Are League Punishments Getting Too Harsh?

The days of “tisk tisk” punishments in the league have left us. And maybe for good.

It’s about time people start realizing that franchise branding is –if not more, than just as – important as the ability of its players in this era. Why? Simple: money AKA buying power. Think, with social media numbers ever-increasing and the six degrees of separation narrowing down to about two; players, coaches and hell, even execs are getting caught left and right in scandals that (often times blown out of proportion) can be career-ending. I mean, we’ve seen it happen. A few hundred thousand mentions to the commissioner assisted in virtually ending Ray Rice’s career. The confronting commentary of fans can be brutal and as humans, players react in sometimes not the most tasteful ways. We’ve watched guys miss almost half of a season for getting caught with weed and others be shamed into oblivion by one wrong comment. And face it, who wants a screw up on their team messing up revenue? But are some retributions too harsh?

By now you guys know I can’t stand the winning wonderfulness that are the New England Patriots (Colts fan. Woot woot!) and that I was pleased that they were – finally – punished. Yet I can’t help but wonder that at some point, the NFL could get out of hand with these disciplinary acts. The punishments in the league are inconsistent by team, player and position, it seems. A lot of which is really for exploitation, blame aversion and “See, I am the good guy” antics by its heads. How do you explain one player being ridiculed and kicked to the curb for domestic violence but others are still playing? Or one guy cheating and getting a four-game suspension while a coach gets suspended for a year for “bounties?” Both with semi-shaky evidence? (No shade, I promise.) A number of my Twitter followers said “Rodger Goodell is just making this up as he goes.” I concur. Give the no-name guy the lesser and add the “G.O.A.T.” to the exempt list just to show the world that you don’t discriminate?!

Don’t get me wrong, some players waste their God-given talent with foolishness and need to make room for the second-string guy who would do anything to be in their cleats, including act right off of the field. But then there are the players who are still in their early twenties and just came into millions that make silly mistakes forcing their miniscule careers down the drain. Is that really fair?

Granted, as fans we are usually the worst people to face after every disgrace. We have the most to say and the least to do with it (per life). I’m not signing any checks but please know I have a few opinions about everything. However, it’s not my job to be completely sound and un-bias as a fan. It is the job of league directors, owners and general managers, though, to equally slap everyone’s wrist or hang them out to dry.

I guess what I’m really saying is that we need: a) a new commissioner and b) rule consistency and standards that rarely change unless circumstances are completely and drastically incomparable.