It's not so much that I don't want domestic violence cases to result in a six game suspension, it's just that Roger Goodell seems to make up the rules as he goes along.
One summer a few years ago I was playing some drinking games at a friend's house and he was teaching me how to play beer pong. As the night went on, several different circumstances arose and my friend remembered that those circumstances had corresponding rules that changed the outlook of the game. To an inexperienced player like me, it was frustrating to go from jubilation to frustration after a big play was wiped by a rule I didn't know existed; and I couldn't help but wonder how many opportunities I missed earlier in night to take advantage of the rule if I had known about it then.
I applaud Goodell's open mind and willingness to adapt as the game evolves, but he is a hypocrite, too.
Goodell's modern NFL preaches safety. He is known to make public appearances denouncing helmet-to-helmet hits and raising concussion awareness in youth football. If Roger Goodell truly cared about the well-being of NFL players, then Wes Welker, who sustained his third concussion in the last 9 months during the Broncos' last pre-season game vs the Texans, would be forced to retire, and the Redskins' safety Brandon Meriweather, who has been flagged six times for illegal contact to a player's head, would be banned permanently from the NFL.
Meriweather is among the dirtiest players in recent NFL history. He has no self-control, and is apathetic to the injuries he causes. But after hitting the Bear's Brandon Marshall last year and seeing his two-game suspension reduced to one game, Meriweather raised some interesting points.
"I guess I just got to take people's knees out. That's the only way. I would hate to end a guy's career over a rule, but I guess it's better other people than me getting suspended for longer. You just have to go low now, man. You've got to end people's careers. You got to tear people's ACLs and mess up people's knees. You can't hit them high anymore," Meriweather said. He's a menace, willing and able to blow out opponent's ACLs or deal life threatening hits to their heads.
"[Marshall] feels like I need to be kicked out of the league. I feel like people who beat their girlfriends should be kicked out of the league, too. ... You tell me who you'd rather have? Someone who plays aggressive on the field or someone who beat up their girlfriend," Meriweather asked. Ahem, the ball is in your court, Mr. Goodell. You have, apparently, answered Meriweather's question. A second offense for hitting a domestic partner results in a lifetime NFL ban, but six illegal hits to the head followed by threats to intentionally take out player's knees is only a two-game suspension. Goodell speaks about player safety, but his actions don't demonstrate it. Goodell wants to lengthen the NFL regular season by at least two games; the Player's Association is against this move because of the rigorous dangers that comes with playing two extra games each year. It seems that when the NFL has a chance to make more money, player safety doesn't matter.
This is further demonstrated by Goodell's insistence of getting every team on primetime TV by adding extra Thursday night games last season. How is playing two football games in five days in any
way safe?
And, to be honest, I'm sick of the lip service paid to player safety. I don't want to see a 15-yard personal foul called when a defensive end's thumb inadvertently grazes a quarterback's facemask. I'm all for flagging the flagrant hits to a defensive player's head, but Goodell's rules have changed the game in a way that I just can't stand anymore. Each and every Sunday we watch as the course and outcomes of games and seasons change because of ticky-tack personal fouls. Listen to broadcasters and sports writers talk on television and on radio as they ask "Does anybody know what an illegal hit is anymore?"
I sure don't. The rules are subjective and undefinable. They are strict and mostly unnecessary.
And here's where my biggest concern is heading into the 2014 regular season: Goodell is now interested in putting the clamps on defensive holding and illegal contact. I had a hard time writing that sentence without getting nauseous. Why? Because, according to the Washington Post, in the entire 65-game pre-season in 2013 there were 38 defensive holding and 18 illegal contact penalties. Through the first 49 pre-season games of 2014, there were 146 defensive holding flags and 84 for illegal contact! If this trend continues into the regular season, it's going to result in 4-hour football games that end in 48-40 scores where play is stopped every few seconds so officials can pick up yellow laundry and announce penalties.
Roger Goodell has made watching football somewhat of a chore. I'm not willing to go so far as to say I'm not going to watch games any longer, but I'm definitely going to watch a lot fewer games than I have in the past. At one time, I could sit at watch two awful teams play on Thursday or Sunday night just because it was the NFL. Now, I just don't have any interest in football unless the game is meaningful. These preposterous rules and asinine hypocrisies have ruined what used to be my favorite sport.
Follow me on Twitter: @JimScheffres
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