Sunday used to be a day of reflection, devotion, and sharing love with one another through the platform that the day resonates; but for about half of the year in America, Sunday belongs to football. Football used to be about building character, establishing values, and like I said before: sharing love with one another through a platform. These days it seems like the “men” we idolize and cheer for do not practice morals or understand the platform of being a player in the National Football League.
On Friday, November 6th, deadspin.com, released an article titled, “This Is Why NFL Star Greg Hardy Was Arrested For Assaulting His Ex-Girlfriend.” The article included Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police reports and 47 detailed photographs of Hardy’s ex-girlfriend, Nicole Holder’s, bruises sustained by the former Carolina Panther and current Dallas Cowboys star defensive lineman.
On the night of the assault, Officer Jeffrey Kendrick ran after the hysteric Holder outside the apartment Hardy had just beaten and choked Holder in before she escaped. When Officer Kendrick got Holder to stop she uttered to the officer, “It does not matter...Nothing is going to happen to him anyways.” This statement is very important because it truly shows how untouchable high-profile people are as expressed through the words of a victim of an impervious athlete’s domestic abuse.
As a society we have become prone to these horrific crimes, when caused by our entertainers, who we do not want to see taken from us for something so futile compared to the sport we worship, like…justice? This is not the first time a domestic violence case has plagued the NFL and the credibility of professional football players.
Domestic violence was made prevalent amongst NFL athletes when TMZ released a tape of former Baltimore Ravens running back, Ray Rice, punching his wife, Janay Palmer, in a hotel elevator and dragging her unconscious body out of the hotel before being stopped by police. Ray Rice’s career was tarnished and he has not played professional football since being cut from the Ravens for his inexcusable actions.
Even though the acts committed by Rice and Hardy were both intolerable, they have some drastic differences that stand out in illustrating the true sadistic personality of Hardy. After the incident, Rice was very apologetic and has become an unlikely voice for domestic violence awareness. Rice is haunted by what he had done to his current wife and it cost him his career and idolism.
Hardy, on the other hand, has been forgiven by the Cowboys organization for his horrific acts because of what he is: a huge star quality commodity much greater than that of Rice who was on the tail end of his career. Hardy has been unapologetic of what had happened and has not spoken out to the media about what he had done except for when he tweeted on Saturday, “Just had to say I express my regret 4 what happened in past and I'm Dedicated to being the best person & teammate that I can be.”
The grammatical errors in the rushed tweet show his carelessness for the situation, and the false sorrow he is being forced to express by the Cowboys executives. Currently, Hardy is being paid by the Cowboys over eleven million dollars for the year and there have been rumors of the owner of the Cowboys, the elusive Jerry Jones, to sign Hardy to a long-term contract.
Wins are what drive the mindset of the owner Jones, but if he keeps breeding this horror story, that is already ruining the professionalism and team chemistry that the Cowboys are searching for, the Cowboys will continue on the path of destruction with an already seemingly lost season.
