Violence against women in the NFL is black and white
What kind of lesson would be learned if every player accused of assault or domestic violence could just pay a fine and be at practice the next day? Why are we tolerating this at a level where these people influence millions of people? If this were any old day job, these people would most likely be fired, in jail, and would find it difficult to ever find another job.
Over the past few years, the NFL has had its fair share of scandals, from Deflategate, to kneeling during national anthem, to players being accused of sexual assault—the most recent being ex-Patriots wide receiver Antonio Brown.
The latest news in the Antonio Brown chronicle is that he is now accused of two accounts of sexual assault and rape. Brown was cut from the Patriots and is now planning to file grievances to receive some kind of compensation for the work that he did put in, including a 9 million dollar signing bonus.
There has been lots of ups and downs for Brown this season, and his fans have felt it too. When he was dropped from the Oakland raiders roster, everyone panicked about the strength of their fantasy teams. When these allegations popped up, people were concerned in a much different way.
Being at this professional level of play, there are circumstances where people may want to take advantage of a player’s success. It would not be out of the norm for someone to accuse an NFL player of a crime just to receive some absurdly large sum of money to make the cause go away. But, we are not sure if that is the case here.
If these allegations are true, what are the consequences? There seems to be a gray area within the NFL of how these cases are addressed, especially if no one is charged or behind bars for long.
These men are heroes to people around the world for their play, but their actions off the field are so much more impactful to society.
My question is, if we are pushing out players like Colin Kapernick for peacefully protesting a cause he believes in, why are we not actively and forcefully terminating players that continually disrespect and mistreat women? A slap on the hand is not enough anymore.
The NFL is obviously a male-dominated industry, but what kind of message is the league sending to young men around the world in regards to women? That you can abuse women but still be allowed to play in a national football league?
My proposal is this: if an NFL player is officially accused of sexual assault or any type of domestic violence case, they shall be immediatly placed on suspension. Then, once a trial is done to prove that no, it is not just another woman trying to get money, but an actual horrifying case of sexual assault, the player will first of all be put in jail, and also be terminated from their team and not be allowed back into the NFL even if they served their time.
Players who abused women like Ray Rice, Cayleb Jones, and Ray McDonald are all charged with domestic violence cases. They are currently free agents , but I believe they should not even have the option to go back into the NFL.
As for Brown’s case, I believe that if the rumors are true, and he did terribly mistreat these women who worked for him, he should not receive any compensation from the NFL and should be placed in jail. If he goes through the trial and all these accusations are not true, sure, give him his money.
People that are disregarding the fact that Brown is under investigation for sexually assaulting two women and are creating the argument that his game is “too good” not to play is not acceptable.
There needs to be a reality check; you should not be allowed to play in a prestigious league if you cannot be a law-abiding citizen.
The NFL needs to change this discourse around the mistreatment of women. There should not be tolerance for these behaviors, whether it be domestic violence, harassment, or assault. Players should be immediately suspended, cases should be opened, and action should be taken.
