hefty paychecks and good ratings make up for the real pain and disruptions that these people have caused?
Perhaps the enormity of the business is what goes to players’ heads. After all, there must be an extreme sense of power that comes from being a popular NFL player whose face appears on America’s television screens every Sunday evening. This level of confidence and invincibility may prove to be dangerous.
While the NFL may be currently experiencing a public relations nightmare, we don’t aim to villainize the league in its entirety. There is something to be said for the fact that the New England Patriots immediately cut and fired Hernandez when he was charged, cutting ties from him altogether. Commissioner Goodell and the Ravens, then, should take note of and learn from the Patriot’s timely and effective response.
