The National Football League is a troubled bureaucratic institution, which lacks true institutional control over the league while putting up a false front by solving “problems” that aren’t real problems at all and ignoring the actual problems they face.
Last week, the league announced they are putting together an educational training video to help clearly spell out excessive celebration penalties, as they inch ever closer to being renamed the “No Fun League.” The NFL might as well show the “Key and Peele” sketch “Hingle McCringleberry’s Excessive Celebration” to its players because, like the sketch, this is a joke to everyone outside of the league office.
Then there is Deflategate, the topic everyone hates hearing about even more than politics (I personally would never like to think about it again as I read all 243 pages of the Wells Report). This relentless witch hunt, led by commissioner Roger Goodell, which targeted Tom Brady and the Patriots over an alleged conspiracy that the team knowingly played the 2015 AFC Championship game with underinflated footballs, focused on an insignificant issue during the height of the league’s troubles regarding domestic violence.
From Ray Rice and Greg Hardy to Josh Brown and Ray McDonald, domestic violence in the NFL does not discriminate by position, race or prominence. Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott entered the league with domestic violence allegations of his own, and while the NFL said they are investigating the situation, after almost a year, it is likely Elliott will not have to face the consequences of his actions. A video of Elliott pulling down a woman’s shirt at a St. Patrick’s Day Parade further displayed that Elliott lacks not only maturity, but also respect for himself, his team and, most importantly, the women around him.
Don’t be surprised if no punishment is handed down to Elliott because the NFL has not shown a consistent history of holding players responsible for their off-the-field actions. Look no further than running back Joe Mixon, who will likely be drafted in the mid-rounds of this year’s draft instead of the first round because of an incident where he punched a female student in the head during his time at the University of Oklahoma. Again, he will be drafted despite this, and likely to a team who has already accepted players with off-the-field troubles— the Dallas Cowboys and the Cincinnati Bengals are the first that come to mind.
While domestic violence abusers are given second and third chances in the league, NFL players like Josh Gordon have had their careers ruined by marijuana usage. Players who test positive for cannabinoids are virtually blacklisted from the league and handed down multi-game suspensions. Then their life and character become the subjects of sports media talking heads for weeks, instead of whether the league should either accept a more progressive policy on marijuana usage or provide players resources to help them overcome any substance abuse troubles they may have. These same talking heads also don’t like to discuss the far more dangerous and addictive painkillers given to players by league doctors.
Former players have spoken out on the abundance of pills pushed on players to treat their ailments; is this a product of the NFL having potential links to big pharmaceutical companies? Think of the commercials on NFL games: beer and pills. It wouldn’t be outlandish to believe the NFL is tied up with big pharma in a way that encourages the use of pushing pills on their players.
Player safety is not just related to substance abuse but also the physical toll the game is having on players. This season clearly displayed the parody in Thursday Night Football games as well as the concern for player safety when they play on Thursday, Saturday and Monday. Richard Sherman is outspoken on many topics, and whether you agree or disagree with him most of the time, he is right when he says that Thursday night games are negatively impacting players’ performance and health. Then there are the London games, an experiment for the NFL to try and capture another market to increase sales where the players are the test subjects.
By focusing on so-called “issues” like touchdown celebrations and marijuana usage, the league is turning a blind eye to domestic violence and player safety. Goodell is the judge, jury and executioner when it comes to league matters, and he has mishandled virtually every instance in one way or another over the last few years. Instead of wasting time and money on celebration tutorials and multi-month investigations into football PSI, the NFL should be spending its time and money creating a clear and strict domestic violence policy, considering marijuana as a safer alternative to addictive painkillers and investing in player safety and treatment during and after their careers.
