Over the course of time, sports players have become people we look up to, people we admire, and some of us aspire to be like them. But just because we tend put famous sport stars on this pedestal and look up to them doesn't mean that sporting leagues should try to sweep under the rug the bad things that these players can do and not hold them accountable for their actions off the field. These sporting organizations also have to hold all players accountable regardless of how good they are at their sport. Players should all be held to the same standard despite differences in their playing abilities. Numerous sports leagues such as the national basketball association, major league baseball, and the national football league seem to have problems punishing their players.
One of the biggest issues that continue to persist in society is domestic violence. The unfortunate reality is that many sport figures commit domestic violence but misunderstand that domestic violence is not a sport specific problem but a societal problem. Sports leagues have not taken domestic violence seriously until recently, mostly due to the vast media backlash they receive when not disciplining their players.
Even though its still ridiculous to comprehend that Giants' kicker Josh Brown committed domestic violence against his ex-wife, especially since his ex-wife reportedly notified the cops of his violent behavior in twenty different incidents. Despite this, however, he was only suspended one game, while Tom Brady is currently in the middle of a four game suspension for deflating some footballs. The sad reality of the National Football League is that it diverts people from the real issues by giving sensationalized news instead. There was a point in the NFL a couple of years ago where Michael Sam was the first openly gay NFL player. Instead of this being a celebrated time, it became a time of controversy. People saw it as a distraction and the gay debate swept the NFL. Michael Sam is out of the league without ever really even being given a shot to play. The NFL wishes it had those kind of distractions nowadays, considering all the criminal activities being committed by NFL players and all the information coming to light about CTE that NFL is still trying to sweep under the rug.
You see it in the NFL today still trying to avert attention from real issues. One biggest not so controversial issues is with Collin Kapernick refusing to stand for the national anthem. The negative publicity received from people is shocking in all honesty, he has received much scrutiny from many NFL officials. Many NFL officials have said they would never want to sign him to their team. It is appalling that a man exercising his rights is receiving such negative feedback. In a league where people commit things like domestic violence and Kapernick is all anyone is willing to talk about. Maybe if people in power focused on things that were actually important rather than the non-important things that sensationalized some good things would come out of it.
