There is a lot of gray area surrounding the complicated polices and procedures of the NFL, specifically when it comes to players engaging in domestic abuse. An example fresh in everyone’s minds is the recent developments involving Ezekiel Elliott, running back for the Dallas Cowboys. In July of 2016, Elliott was accused of domestic violence by his former partner, Tiffany Thompson. Thompson claimed that Elliott had struck her many times and left bruises on her arms.
Although Elliott denied these allegations, Thompson told prosecutors that this abuse had been occurring for several months. Despite these allegations occurring over a year ago, the NFL did not choose to suspend Elliott until Aug. 11 of this year. This season, the NFL suspended him for six games for violating their personal conduct policy. A few days later, he appealed, and on Sept. 5, his suspension was upheld. However, he was still allowed to play in the game that week since the timing of the decision had been so close to the game. On Sept. 8, a judge granted a preliminary injunction against the suspension. Judge Amos Mazzant claimed that Elliott did not receive a fair hearing. This whole process has shown that the NFL’s personal conduct policy, which has often been criticized, still needs work.
According to the NFL’s personal conduct policy, “Any time the league becomes aware of conduct that may violate the policy, it will undertake an investigation conducted by the NFL Special Counsel for Investigations and Conduct.” This counsel then issues discipline. This is problematic because the counsel works independently from law enforcement. Even if authorities decide to not charge someone, the NFL can still discipline the player, as in the case of Ezekiel Elliott. The City Attorney’s office in Columbus decided not to press charges citing “conflicting and inconsistent information across all incidents resulting in concern regarding the sufficiency of the evidence to support the filing of criminal charges.” According to this policy, even though Elliott was not charged by law enforcement, he could still be suspended by the NFL.
The case of Ezekiel Elliott is not the only one fraught with controversy. In 2016, Giants kicker Josh Brown was only suspended for one game despite police documents showing that Brown had admitted to abusing his wife.
The NFL’s policy was updated following an incident with former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice. In 2014, Rice was arrested and charged with assault after striking his then-fiancée Janay Palmer. A few days later, TMZ released a video of Rice dragging an unconscious Palmer out of an elevator at a casino in Atlantic City. A grand jury decided to indict Rice for aggravated assault, but two months later he avoided trial by attending an intervention program. In July of the same year, the NFL suspended Rice for two games. This punishment was heavily criticized.
If the NFL determines that a player, such as Elliott or Rice, has engaged in domestic abuse, they should receive more than a six game suspension. It is unacceptable for anyone to engage in domestic violence, and the NFL is not sending the right message with the punishments they give, especially when you compare it to their punishments for other offenses.
For example, Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon hasn’t played since December 2014 because he violated the league’s substance abuse policy, reportedly smoking marijuana. Then while under suspension, he consumed a few alcoholic drinks. His petitions for reinstatement have been repeatedly denied and there is no timetable for when he can return. Does the NFL really believe that smoking marijuana is a worse offense than physically abusing someone? If so, the sport will continue to lose fans, as evidenced by an eight percent loss in TV viewership last season.
The main issue with the league’s personal conduct policy regarding domestic violence is that while it says that a first offense of this policy will result in a six-game penalty, the commissioner can still use his power to suspend players for a different amount of games depending on “mitigating factors.”
This is why players like Josh Brown have received relatively shorter suspensions. By leaving this authority to the commissioner, arguments will continue about whether players are being suspended for too long or if they are not being suspended for long enough.
The NFL needs to make a policy that would have specific punishments for violations. They could start by suspending a player who physically abused someone for more games than someone who smoked marijuana.