Bob SparksOn Thursday night, the National Football League season officially opens in Seattle while the remaining NFL teams begin play on Sunday. Not all players will take part in these games.
The Cleveland Browns will be without Josh Gordon, a premier wide receiver, while the Baltimore Ravens must go on without star running back Ray Rice. Gordon is suspended for the entire season while Rice will miss the first two games.
Players in all major sports are suspended from time to time, but these two illustrate a problem in professional football that came to light due to Rice. Gordon’s suspension is the result of testing positive for marijuana use on more than one occasion. Rice was banished for two weeks because he knocked out his fiancée with a punch.
The reaction to the Rice disciplinary action was swift and sure from fair-minded individuals, but especially anti-domestic violence advocates. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and his league came under withering and well-deserved criticism.
Let’s be clear: domestic violence is a crime! It is assault. Sometimes, it’s murder. Because the crime has an injured victim on the other end, perpetrators must receive equal or greater punishment than those using marijuana.
Goodell clearly got the message because last week he took the equivalent of a policy mulligan. He admitted he “didn’t get it right” by placing the dunce cap on Rice and sitting him in the corner for two weeks.
He correctly stated the Rice matter “led the public to question our sincerity, our commitment and whether we understood the toll that domestic violence inflicts on so many families.” The new policy has a chance to make a difference.
Going forward, the first instance of domestic violence earns a minimum six-game suspension. Should one be stupid enough not to learn his lesson, a lifetime ban awaits the second offense. Bravo!
There is work to do. Since 2000, authorities arrested 83 NFL players for the crime of domestic violence. This statistic may fall in line with the general population, but the general population is not made up of cannon ball running backs, hard-hitting linebackers or massive linemen.
On the positive side, there are plenty of good guys in the NFL. Some even take it upon themselves to do something about domestic violence.
Tallahassee native and current Pittsburgh Steelers defensive back William Gay is well known in the Pittsburgh community for his advocacy on behalf of domestic violence victims. He knows what he is talking about because he lost his mother in a murder-suicide when he was only 7.
He knows that it is about much more than fines and suspensions; it’s about the victims. Gay not only speaks out, he engages his teammates (he does not believe any Steeler player engages in domestic violence) in the locker room.
“We talk about it. It hits home for me,” he told the Washington (PA) Observer Reporter. “I just try to state facts that it’s real.”
Incredibly, just a few days after the new policy went into effect, San Francisco 49ers defensive end Ray McDonald (6-3, 290 pounds) was arrested on domestic violence charges against his fiancée in San Jose, Calif. The Pahokee, Fla. native and former Florida Gator could not have picked a worse time to pick on someone he is supposed to love.
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, but in 2014, thanks to Ray Rice and Roger Goodell, domestic violence was on the minds of millions more Americans during July and August. Ray McDonald ensured the conversation will extend into September.
Goodell should be praised for taking a significant step that will ultimately better protect the significant others of pro football players. May I humbly offer a suggestion for consideration?
To change the face of the NFL’s policy on domestic violence from Ray Rice and now Ray McDonald, the league would do well to reach out to someone like William Gay. His credibility on the issue could make Gay an effective ambassador for the NFL and broadcast the notion that domestic violence is as serious a violation in professional football as drug use.
The commissioner’s policy hit the mark on the second try, but outreach can prevent injuries and perhaps save lives. Isn’t that what all of this should be about?
Bob Sparks is a business and political consultant based in Tallahassee. Column courtesy of Context Florida.
