The NFL has a problem with off the field violence. Ever since the Ray Rice incident in 2014, which was horribly bungled by the league, the NFL has tried, rather unsuccessfully, to adapt a stronger stance against domestic violence. An attempt to institute a policy against domestic violence was meant to create a strict baseline of a six game suspension with the potential to add on even more depending on the severity of the incident, but the NFL has failed to back this policy up with action, and in the case of Kareem Hunt in 2018, they let a player go unpunished despite having seen a video where Hunt shoved and kicked a women until the video was released months later by TMZ.
In an ideal world, the NFL wouldn’t have to legislate against players on this because they would be punished in court, but the reality is that domestic violence is a massively under reported crime, and even when it is reported it usually isn’t taken very seriously. As a result, the league is forced into a position where it has to punish players who face an overwhelming amount of evidence even if the case never makes it into court or is documented. You are then stuck with the league office of an inherently violent sport that is known to cause brain damage that affects personality and behavior of players trying to equate physical violence off the field to some arbitrary number of games that likely won’t match up to the time period the player would’ve served if they were convicted in court.
As someone who hopes to cover sports, it puts writers and talking heads in a bit of an uncomfortable place. There clearly has to be a recognition that the player is likely responsible for a crime, but if they go unpunished outside of the league then you have to be much more careful about the language you use, and there is still some strand of doubt in play. There’s some sense that the player should be held responsible, but for whatever reason the channels that are usually responsible for that often fail to do so leaving the burden on journalists to serve as watchdogs. Fans and teammates will be more than willing to welcome a player back from a suspension, and many will be willing to erase away the player’s past if it means even the slightest uptick in production on the field.
This isn’t to say that journalists should turn a blind eye to the issue, but it does feel like leagues like the NFL could be doing much more than they currently are. If they decide to continue to step into the ring to legislate against potential legal troubles off the field, then they need to adopt much more stringent rules that actually match the crime or they will fail to be seen as being serious about the issue. Journalists meanwhile must continue to press the issue with players to try and get some expression of remorse and force some level of self-reflection while also being fair adjudicators of on the field performance.
The recent death of Kobe Bryant offered a glimpse as to the wide spectrum in which players are covered. Understandably, many of the articles written in the immediate aftermath of Bryant’s death were praising the all time great not only for his pedigree on the court, but also for what he had done off the court as a father. There were some people who were quick to point out his rape case in which Bryant pretty much admitted his guilt after the case was dropped, but for the most part much of what was written was complimentary of Bryant and didn’t bring up too much about the rape allegations. After some time had passed though, the articles became a bit more nuanced in their discussion of the allegation. It eventually reached a middle ground where gratitude was being expressed for the massive impact that Bryant had as a player and a person, while also noting his complicated past in a way that wasn’t distasteful or disrespectful to anyone involved in the case. This middle ground should serve as a template for how to cover athletes with similar legal troubles in the future, allowing for healthy and intelligent discussion around a complicated issue without taking too much away from someone’s athletic accomplishments.
J4804 Laird 