League reprimands lack consistency

With controversy hovering around the NFL executives and players, the topic of domestic abuse has come to the forefront of the picture in the past few months.

Players such as Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings, and the Baltimore Ravens’ Ray Rice, have been subject to intense public and media scrutiny.

These cases of domestic violence have started a national conversation about the way the NFL handles transgressions, and especially regarding the punishments they deem appropriate for the offenders.

In the past, the NFL has been incongruent with the punishments they have dealt, across the board. A spokeswoman for the NFL stated that the league does not have a comprehensive list of all the punishments given out for various offenses; they only have records of specific instances.

However, there is research to support that suspensions and punishments of personal conduct violations are highly inconsistent. For example in 2007, Sam Brandon of the Denver Broncos was suspended for two games for a domestic violence charge.

In 2012, Ben Rothlesburger of the Pittsburgh Steelers was suspended for four games for a sexual assault charge. This is unacceptable because no precedent has been set.

There is no consistency; there is no way to regulate the repercussions that the NFL players receive for their actions. The NFL needs to be held more accountable for the way they handle these situations.

The league and the players are under scrutiny because they are media figures, so if the league wants to avoid further controversy, a change must be implemented.

This needs to happen, not only because people look at them and pay attention to the way they conduct themselves, but because being consistent is the right thing to do.