Zach is the Business and Publicity Director for The Warrior.

By Zach Stubblefield ‘15

Professional football players by and large are an arrogant bunch. They have been the best at their craft for much of their lives, and that breeds a certain amount of cockiness in them. This obviously does not give them an excuse to beat women and children, but it may explain why players think they are above the law. The NFL needs to take a stand against these actions for the sake of the league’s reputation, but more importantly to set an example.

Ravens running back Ray Rice is a perfect example of how the NFL is not taking the proper steps necessary against domestic violence. When the incident was first reported, the Ravens PR team released a column that said things like, “If you had asked me on February 1 to name five Ravens players I would never expect to receive a call at 3:00 in the morning about doing something illegal, Ray Rice would be on the list – EASILY.” Basically, Rice is a good guy, and he’s not the type to knock out a woman. But the fact of the matter is he did knock out his fiancée and dragged her out of an elevator.

The NFL initially suspended Ray Rice two games for this. To put that in perspective, NFL player Josh Gordon was suspended for a year for smoking marijuana. The NFL made a statement about domestic violence with these two suspensions and not a very good one; beating is eight times less severe than smoking.

The NFL has since gone on to change these suspensions, increasing Rice’s and decreasing Gordon’s. However, the damage had already been done by then. The original suspensions show how the NFL thought about domestic violence. If they really thought it was an important issue, they would’ve suspended Rice for a longer period of time in the first place. The only reason they changed it was because the media was crucifying the NFL about its decision.

Although the NFL floundered on its first domestic violence case, they can still set an example for the rest of the country. Another star running back, Adrian Peterson, has been indicted for child abuse, and the NFL has another chance to make a statement. The league needs to show its 100 million viewers how serious domestic violence is by making a statement with one of their premier players. The league has already taken the first step by suspending him from all NFL-related activities. Now the NFL will need to wait for the investigation to close and punish him appropriately. This will help make America a safer place for women and children everywhere by sending a message that abuse will not be tolerated, even from NFL star players.