Common Sense Could Have Saved NFL from Domestic Abuse Furor
Ray Rice. Adrian Peterson. These names used to cause fans to wax poetic about on-field performances the previous Sunday or potential blockbuster fantasy football trades. Now, mentioning them conjures up nothing but negativity.
The recent revelation of domestic violence issues in the National Football League has given the league something serious to think about. Once the beacon of how profitable and well-run a professional sports league can be, the NFL is now operating under a cloud shrouded in darkness. The league’s actions, or lack thereof, are coming under fire, and rightfully so. It is impossible to predict exactly what the investigation being headed by former FBI Director Robert Mueller will reveal, but it is likely that it will reveal missteps on the part of the NFL in handling the domestic violence issue.
What further inflames the matter is that domestic violence involving NFL players is not a new controversy, yet a specific policy is just now being put forth. According to a database compiled by USA Today, domestic violence issues account for 85 of the 713 total NFL player arrests since 2000. A CNN story also recounted past NFL handling of domestic abuse episodes. Knowing this, it is bewildering that the Ray Rice situation was the catalyst for implementing a league-wide policy.