On player discipline, NFL has a long way to go

Few football fans entertain the illusion that the National Football League is flawless, but during the past few seasons, the league’s corruption may well have reached its peak. As the new year begins, the NFL regular season comes to a close and playoffs approach, the league has the opportunity to improve not only its reputation but its declining ratings as well.

Perhaps the most pertinent resolution hopeful fans can impose upon the organization is the desire to see appropriate designations of punishment for player misconduct. This would promote a sense of accountability within the league and among its players, hopefully reducing more incidents such as last season’s ‘Deflategate’ and inequitable or ineffective punishment for off-field conduct.

The NFL is notoriously bad at judging what does and does not constitute what its Personal Conduct Policy describes as “conduct detrimental to the league.”

In the 2015 regular season, former Dallas Cowboys defensive end Greg Hardy was levied a reduced suspension of only four games after being charged with substance abuse and domestic violence.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell wrote a letter in August 2014 to all team owners in the league to assure a more stringent domestic violence policy. Goodell’s letter promised that “violations of the Personal Conduct Policy regarding assault, battery, domestic violence or sexual assault…will be subject to a suspension without pay of six games for a first offense…as well as a longer suspension [with] circumstances [such as]… violence involving a weapon, choking, repeated striking or when the act is committed against a pregnant woman or in the presence of a child.”

But the NFL failed to meet even its own standards for a first-time offense, despite the fact that there existed sufficient evidence to suggest that Hardy had, in fact, choked his girlfriend. To put this penalty into perspective, Hardy’s four game suspension was equivalent to — yet far less publicized than — that of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady for his alleged role in last year’s Deflategate scandal. On top of that, the accusation against Brady involved far less probative groundwork, not to mention moral blame.

Another scarcely acknowledged fact is that Deflategate was not a discredit exclusive to the New England Patriots. This past month, the NFL displayed their hypocrisy when our very own Pittsburgh Steelers faced complaints from the New York Giants that underinflated footballs were used during the Dec. 4 game. The Giants’ equipment staff tested the footballs at the sideline and determined they were not inflated to the minimum standard.

“They’re using a different device…,” Goodell said, as reported by USA Today, dismissing the Giants’s assessment. “They have to be tested by the officials who use the same device to make sure there’s accuracy in that.”

The statement may seem surprising or at least highly insincere, as it had been one of the Patriots’s main concerns following the accusations against their own team. Somehow, the 2015 ordeal warranted a multimillion-dollar investigation and a suspension equivalent to that of a man convicted on charges of physical abuse, while the latter allegation was never followed up by officials.

The Steelers have not, however, escaped the league’s tyranny entirely unscathed, as three of its players were harshly penalized for harmless uniform infractions. Running back DeAngelo Williams was fined $5,787 in 2015 for a uniform violation when he wore the words “Find the Cure” in his eye black to promote breast cancer awareness.

Cornerback William Gay and defensive end Cameron Heyward incurred the same fine in the 2015 regular season. Gay wore purple cleats in support of domestic violence awareness — a cause close to him because of his mother’s death. Similar to Williams, Heyward wore the word “Ironhead” across his eye black in honor of his late father — former NFL fullback Craig Heyward who died in 2006 after a battle with cancer.

Whether it be false equivalency and hypocrisy, over-correcting minor, first-time infractions or treading lightly around felonies, the league has faced overwhelming backlash for its inability to properly and effectively deal with its own shortcomings.

Perhaps the answer to the NFL’s overwhelming public disapproval is to decide what the organization would like its image to be. When a man accused of physically abusing his partner receives the same punishment as a man who was “generally aware” that his superiors may have had a role in slightly deflating some game balls, the word ‘priorities’ comes to mind.

In the new year, the NFL should be more vigorous in deciding which infractions warrant attention before providing disciplinary action appropriately and accordingly.

Jaime Viens primarily writes about social and environmental issues for The Pitt News.

Write to her at jrv28@pitt.edu.