NFL needs to fix their policies for punishment, Look how wrong this is
I have been studying the NFL and their punishments for the past few days and I am distraught at the outcome of some of these punishments. I really feel the NFL picks a number out of a hat, because some of these punishments make no sense. Some are punished extremely harshly while others are slapped on the wrist. If the NFL had a suspension table it would be a lot better. Here are a few mind blowing statistics, that shows inconsistency with the NFL and their decisions.
| August 13, 2009 | Entire 2009 season | Donte Stallworth | WR | Cleveland Browns | Crashed into and killed a pedestrian while DUI |
| September 2, 2014 | 10 games | Josh Brent | NT | Dallas Cowboys | Violation of the league’s personal conduct policy, stemming from being convicted of manslaughter |
Here are two very similar situations, which had two players kill a person while operating a vehicle impaired, but both were given different sentences, WHY?
| September 8, 2014 | Indefinite[f] (appealed and overturned two months later)[82] | Ray Rice | RB | Baltimore Ravens | Violation of the league’s personal conduct policy, stemming from a domestic violence incident |
| April 22, 2015 | 10 games | Greg Hardy | DE | Dallas Cowboys | Violation of the league’s personal conduct policy, stemming from a domestic abuse charge |
In this situation, Ray Rice was suspended for an entire season, and released, while Greg Hardy was suspended for 10 games, and he was given a big contract.
| December 29, 2014 | 1 game (later appealed and reduced to a $70,000 fine) | Ndamukong Suh | DT | Detroit Lions | Stepping on the leg of Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers |
| December 22, 2014 | 1 game | Dominic Raiola | C | Detroit Lions | Stomping on the leg of Chicago Bears defensive tackle Ego Ferguson |
This punishment was pretty clear, both stepped on a player. Shoot both were teammates and it happened in the same season. The crazy thing is one was suspended and lost an appeal while the other was suspended and one an appeal.
| May 11, 2015 | 4 games | Tom Brady | QB | New England Patriots | Involvement in the Deflategate scandal |
| November 4, 2013 | Indefinite (Lifted three months later)[70] | Richie Incognito[d] | G | Miami Dolphins | Detrimental conduct |
| May 2, 2012 | Entire 2012 season 8 games 4 games 3 games |
Jonathan Vilma Anthony Hargrove Will Smith Scott Fujita |
LB DE DE LB |
New Orleans Saints | Involvement in bounty program |
As you can see these punishments do not have a set guideline. Richie Incognito and Jonathan Vilma were both suspended the entire year, while Brady was caught cheating, not threatening to hurt a player or picking on a fellow teammate. Taking the integrity out of the game, but somehow receives a super light punishment.
Do you feel the NFL needs a set standard? I do….
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