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| NFL domestic violence scandals continue to rock the football world. Image: Twin Design / Shutterstock.com |
Following last week’s turmoil involving the Ray
Rice scandal, the NFL has been barraged with several more reports of
domestic violence from its players, causing some to wonder whether there is an
organizational problem. New players facing domestic violence cases include Carolina
Panthers’ Greg Hardy, Arizona Cardinals’ Jonathan Dwyer, San Francisco 49ers’ Ray
McDonald, and Minnesota Vikings’ perennial all-pro running back Adrian
Peterson. Here are the highlights of these cases:
Adrian Peterson
Peterson is facing child abuse charges from May, after he
used a small tree branch to discipline his four-year-old son, causing cuts and
bruises. Peterson has been put on a special exempt/commissioner’s permission
list, preventing him from taking part in any team activities for an undefined
period of time. Placement on this list is solely determined and controlled by
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
Greg Hardy
Hardy is currently appealing a domestic violence case
following an incident in May. According to the Charlotte Observer, Hardy was found guilty of assaulting his former
girlfriend and threatening to kill her earlier this summer. Like Peterson,
Hardy is also on the exempt/commissioner’s list.
Jonathan Dwyer
Dwyer was arrested September 17th on suspicion of
aggravated assault against his 27-year-old wife and 18-month-old son. Given the
serious nature of the allegations against him, he was subsequently placed on
his team’s reserve/non-football injury list, effectively ending his season. He
awaits a preliminary hearing on September 26.
Ray McDonald
McDonald was arrested on a felony domestic violence charge
for allegedly beating his pregnant girlfriend on August 31st. McDonald
has played in all three games so far this season and continues to practice with
the team.
In the wake of all of this controversy, many believe that NFL
commissioner Roger Goodell should announce his resignation. Goodell held
a press conference on September 19th to address all of these
issues, but the only definitive result of this press conference was that he would
not be resigning. He stated that the NFL hopes to implement new personal
conduct policies before the Super Bowl in February 2015 – little solace to the victims of assault at
the hands of NFL players.
The NFL is being hit in the wallet as well. Following the
recent off-field scandals, many sponsors are either voicing concern or pulling
their support of the NFL. Procter & Gamble pulled
out of a cancer initiative with the NFL. Anheuser-Busch and Nike, two of the
NFL’s most prominent sponsors, both voiced concerns about the recent incidents;
Nike also pulled Peterson’s jerseys from its stores in the Minneapolis area.
This has been a rough first three weeks of the NFL season,
as scandal is currently overshadowing the sport. Hopefully justice is found in
these cases and the nation can focus instead on the sport of football.
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