In recent months, the American media has seemed to focus a lot on the National Football League and its players’ scandals. The NFL has continuously and serially completely mishandled cases of violence against women. As a female football fan and a human being, this is appalling.
Last year Ray Rice, a running back from Baltimore, was caught on video dragging his wife’s unconscious body out of an elevator. When the NFL saw the footage, they suspended him for just two games. Viewers voiced their opinions, which were largely unfavourable to say the least, and the organisation made their domestic violence policy stricter. More footage was then leaked from that night, which showed Rice punching his wife in the face and knocking her unconscious. Under even more pressure from the general public, Ray Rice was dropped by the Baltimore Ravens, and later indefinitely suspended from the NFL. It seemed, at this point, that he got the proper punishment for his crime, whether or not it was carried out with the right intentions from the league or not. There was large speculation that it was media coverage and the vocal outrage of fans that influenced the NFL’s decision. In November of last year, Ray Rice won his appeal, and is now able to play with any team in the National Football League. He has not been signed by any team since he was dropped by the Ravens.
In 2010 Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers’ quarterback, was accused of raping a 20-year-old college student. She told police that she met the QB in a bar, where he made vulgar remarks at her all night. Later, his bodyguard took her into a private room and left her there. A few moments later, Roethlisberger forced her into sex, despite her adamant rejection of his advances. She then left the bar, and approached the first police car that she saw and recounted the assault. Roethlisberger’s attorney claimed no rape occurred. The DA decided that there was no case, and Roethlisberger never saw a trial. The NFL suspended him for 6 games, and he still plays for the Steelers today. Roethlisberger recently tore his MCL on the field, and many fans of the Steelers were very upset he was injured and would miss multiple games. “Wow,” I heard a woman say to one of his fans. “Don’t you think it hurt pretty badly when he raped that girl too?” The fan didn’t know what she was talking about. Today, many people don’t even remember this happening.
Between 2012 and 2014, 15 NFL players were arrested for violence against women. In many cases, the league did not punish until pressured by media, the public, or until police action was taken. Many people can’t help but wonder: if people never found out, would any action have been taken? Does the NFL value views and stats over the safety of women? Do they value their players’ futures more than the futures of their women? As a female New England Patriots fan, I have decided that they care more about deflated footballs than women’s safety at the very least. Patriots’ quarterback, Tom Brady, was “more probably than not” involved in knowing about underinflated footballs used by his team. He did not take a needle to a ball. There was not even a definitive answer that he knew, but he got more games’ ban than Ray Rice did when he was seen carrying his unconscious wife’s body out of an elevator. This explains perfectly where the priorities of the NFL lie.
There is a large population of young children that are fans of the NFL. What does it tell them if they know a player hurt somebody, and still plays football? Shouldn’t we be more concerned that this is shaping the future of America in a negative way? The NFL needs to learn to put their priorities in order, and punish players properly.
Words by Casey McGourty