In light of a judge's decision today to overturn my friend Tom (Brady)’s suspension of 4 games from NFL play for his alleged role in “Deflategate”, a thought entered my mind. How many more times are we, football fans, going to allow the NFL to mismanage issues ranging from player conduct and safety to civil and legal matters, before enough is enough? Deflated footballs and the use of heaters on the sidelines are distractions, prying our attention away from the more serious transgressions committed by NFL affiliates. Below are a few of the major negative headlines associated with the NFL since the signing of the most recent Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) in 2011:
Jim Irsay arrested for DUI (again), is found carrying a small pharmacy in prescription pills
Billionaire Irsay is the owner of the Indianapolis Colts, and has been arrested for multiple DUI’s throughout his ownership career. On this particular incident of March 16th, 2014, Irsay was stopped by police for reckless driving. A search of his vehicle yielded almost $30,000 in cash and a briefcase filled with enough prescription drugs to keep Walter White cancer free for life. Despite this most recent arrest, Irsay remains active owner of the Colts.
Video surfaces showing Ray Rice dragging unconscious fiancee out of casino elevator
Two videos rightfully ended the career of one of the NFL’s premier running backs: one from inside the elevator, where Rice throws a right hook at his then fiancee. A second video shows Rice casually dragging the body out of the elevator while doing a terrible job supporting her head and neck areas. The NFL suspended Rice for an initial 2 games, denying they had ever received the elevator video.
Junior Seau’s daughter banned from speaking at her father’s hall of fame induction ceremony
Junior Seau committed suicide due to depression caused by sustained trauma received on the football field. Fearing a speech that may have contained negative feelings towards the NFL from Seau’s daughter, they refused to let her speak at this year’s induction ceremony--again citing protocol as their excuse.
NFL orders Sony to remove damning scene from the movie “Concussion”
“The marketing of the movie was reportedly altered to accentuate the tale of a whistleblower instead of making it a condemnation of the sport”, said Sony’s president of domestic marketing. Scenes that were “unflattering” to the NFL were cut completely, or changed entirely, in order to divert attention from medical information linking brain damage and football. but again, I might just be missing some nuance You know what, Gav? Go with what you want here. I think it’s probably okay.
What do the above incidents have in common? The NFL has repeatedly battled to protect its image while neglecting the pursuit of justice for those it has directly wronged. Stories like Deflategate and Bountygate are not the real issues threatening the “integrity of the game”. Where was the NFL’s 2 million dollar independent investigation into the Ray Rice incident, or Greg Hardy, or the countless other instances of domestic violence, or on the impact of concussions, or drug addiction?
Normally, when someone has such a massive bone to pick with an organization they deem immoral, they boycott them. But the NFL is in possession of a necessary commodity (professional football), and they know it. Millions are addicted to football each Sunday. As we continue to consume football, the owners will continue to make unfathomable amounts of money, and the NFL will go on doing whatever they please.
I am the biggest hypocrite of them all. My boy Brady is BACK. I’ll be on my couch next Sunday watching the Patriots stomp the Steelers into a dark oblivion. I am addicted to football, and I am ashamed. Well played NFL, well played.
