The NFL’s Social Responsibilities: Failure to Address Domestic Violence Properly
By Arbaaz Rao, Staff Writer
The National Football League [NFL] is not just a sports organization or a business entity to its fans, it is much more than that; it is a religion. The team owners, however, have a different approach. To them, success is not measured in terms of wins and losses, but rather in terms of profits and losses. From this perspective, decisions such as signing players involve assessing costs and benefits. The value a player brings to the team is balanced with his contracts and off-field issues.
The NFL has been under especially close scrutiny recently due to some players and these off-field issues, namely the issue of domestic violence. This is in part because, as a society, we have been paying more attention to this issue than even a few years ago. More and more people are realizing that this problem is not something that should be swept under the rug.
The issue of domestic violence involving football players became a hot topic for the league in February 2014, when former Baltimore Ravens player Ray Rice was arrested along with his then-girlfriend (and current wife), Janay Rice, on assault charges. [i] This resulted in the NFL suspending Rice for two games because the incident was described as a minor one by the parties involved. Id. However, when security footage was released showing Rice punching and dragging his girlfriend out of a hotel elevator, public outrage erupted, not only towards Rice, but also towards the NFL for suspending Rice for a meager two games for his actions. As a result, the NFL changed Rice’s suspension status to indefinite, and after months of media scrutiny, the Ravens eventually released Rice. Id. The former star player is still without a job, and the NFL would like to say it is simply because of the incident, but there’s more to it than that. Id.
Another one of NFL’s stars was in the spotlight for physically abusing his girlfriend around the time the Rice saga was unfolding. Former Carolina Panther player, Greg Hardy, was arrested for viciously beating his girlfriend, which included choking her and throwing her on a pile of assault rifles. [ii] Hardy was deactivated by the Panthers and put on an exempt list, which meant he was still allowed to receive his salary of around $13 million. No suspension had been handed out at this point, but the Panthers decided it was not worth the trouble and decided not to bring Hardy back. Id. However, the Dallas Cowboys signed Hardy, and a week later, a suspension of ten games was levied against him, which was reduced to four games upon appeal. Id. The saga included Hardy being convicted of domestic abuse, but the charges were later expunged due to Hardy’s girlfriend refusing to cooperate with the authorities. The authorities later stated that this was due to Hardy reaching a private settlement with her. Id. After serving his four game suspension, Hardy was back on the field for the Cowboys, seemingly remorseless for his actions. Id.
So how does Greg Hardy have a lucrative contract to play football while Ray Rice, who has since shown remorse through his conduct and is hoping to work with the NFL raising awareness for domestic violence, is still without a job? It is fairly simple, Rice was just not a good enough player anymore to off-set his egregious actions while Hardy is still in the prime years of his career. We would like to think that the NFL and its team owners concern themselves with social responsibilities, but their priorities are clear: players must provide enough value to the team without hurting the team’s capital gains.
Maybe there is an argument that the NFL should not be blamed for this, after all, they are running a business, and a business’ top priority is to be successful within the confines of the law. So how can this be fixed? If the team owners themselves don’t truly believe that they have a responsibility, then it is up to us as consumers. Take a free market approach as the owners have and let money talk. Our society has to collectively take action and let the NFL know that people who should be ideally behind bars should not be making millions while the victims are forgotten and never heard from again. In effect, the NFL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement has created its own set of legal rules, disconnected from the society’s rules. An average Joe without the ability to pay millions of dollars in settlement would be behind bars for these crimes. Should the ability to escape criminal liability depend on how famous one is, or how much money he can throw at a victim? Where is the breaking point? When do we decide that enough is enough? It all comes back to the religious status of football. No matter what happens, we keep coming back Sunday after Sunday. As long as the NFL knows that, drastic change is not likely.
[i] SBNation, A Complete Timeline of the Ray Rice Assault Case, http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2014/5/23/5744964/ray-rice-arrest-assault-statement-apology-ravens
[ii] Deadspin, This Is Why NFL Star Greg Hardy Was Arrested For Assaulting His Ex-Girlfriend, http://deadspin.com/this-is-why-nfl-star-greg-hardy-was-arrested-for-assaul-1739117634
