Earlier today, Jonathan Dwyer of the Arizona Cardinals was arrested in a domestic abuse investigation. Dwyer has now joined the growing list of NFL stars coming under fire due to allegations of domestic abuse. Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson, and Greg Hardy of the Carolina Panther's have all been accused and, in some cases, found guilty of some form of domestic abuse. Ray Rice has come under fire after a video of him punching his fiance in an elevator. Adrian Peterson is being investigated on child abuse charges after he was accused of disciplining his child with a tree branch (aka a switch). The result of these charges have been suspensions, loss of sponsorships, and loss of endorsements. These suspensions have been highly debated. Many women's rights groups, fans, and sponsors believe that these suspensions are not enough and that the NFL needs to work harder to prevent domestic abuse among its players as well as impose harsher and swifter penalties on those accused. On the other hand, there are those that believe that the NFL is being too hard on these accused players.
Here are a few questions for you:
- Do you think these suspensions are fair? Why or why not?
- What is the economic impact, if any, of all the recent off field player drama on the NFL.
- How do you feel about the current NFL policy on dealing with the misbehavior of players off the field?
Look at all the value conflicts in the controversy around these arrests and accusations. Organic society and shared values at work here. Check out the editorial in the New York Times today about black parents "condoning" corporal punishment. Made me say hmmm.........
ReplyDeletePersonally, I think the suspensions are not quite getting the point across. Not that this matters, but as a 49ers fan I have been embarrassed by the organization's willingness to play players that were actively being convicted for domestic abuse. How do you discourage this activity when, for many of the players, they do not seem fazed by possible fines and/or suspensions? Obviously, the suspensions hurt their own reputations and their team's, but they do not seem to do much good for the increasing number of domestic abuse claims in the NFL.
ReplyDeleteI think, at least as long as I have been alive, these super-athletes seem to live in their own world of wealth and, correspondingly, try to play by their own rules. Think about how many cases that you have heard about an athlete bringing an unauthorized gun to a club, or getting charged for DUI. Doesn't it all seem ridiculous? Could the league enforce that, perhaps, their salary be dependent on a "good behavior" clause? That if the player were to get in trouble with the law, whether that be domestic abuse, gun violation etc., they would automatically lose, say, 50% of their salary for the year? Wouldn't that discourage players? I think it would be a way that the NFL could look a lot more professional on these issues. If their stance was "good behavior is first," then players would be less willing to take risks. What do you think?
Bret, I agree with you that the NFL needs to come up with something to keep their players from performing these acts. However, I don't think that fining players will stop the abuse. These men are being payed millions of dollars to play football, and that alone should be millions of reasons not to break any laws. However, these players do not seem to care about the money or the fact that they are going to lose it if they get suspended. I do not have a plan for how the NFL should go about stopping these crimes, and I think that they are having such a difficult time stopping them because nothing they do seems to effect the players. These players, like you said, just seem to think that they are above the law.
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