What can the NFL do immediately to improve their image? Get rid of cheerleaders...

[MADem]

151. The "policy" needs to be that, regardless of the crime, football players aren't above the law.

The NFL shouldn't "cover up" for football players, smooth over the rough spots, mitigate the criminality, tell them all is well, and let them get on with their lives, and then only profess "outrage" when they get CAUGHT.

And that is what apparently happened here. The NFL fired the elevator puncher for something they've KNOWN ALL ALONG that he did. The only "crime" as far as they are concerned is that someone leaked the video--so now, what was once "OK" is now NOT "OK."

I think there just might be a connection between how talented/well performing a player is, and how far the league will go for him. In other words, if they're not so hot anymore, they'll be under the bus in no time.

The cheerleaders are just a distraction, like everything else. The NFL obviously doesn't care about them--they've been exploited for years. The women tolerate it because they "hope" to parlay it into something better, like connections, a good job or a spokesperson gig--some kind of improvement to their lives. It's not right, though.

The real issue here is that the NFL had the video and they pretended they didn't. They said up until a few days ago that it was "vague" what happened in that elevator when the perp himself flat-out told the NFL a half a year ago that he punched his fiancee, that he was guilty of the crime.

This is all about protecting the "reputation" (such as it is) of the NFL. It isn't about protecting players, certainly, as they will be abandoned the minute the story falls apart, and it sure as hell isn't about protecting women, either girlfriends or fiancees or spouses or even 'special friends.'

It's all about not making BIG FOOTBALL "look" bad. As soon as the heat is off them, they'll go back to business as usual, warning their players to just not get caught.