To say the NFL's domestic violence issue started with Ray Rice would be a disservice to all the victims of the multitude of incidents that have occurred in the recent and not-so-recent history of the NFL. I've already discussed Ray Rice's banishment from the NFL in a previous post, but the recent report and indictment of Adrian Peterson this past Friday for a child abuse charge has only made the problem of violence off the field more twisted and complicated. In all honesty, the past several months of endless media attention on the NFL and all it's issues has made me very sad and disappointed in the leadership at every level in the NFL.
Whenever a former player-turned-ESPN pundit pontificates about these "gladiators going to war" or being on the "battlefield," they show a clear-as-day misunderstanding of what those terms mean and what football means in the grand scheme of things. Football is absolutely not a war. It's a game. It's a violent game, but absolutely just a game. None of these players are fighting a war in which they kill other human beings or are forced to spend months and years in a foreign country putting their lives on the line for their home country. I'm sure every single military personnel would love to be making $10 million a year and driving a range rover to their vacation house in Malibu. Now, some can argue that with the new research on brain damage and incidents of post-career suicide (and maybe the eery similarities between military bootcamps/training and NFL training camps) that these players do risk their lives every day in order to play this game...well, I also risk my life every day by getting in my car and driving on a freeway. It's a risk you assume knowing full well what the consequences can be. THE NFL IS NOT A WAR. And the victims of these domestic violence cases DO NOT sign up to get beaten or murdered by their spouses or parents. Again, the media and NFL pundits play a big part in aggrandizing the NFL as a war-like operation, and until they stop using that language in their discussions, it will be hard to affect change.
Back to Adrian Peterson...initially, when I read the reports of his child abuse evidence I was sickened and, in all honesty, a bit enraged. I am a die-hard Vikings fan, and seeing a player you cheer for every single day and vociferously argue for on any drunken Sunday afternoon tailgate do something like that to his four year old child pretty much ruined my weekend. It's disgusting. But (and I kind of hate myself that there is even a but here), the more I've read about what happened, his comments on the incident, and in speaking with friends and other people about the incident, I'm not quite sure what I think right now. In my mind, ANY violence against a child is abhorrent, and there should be no room for it in a household. Here's the "but"...I absolutely have sympathy for AP, and in no world do I have sympathy for Ray Rice. In AP's public statement of apology, it's clear he shows genuine remorse and takes complete responsibility for his actions. It's also clear that this kind of discipline has been engrained in him (and apparently many of the NFL's African American players born in the south) and is, in his mind, the RIGHT WAY to parent a child and teach them right from wrong. In his mind he went overboard with a punishment that he received countless times as a child growing up in small-town Texas...I mainly feel horribly sad for him and the rest of the NFL players who endured that kind of treatment in their childhood. I grew up in a largely white, Mid-Western community and in a culture where that type of parenting is not the cultural norm. I think I was maybe spanked (not whipped with a switch) twice in my life? It certainly wasn't a traumatizing experience and in all honesty I don't remember the individual instance; nothing on the level of what AP's son had to endure. His son does not deserve that in any world, but I truly do feel sorry for Adrian...not about him being in trouble but for the almost childlike ignorance he has in understanding that his intentions don't really make up for the graphic images and logic behind a 220 pound man whipping his 40 pound kid.
The Rice and AP incidents, in my mind, lie on different spots on the "Fucked Up" spectrum, but in my mind the lack of remorse, non-apology to his actual wife, and clear apathy and non-understanding of his actions make Ray Rice an absolute piece of crap. No player came to defend Ray Rice, while countless players tweeted in support and understanding of AP. When your own "gladiatorial" peers think you've overstepped your boundaries and think you should be jailed and banned for life, that says something to me: the people whose job it is to violently hit and run at each other think you're a monster who deserves jail time. The New jersey police made a mockery of the Ray Rice case and AP may actually get in more legal trouble in large part because of the public outcry at how the Rice case was handled. The messed up part? Maybe even five years ago none of this would have been public knowledge or even been a big deal. The NFL has had cart blanche for too long when it comes to public backlash and opinion, and it's players have gotten away with violent actions without legal consequence for too long as well. Maybe this week will help illuminate the inherent issues the NFL has with violence. I'm not sure what the best solution should be and taking away the violent aspects of the sport would completely change what it looks like. It is clear, though, that a lot of these guys need psychological counseling and support to help them keep that violence on the field and aimed at those who sign up to receive it, not bring it back in to their homes.
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