Sunday, July 26, 2015

The validity of a NFL Second Chance

Much has been made about the National Football League's discipline towards criminal and violent acts and how Roger Goodell seems to take a cautious approach but when media and the public opinion comes to the forefront, Goodell seizes to the demand of the public and arguably in certain situations over sanctions an offence, ie the infamous "Deflate-gate".

The incident that I want to discuss pertaining to this players chances for getting a second opportunity based on a heinous act he committed just before the 2014 NFL season consummated, that being Ray Rice. The story begins when on March 27th,2014 Rice was charged with assault against his girlfriend, a charge for which his then girlfriend-now fiancĂ©e???, elected to not pursue the matter any further. Commissioner Roger Goodell then based on the purported evidence he then had, handed down a two game suspension. Before I continue with this Rice saga, it should be noted that for deflating a football, in Goodell's eyes that deems a more stern infraction then a grown adult knocking a woman out in an elevator. Nevertheless, as I don't anticipate over going into detail with my thoughts with the ridiculous deflate-gate over blown non-sense, this essentially goes back to my original hypothesis of the NFL, and I'm totally aware that other professional leagues fall victim to this as well, is the constant headline of  a league only serving out reasonable discipline when the media perception falls negatively on the league. Rice committed an act that would get an average civilian lengthy jail time, but yet because he falls under the celebrity tree, TWO GAMES was the original penalty. It's quite frankly showing a lack of care for society that he(Roger) is unwilling to take a stand based on past legal comparables, and uses the public's general lack of knowledge and details pertaining to these things as a cover-up for saving face. Getting back to Rice, he should be in jail and one of the main reasons he isn't is due to the mishandling of the discipline.  What kind of message does this send to the abuse victims across the world, well I'll tell you exactly what it implies and that is someone that has been blessed with celebrity status is over and above the law. Even though Goodell dropped the proverbial ball, and I totally understand the quasi-dilemma  a lot of NFL owners face with this being a cutthroat business that revolves about winning but to win the respect back from a lot of people who have rightfully turned way, make a conscious effort of keeping the trash about the league and how about as opposed to re-instating Rice, we re-instate the values that football and sport are at it's premise and that is teamwork,RESPECT TOWARDS OTHERS,  and a positive attitude. Fans including myself love to watch competitive events consummate but for myself personally and I'm sure many others share this sentiment, becoming a "fan" entails getting behind an individuals story thus finding a reason to root for that player/team. Plaxico Burress shooting himself was reason for essential banishment from the league, let's right a wrong and rid ourselves from poor role models like Ray Rice.

Thanks,

Brett Murray

@bretzky26

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