Deflategate v. Domestic Violence: The NFL Fumbles (Again!)
Deflategate v. Domestic Violence: The NFL Fumbles (Again!)
On Tuesday, in the wake of National Football League mega scandal Deflategate, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey mused, “I sure wish that the NFL would spend about a tenth of the time that it’s spending on this on issues of domestic violence and sexual assault.”
She has a point. On the one hand, deflating a few footballs earned New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady a four-game suspension and his team $1 million in fines as well as forfeiture for two draft picks. On the other hand, the NFL’s highest profile domestic violence offender, Ray Rice, received only a two-game suspension initially then was later suspended indefinitely but reinstated shortly after that.
To be sure, the NFL is adding some new policies to their “personal conduct” playbook, but by calling a public relations blitz for every offense both on and off the field, the organization not only fails to recognize how one differs from another, but also neglects opportunities to address each more effectively.
Even to the concussed, it’s easy to understand that the NFL needs to shape up, so the Ms. Blog picked up the ball and passed it off to The Nation‘s sports editor Dave Zirin to give us his thoughts on the hot air around the NFL’s current crisis, the need for meaningful reform within the organization and what women football fans can do to change the game.
Why is Deflategate such a big deal? How is it linked to the NFL’s domestic violence crisis?
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell ignored domestic violence for years. [Now] he wants players to know that any refusal to cooperate on any issue will result in a massive fine. This [particular case] was about Deflategate. But it was also about Goodell signaling that he wants access to the personal effects and private lives of players when conducting investigations, or there will be a price to pay. The league has no real subpoena authority. All it has is the power to coerce through financial and public pressure. Whether anyone should trust Goodell with that kind of authority is another question. Based upon his conduct and judgment, I believe that answer should be no.
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In what ways has the NFL meaningfully addressed domestic violence in the wake of the Ray Rice scandal? The key word is “meaningfully.” Because, yes, a lot of steps have been taken. Yes, the NFL has completely overhauled its approach to domestic violence and intimate partner violence since the release of the Ray Rice video tape and the scandal that … exposed years, if not decades, of cover-ups regarding the intimate partner violence that takes place in the league. All that being said, the NFL, under Roger Goodell in particular, needs to stop taking public credit [and] patting themselves on the back for changing the discussion around domestic violence. He crows like a rooster about how the NFL is now this incredible positive force for good on this issue, which is sort of like Goldman Sachs taking credit for people having a discussion about income inequality and corporate greed.
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http://msmagazine.com/blog/2015/05/18/deflategate-v-domestic-violence-the-nfl-fumbles-again/
