My Proposal on Domestic Violence in the NFL

[The King]

I think I have spent everyday discussing the domestic violence issue his with co-workers. It's on everyone's mind and it's clear the NFL hasn't a clue what to do. Here's what I think is the best practice for organizations dealing with this issue.

1. This is handled in house until a guilty verdict or plea deal is met.
Meaning it's up to the owner of the franchise needs to sit down with the player decide whether or not it's in the teams best interest to put him on the field. If the owner decides to sideline the player it should be with full pay.

2. If the player is found guilty or settles on lesser charges the NFL may now levy a suspension & fine.
Time served under bullet 1 is excluded here. The players fine for a case in domestic abuse should be 25% of their salary. If the player is suspended for 4 games than it would be 25% of the salary for each of those games donated to a charity which helps abused women and children.

3. If the player is found to be innocent.
They may return to work.

4. If a team has a player enter the NFL's substance abuse program or a domestic abuse program there needs to be a fine levy'd to the owners.
It's time we make teams really think about taking chances on guys with a past. Any repeat offenders not only get fined and suspended but the team should be hit as well.

We need to allow the NFL to gather all the evidence before making any decisions. In the case of Ray Rice who the hell knows what happened with that tape, but if the NFL allowed everything to come out they could've issued an appropriate suspension and while there would still be backlash the punishment would've at least been just.

[trapezeus]

the NFL's issue in this is that they have allowed goodell to be a dictator on punishment. and he has never had any precedent when he does it. he even bungled the new orleans situation and needed tagliabue to come back and fix it.

HAd the NFL simply had your basic guidelines above, king, and a 3 man team to review punishment (former player, former staff) and let them make decisions on punishment and make the punishment consistent, the nfl wouldn't be looked down on in the case of ray rice. codify the punishments so that the players can't appeal the decision. if they had a set of rules on how they dealt with punishment, right now it would only be about ray rice. but instead the NFL is in the middle of this because of poor leadership.

Instead the NFL reviewed it secretly by one man, no one knows what that one man knew and why he made the decision he made, then PR from new tapes is to suspend rice indefiniately with little precedent. Then peterson comes through, and again they just overreach. at some point, it would be worth having a bogus story in a big game just to have that guy shamed out before any facts are collected. Goodell is responsible for this. he's got to go before any other details of how they are going to deal with punishment come forth.

Just my two cents.

this is what happens when people power trip. goodell has for a number of years and he hasn't handled

[The King]

I totally agree. I actually think the owners should be involved somehow in issues the suspensions. Give them a 1/3 vote, the more control we put in the hands of the owners the further we will get from players who get into this kind of trouble.

[Fletch]

It's stuff like this that's ruining professional football. There's much more news about what's going on off the field and unrelated to what's going on on the field. It's that stupid 24 hour news cycle that has to constantly find something to report. Fooball is not even about football anymore.

[casdhf]

I think it is impossible to have a blanket domestic violence policy. That phrase is used to describe anything from a one time exchange of an otherwise happy couple to a continued pattern of abuse that leads to a murder and everything imaginable in between. There is a huge stigma, rightfully so under certain circumstances, associated with the phrase. I think that the facts of the case need to be the dictating factor of how the matter is dealt with, not the phrase "domestic violence arrest."

[Skooby]

If Michael Sam beats up another gay football player with whom he's in a relationship with, would it be consider domestic violence ??

[casdhf]

It would be.

Lecter and Fletch's discussions are borderline DV too ...

[The King]

If Michael Sam beats up another gay football player with whom he's in a relationship with, would it be consider domestic violence ??
Yes.

[The King]

I think it is impossible to have a blanket domestic violence policy. That phrase is used to describe anything from a one time exchange of an otherwise happy couple to a continued pattern of abuse that leads to a murder and everything imaginable in between. There is a huge stigma, rightfully so under certain circumstances, associated with the phrase. I think that the facts of the case need to be the dictating factor of how the matter is dealt with, not the phrase "domestic violence arrest."

That's what I have tried to take out of it. It's up to the team until the legal process takes place. If it's random out of the blue charge, you can let them play until they're charged. That's what's happening in SF right now. If it's rape, murder or whatever you can cut ties all together, but it's the franchise that's taking the heat.

[casdhf]

I agree but there is no pleasing everyone.

Two drunks that slap each other lumped in with the Belcher/Hardy type incidents, to me, does an incredible injustice to the victims of the latter.

However, as these things unfold, crazy people want them all treated the same.

The NFL will never appease them.

[Night Train]

I would be interested to hear if Goodell is actually making these decisions alone... or after he caucuses with the NFL owners.

[Skooby]

Yes.

Would one of them be considered the "wife" & get extra sympathy, even if the wife won the fight ?

[The King]

Would one of them be considered the "wife" & get extra sympathy, even if the wife won the fight ?
I watch COPS every weekend, and this has come up many times. I am not sure if they need to be considered a wife but there's always an inferior opponent in these scenarios.

[trapezeus]

i think it's important to have a former player in the committee of deciding punishments. this way the players know that they have some kind of indirect representation.

and as sad as it is, the NFL needs to put up some statements about what they want from their employees. "we will not tolerate XYZ" and let the players know, if you are caught drunk driving:

1. we review the facts known
2. wait for the legal process to play out
3. you may face harsher penalties than what legal has determined by our by laws and that penalty will be determined by a committee that is trying to codify how punishment is handled. you will be treated fairly within NFL standards.

by having a sense of oversight, i think it becomes clear and leaves the NFL less vulnerable to just having knee jerk reactions when players do dumb things.

[Novacane]

If Michael Sam beats up another gay football player with whom he's in a relationship with, would it be consider domestic violence ??


That's an interesting question. If he beat up that scrawny little boy he was kissing on draft day yes. If he beat up another football player as you asked I'm not sure. Which one is bigger?

[Skooby]

That's an interesting question. If he beat up that scrawny little boy he was kissing on draft day yes. If he beat up another football player as you asked I'm not sure. Which one is bigger?

What if the little boy had 5 black belts & won ?

[IlluminatusUIUC]

The larger, stronger person in a relationship can still be the victim of domestic violence, MMD. Case in point: Steve McNair.

[Skooby]

The larger, stronger person in a relationship can still be the victim of domestic violence, MMD. Case in point: Steve McNair.

If they're both guys & the little one beats up the big one, is it domestic violence for the big football guy or is he the victim of the other smaller male ?

[imbondz]

Every player signed a contract that has a moral clause in it, that each team can or the NFL can discipline, fine, or kick off the team and league. Each player signed it I'm assuming not many read it. In the case of Ray Rice, if we let the legal system play out, they gave him anger management classes. Disgusting. So the NFL should adhere to that? The NFL (just like your employer would), should rid themselves of the scumbags that are ruining the image of the game we all love. No they do not have to wait for the legal system to play out. If his girlfriend and/or wife has black eyes, concussions, black and blue marks all over her body, or a recent hospital stay, or a video showing him knocking the **** out of her, screw him.

[IlluminatusUIUC]

If they're both guys & the little one beats up the big one, is it domestic violence for the big football guy or is he the victim of the other smaller male ?

The size is not the issue. Is one person performing violence on someone else in an intimate or family relationship? If yes, then it's domestic violence. You are hung up on trying to find these weird exceptions for some reason.

Was it domestic violence when a large man punched out Snooki in a bar?

[The King]

Every player signed a contract that has a moral clause in it, that each team can or the NFL can discipline, fine, or kick off the team and league. Each player signed it I'm assuming not many read it. In the case of Ray Rice, if we let the legal system play out, they gave him anger management classes. Disgusting. So the NFL should adhere to that? The NFL (just like your employer would), should rid themselves of the scumbags that are ruining the image of the game we all love. No they do not have to wait for the legal system to play out. If his girlfriend and/or wife has black eyes, concussions, black and blue marks all over her body, or a recent hospital stay, or a video showing him knocking the **** out of her, screw him.

I agree that playing in the NFL is a privilege. But yes, in the case of Ray Rice the Ravens would be left to discipline him on their own. Which they essentially did anyways.

[JohnnyGold]

I know this is the internet, so women need to revered, worshiped, and can do no wrong under any circumstances whatsoever.

But Roger Goodell has now created an environment where any semi attractive woman from Buffalo can say Tom Brady raped and hit her in the month leading up to a game between the 2 squads,

and if Roger doesn't suspend (or pressure Kraft to suspend) Tommy boy,

than a bevy of suspended players can sue the ***** out of the league.

I actually like Roger Goodell, if you can believe it, but he needs to abdicate the throne.

[trapezeus]

Every player signed a contract that has a moral clause in it, that each team can or the NFL can discipline, fine, or kick off the team and league. Each player signed it I'm assuming not many read it. In the case of Ray Rice, if we let the legal system play out, they gave him anger management classes. Disgusting. So the NFL should adhere to that? The NFL (just like your employer would), should rid themselves of the scumbags that are ruining the image of the game we all love. No they do not have to wait for the legal system to play out. If his girlfriend and/or wife has black eyes, concussions, black and blue marks all over her body, or a recent hospital stay, or a video showing him knocking the **** out of her, screw him.

that's fine, but you shouldn't leave it to one guy who gives certain teams and certain players lesser punishment than others. if you are the star player on a big market team, you will have gotten a lesser sentence than a nobody on a small team under goodell's "fair treatment". If you rape someone, that's 6 games, but to be reduced. If you smoke pot, it's a year or 4 games, but if you appeal maybe its one. DV is 2 games without video, lifetime if they saw it. you strike a plea bargin on murder charges, you can work as in studio host! It's insane.

if you believe as a league of doing the just thing, just set the rules, clear as day, at the symposium for rookies, and hand them out. "look, we don't like domesitic violence, this is how it's treated. one time, based on circumstances/evidence, you will pay for it in games and in your pay and get a second chance regardless of how the court handles it. anything else, your contract is broken, youre suspended for a year, and no one can sign you during that period."

what's the harm in the clarity? it shows what your moral standard actually is and the players see that it doesn't matter who you are or what team you are on. DV, drugs, murder, etc is treated the same way. it's hard to appeal when you know everyone is treated fairly.

again, i think the issues hitting players are becoming league issues because of a leader who doesn't lead and his decisions are suspect over the years. no one likes violence and it shouldn't be tolerated. but having a tyrrant run the league vs having a well documented policy so that appeals are less likely makes corporate sponsors happy and fans happy. the bad actions then fall squarely on the shoulders of the players as it should. they have to deal with the aftermath. Not the league. And the league can show in studies that their crime rates aren't different from the general populace. So the league did it's part with bad actors.

the way goodell gave him two games without tapes, then sees the tape and goes with the mob to suspend indefinitely just shows that he has no idea how to handle these things. It totally opens up rice to a fair appeal and he'll probably be playing sooner than later. So a guy who hit his wife will be back on the field because the league mishandled it.

and frankly, what happens if his "no precendent" rules creates a situation before the superbowl that the star qb has done something illegal? there is no evidence, the story still isn't clear, but because public sentiment is vehementlly against the QB, he suspends him from the superbowl. it opens the system to be gamed. Some big bettor could manufacture that story simply to have players removed for a big game.

For $44MM, the league deserves a very good leader. Goodell from spygate, new orleans, stiffing the ref union, discipline czar, he's just gotten it wrong.

[stuckincincy]

I watch COPS every weekend, and this has come up many times. I am not sure if they need to be considered a wife but there's always an inferior opponent in these scenarios.

My brother was a policeman, now retired. No cop likes domestic calls, but it's part of the duty. He's responded to the terrible as well as the petty. He disliked the "must arrest" laws the pols put in to make hay for themselves, relating stories about dust-ups between folks that got along for years. Before the laws, he could use his discretion - generally a good talking to. Got agreements of regret, won't happen again, and so on.

After the laws, he had to pick at least one, charge them, and haul them off. Getting looks of disbelief that such should happen by the ones not arrested, looks of contempt and anger directed at him enforcing the laws' mandate.

He also knew that the domestic violence statutes are used as weapons of vengeance and vindictiveness.

[The King]

My brother was a policeman, now retired. No cop likes domestic calls, but it's part of the duty. He's responded to the terrible as well as the petty. He disliked the "must arrest" laws the pols put in to make hay for themselves, relating stories about dust-ups between folks that got along for years. Before the laws, he could use his discretion - generally a good talking to. Got agreements of regret, won't happen again, and so on.

After the laws, he had to pick at least one, charge them, and haul them off. Getting looks of disbelief that such should happen by the ones not arrested, looks of contempt and anger directed at him enforcing the laws' mandate.

He also knew that the domestic violence statutes are used as weapons of vengeance and vindictiveness.

It's because we reduce things to statistics and take rational assessments and compassion out of the equation. It's almost exactly like the NFL.

[stuckincincy]

It's because we reduce things to statistics and take rational assessments and compassion out of the equation. It's almost exactly like the NFL.


So true.

If I might, I'll talk about the child protective laws. No doubt, many are needed, because the days when adult society took pains to shield children from the ugliness of the adult world are long gone, and least as I recall.

Most all the stats about abuse, kidnapping and the like point that the perpetrators are known to the child, close to the child.

But the laws the pols have put in place have frozen me. Touch a child, in protection or just plain innate human concern for the young, for example, to stop them darting into traffic, or to take the hand of one lost in a busy store to try to get them united with a responsible adult, may end up in you being accused of horrible intent and being tagged a leper for life and on a sex abuser list with all that rains upon one.

I recall several years ago in my general geographic area, a very young child that somehow crawled into a parked car when the weather was hot, and was suffering disorientation. A person came up, who could have simply opened the car door. But he didn't - correctly realizing that if he was observed in doing the correct thing, he exposed himself to having his life ruined.

He called the authorities. Child was ok. A few days after, there was some noise about whether or not he should be charged with depraved indifference or some such nonsense.


The world is broken...

[Forward_Lateral]

Everyone wants the world to be a better place, but nobody wants to do anything to help.

It's the way the world is now. Everyone wants something, but nobody wants to give anything.