NFLPA's Appeal of Ray Rice Suspension Furthers League's Weak Image on Domestic Violence

Over the last month we have learned that’s the world’s most violent sport on the field is apparently also the most violent off the field. Numerous stars of the NFL like Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson, Greg Hardy, Ray McDonald and Jonathan Dwyer have given the NFL a black eye, something they apparently all like to do, with their off the field violence toward's  wives, girlfriends and even children.

The NFL has done almost everything possible to continually shoot themselves in the foot by botching the punishments both at the league and team level and in the process have made themselves look both inept at their jobs and weak on domestic violence.

The NFL Players Association was put in an awkward position this week when they decided to take the side of an athlete punished for violently knocking his then fiancée, now wife unconscious, by appealing his suspension. That athlete is former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice, who as everybody knows by now was weakly suspended for merely two games by the NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, czar of all things punishment in the NFL, for his domestic abuse of a woman and then the two-game suspension was turned into an indefinite suspension with no end in sight when the elevator tape of Rice knocking Janay Rice unconscious was brought to light.

The NFLPA has every right to be upset that Goodell is changing punishment of its players willy-nilly because he failed to get things right the first time around, and I hate that his incompetence as commissioner put them in this horrid situation, but they are doing absolutely nothing but damaging their image among people virtually everywhere by appealing Rice’s suspension. I understand those claiming the NFLPA must do this to protect its players in the future. I just don’t agree.

I understand it’s the ultimate duty of the NFLPA to protect its players, that’s the prime objective of a union, but I think they have to protect the entirety of the union and the players’ and league’s image more so. Appealing the suspension of a wife beater is in no way protecting your image. In fact, it makes it look like you condone the despicably violent act. The appeal makes the NFLPA look no better than the NFL did when the NFL apparently tried to brush Rice’s action and the actions of fellow stars under the rug.

The last month has shown that the NFL has violence issues and that those issues aren’t really high priority among those in charge of running the league. The NFL Players Association could have come out against Rice and against Peterson, Hardy, McDonald, Dwyer and any other player that lays his hands or objects against others, but it has opted to stand up for these guys instead. It's just another sign that the NFL doesn’t really care what you do in your free time, just so long as you’re scoring touchdowns on Sunday.