The price of a clean conscience: Why you should boycott the NFL

Like most Americans who have realized they will someday die alone and cold in an unfeeling world, I like to watch sports. 

Singing along with a rare Buffalo Sabres goal horn or white knuckling through a save by David Robertson are irreplicable thrills. But, lately, the actions of players off the field of play and the subsequent “punishments” they receive from league leadership, have caused me some disillusionment — enough to make me think that mine and others’ love for sports fuels the problem. 

Take the recent events involving Baltimore Ravens running back, Ray Rice. As publicized by security camera footage, Rice struck his then-fiancee unconscious in an Atlantic City casino in February. He pleaded not guilty to assault charges and was suspended by the NFL for two games and fined three games’ pay. 

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell wrote a letter to Rice in response to his actions saying, “The league is an entity that depends on integrity and in the confidence of the public and we simply cannot tolerate conduct that endangers others or reflects negatively on our game. This is particularly true with respect to domestic violence and other forms of violence against women.”

A look at the NFL’s decisions regarding player suspensions reveals that the organization punishes victimless crimes more severely than physical assaults. 

I first looked up Daryl Washington, a tough All-Pro linebacker for the Arizona Cardinals who was a key part of their 10-6 season last year. The NFL announced in early April that it was banning him for the whole year for marijuana use, as it was his second violation. To me, he felt like the perfect example. Unlike Josh Gordon — a Cleveland Browns wide receiver facing a year-long ban due to a DUI but still technically a second-time violator of league policy — Washington was engaging in a victimless crime by smoking pot in his own room, not endangering someone else behind the wheel. When I did a little digging for more information, I found out he had been charged with assault in early 2013 for pushing his girlfriend — an altercation that broke her collarbone. 

The incident occurred right after the league announced his first suspension for marijuana use, and Washington plead guilty and received a year’s probation. The NFL said the causes for Washington’s suspensions were violations of NFL drug policies. If the assault had played any part in the suspension, the league would have mentioned a violation of their player conduct policy. They did not.    

I moved on to Fred Davis, a tight end for the Washington Redskins. Davis was banned from four games for marijuana use — his only violation. But he, as well, had two separate assault charges against him. The  the NFL has since suspended him indefinitely — but not for the assault charge. In fact, it was for a separate charge of driving under the influence.

The NFL does a half-decent job of policing its numbers. According to FiveThirtyEight.com, the NFL had a lower rate of arrest for every crime, relative to the national average, with an NFL player’s chance of being arrested at 13 percent of the national average. But for violent crimes, players stand at 55 percent of the national average, the highest percentage of any crime by 10 percentage points. But for an organization that “depends on the integrity and in the confidence of the public,” these are not ideal numbers.

Another assault charge belongs to defensive end Greg Hardy of the Carolina Panthers, recently found guilty of assaulting and threatening to kill his girlfriend. Public outcry against Hardy has given the NFL consternation enough that the organization may increase suspensions for those charged with assault, starting with Hardy. Hopefully more public pressure can forge a tipping point for the league to make the changes necessary to come down on domestic assault and serve as a catalyst for change, much like public pressure did for de-segregation in Major League Baseball in the ’40s, the ideal of sports and society that all leagues chase.

We, as the consumers, control what the NFL will do and have to initiate the public pressure. We buy tickets and jerseys, soak in hours of ads for trucks and beer and make the NFL the juggernaut it is. So if fans decide to take action, the league will have to listen. 

I know it’s hard to do. The NFL is quite the spectacle. These are men in peak physical condition (except offensive linemen), competing to literally dominate their opposition by out-hitting, out-running and out-throwing them. But know there are substitutes. 

If you will miss the raw display of athleticism, then soccer or basketball should fill in nicely. If the violence is what you crave, watch a boxing match or any professional hockey game. Or if you just like the sentimentality of sitting down and enjoying some sports with friends and family, why not baseball? You still get to take in a competition and you don’t need to feel you are rewarding an organization for covering up brain injuries. 

Boycott the league. This doesn’t have to be a cold turkey situation. Keep a fantasy football team, because we all know “Cry Me a Rivers” is too good of a name to pass up. Maybe watch a Sunday night game or two. But don’t buy a new jersey, NFL Sunday Ticket or any of the ridiculous merchandise. 

If everyone tried to pay even the slightest bit less attention to the NFL, both in their mind and with their wallet, the owners would notice. We could see some change then, not only on assault suspensions, but concussion issues, locker room issues and the near-constant NFL coverage on ESPN (anyone heard of the MLB pennant race?). 

As I write this last paragraph, I just took my C.J. Spiller jersey from my “to pack” pile and hung it back in my closet. I hope some of you will join me.

Write to Stephen at SJC79@pitt.edu