Essay On Nfl Suspensions

The National Football League is one of the most popular sports leagues in the world. The NFL has been very important in our nation and has made a large amount of money off of it. It is made up of amazing football players with outstanding skills. Although these players are superb at football, that doesn’t change how they behave. Many players have been suspended for their behavior by many different means of conduct. These suspensions range from committing crimes, to cheating, and to bad behavior on the field. The suspensions of these behaviors seem to be extremely controversial and have caused an outrage in the NFL. When thinking about the suspensions, it seems that they are unfair and seem to not have an impact on the players themselves. The NFL should make their punishments harsher and more consistent.
Throughout many years in the NFL there have been a large amount of suspensions among the players. The degree of accusations are largely diverse, but the punishments behind those seem to be the same. It is Ludacris how one player can be accused of cheating and another accused of head hunting and they come out of it in the end and the punishments are very close to being the same. The NFL needs to learn how to punish accordingly and be more severe. There are too many instances where someone gets caught doing something illegal, and they keep doing it because the punishment isn’t as severe as it needs to be.
The New England Patriots have been known for their unfair advantages with cheating in the

NFL. They have been caught and accused of cheating in many ways. They have been caught deflating footballs, spying on other teams practices, filming games from unapproved positions, snow plowing their field to their advantage, use of illegal formations during games, and using the injured reserve illegally. It goes as far back as 1986 to them cheating. Although they get caught every time they cheat and they get punished in some pathetic way, doesn’t stop them from cheating again and again. The deflategate is the latest scandal that that the Patriots have pulled off and what they got as a punishment is a joke. The Patriots were deflating footballs throughout the 2015 NFL playoffs and that helped them win. They went on to win the Super Bowl even after everyone found out they had been cheating. The NFL did nothing to punish them and just let them win the Super Bowl. After the win, and the season was over, they started to look into it and then they made a big deal about it. They suspended Tom Brady for four games in the 2016 season. Tom Brady gets a slap on the wrist for cheating, and gets a Super Bowl win. This punishment is not going to affect him whatsoever and he will continue to do what he does best, cheating. The Patriots cheat and not only get away with it, but they lie about it and seem to make a joke out of it. The quarterback Tom Brady and the Patriots owner Robert Kraft not only lie about doing this, but seem to mock it and say that there is no hard evidence. (Chris Chase)
Tom Brady should be suspended for a whole year and maybe even more because of his actions.

Not only has he been a part of the deflategate, but he and his team have been accused of cheating many other times. They were caught filming the other team’s practices before the Super Bowl. So even though they get caught, and get punished it doesn’t change what they do. The NFL should either suspend them for a whole year or ban them from playing in the NFL because they don’t deserve

to.
Although Tom Brady was cheating and deserves to be punished, there isn’t exactly any proof that he actually did anything. There wasn’t any evidence that showed completely that Tom Brady was at fault it was just assumed. There isn’t any hard evidence, but all of the variables point to Tom Brady and he would have had to know that the balls were deflated. Chris Chase, the author of the article Tom Brady Cheated His Way to a Super Bowl says that “It was ridiculous all along to believe that a man who spent so much time handling footballs couldn’t tell the difference between one under-inflated and one properly inflated.” Chase clearly makes a good point. This is the obvious reason Tom Brady is in trouble, he would have had to know about the balls being deflated.
Just like Tom Brady and the New England Patriots, Sean Payton and the New Orleans Saints have gotten in trouble with the NFL for poor judgement. The New Orleans Saints and the head coach Sean Payton have gotten in trouble with the NFL recently and once again, not punished enough. This instance in the NFL is completely not acceptable and Sean Payton should have been banned instantly. He was suspended one year for putting a bounty on other players in the league. He would pay players on his team to injure other players not on his team. He and his defensive coordinator Gregg Williams were caught doing this and the NFL decided to suspend both of them, fine the team $500,000 and lose a 2nd round pick. Sean Payton only got a one year suspension and Williams got suspended indefinitely. This is absolutely unacceptable and Sean Payton should have been banned from the NFL. Nothing will stop him from continuing to do this and he gets the opportunity to do it again. People like Sean Payton don’t belong in the NFL and shouldn’t be allowed to be. It is ridiculous how the NFL can look at this case and decide that he should be able to return and make a comeback. The Bounty program that was ran not only had over 20 players participate in it, but it happened for over 2 years. If that isn’t enough to get someone banned then I don’t know what is. The author of the article Sean Payton Suspended, Saints Fined for Bounty Program, Robert Klemko quotes NFL commissioner Roger Goodell saying, “We are all accountable and responsible for player health and safety and the integrity of the game," Goodell said Wednesday. "We will not tolerate conduct or a culture that undermines those priorities. No one is above the game or the rules that govern it. Respect for the game and the people who participate in it will not be compromised.” (Robert Klemko) Goodell goes on to say that they will not allow this kind of behavior and people should respect the game. Sean Payton and his staff have clearly not done this and that is why he should be punished more severely, if not banned from the NFL.
There are few instances with bounty offenses and cheating in the NFL, but domestic violence, and assault seems to be a huge problem in the league. Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson are both known very well for their offenses and these are ridiculous examples that the NFL needs to punish more severely. Ray Rice was the Baltimore Raven’s running back and on June 16th he hit his wife on an elevator and knocked her out. He then drug her limp body out of the elevator and into the hotel room. He went straight to Roger Goodell the NFL commissioner, and told him about what he has done. Ray Rice got a two game suspension. Someone who is an icon in the city of Baltimore knocks out his wife, drags her limp body into a hotel room and the commissioner gives him a two game suspension. He was kicked off of the team because of his behavior, but besides that, the NFL and the commissioner continue to give weak punishments for the behavior of their players. That is amazing to me that he can knock out his wife, and the NFL just doesn’t care. Ray Rice even went on to get his charges dropped, face no jail time and maybe even get away with it without anything going on his record. Even though he should have gone to jail and should be banned from the NFL he will make a return to the league and continue to play. His wife dropped all of his charges and said that he shouldn’t be punished so no one is going to do anything. The only punishment he faces is that publicity will restrict his reentrance into the NFL. (David Steele)
Just like Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson faces an assault charge. Adrian Peterson is the Minnesota Vikings running back and he was charged for reckless or negligent injury after he beat his son with a stick for punishment. His son was four years old. Peterson was handed a suspension for the rest of the 2014 season. So he got a 6 game suspension. This is just mind boggling because apparently you can beat your four year old with a stick and expect it to be looked at as punishment. (Peter King) Once again, he should be banned for life from the NFL and shouldn’t be able to make a return. He will not face any jail time and is still in the league on the Vikings. Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson are both good examples of how weak the punishment is in the NFL, and they should both be banned from the league if not in jail. They committed big crimes and all they get is a slap on the wrist.
The NFL has always been ridiculous in their attempts to punish their players. Michael Vick was the former Atlanta Falcons quarterback and was caught dog fighting. He was breeding dogs, and training them to fight against each other. If these dogs were not born fighters, or they were weak, then he would kill them in a variety of different ways including drowning, electrocuting, hanging, and shooting them. Vick faced 6 years in prison and a 350,000 dollar fine. He would eventually serve one and a half years in prison and get out and make a return to the NFL. If killing dogs for one’s pleasure isn’t enough to ban someone from the NFL then what is? If someone could answer that question, then that would make many people happy. Michael Vick was a former first round draft pick and he was a great quarterback. (NFL Star) Then he pulls off this stunt and his life assumingly goes down the drain. The NFL continues to weakly punish their players, and allow them to do what they want. These types of players aren’t needed in the league that our children watch every Sunday and look up to. I personally was a Michael Vick fan until he did this, he lost the trust and respect from mostly everyone. This is the exact time that the NFL should have banned him from the league and not allowed him to come back in.
The NFL’s antics are amazing because they spend all of their time worrying about if someone talks to the press or not, fining ridiculous things and not worrying about what is important. For example Marshawn Lynch is the Seattle Seahawks running back and is known for his nonparticipation with the press. The league fines him a certain amount of money every time he doesn’t talk to the press, and they get upset with him for this. The league fines Marshawn Lynch every game for the green cleats that he wears. Prior to Super Bowl 49, Lynch posted a picture on Twitter showing gold cleats that he was going to wear in the Super Bowl. The NFL instantly warned him that if he were to wear those cleats, they would suspend him for the Super Bowl. A one game suspension for wearing gold cleats, and they give Tom Brady a four game suspension for cheating many times in his career. The NFL is so worried about whether Marshawn has talked to the press, or if he is wearing green or gold colored cleats, but when it comes to Tom Brady cheating, they don’t care and let it keep happening. That is why the NFL needs to be more severe with its punishment and stop worrying about whether someone wears the right cleats or not.
To be fairer, there are reasons that these players have been getting off free though. Against Tom Brady, there was no evidence showing that he actually did deflate the balls. All the variables just pointed to him. If he wasn’t the quarterback, he would never be the blame. He probably never deflated the balls, but he would to have known so that is why he is in trouble. So for Tom Brady’s defense, he didn’t do it but the situation points to him. When Ray Rice hit his wife he instantly knew he was in the wrong. That isn’t any excuse for hitting your wife but when he hit her, he went straight to the NFL commissioner and explained what happened and apologized to him. Rice seemed to be professional about it, explaining that it was a mistake and he was instantly regretful. His fiancée knew that he regretted it and never meant to hurt her, but is just so happened to turn out that way. She dropped all of the charges and that is why Ray Rice will get off without any punishment except for public humiliation. Plus it was a first time offense, so that helped his case in the court room. Adrian Peterson has already faced his punishment with a fine, missing 6-8 games in 2014, and 80 hours of community service. Now the league needs to let him back in and let him get back to work because he knows what he has done wrong and made a mistake. He apologized for what he has done and wants to play football. (Melissa Isaacson) Although Michael Vick was terrible with what he was doing with the dogs, he has faced his punishment. He did his jail time, got out, paid his fines and now he should be allowed to go back into the NFL if a team were to want him. He knows what he has done wrong and he has faced his punishment and is now changed because of that. Instead of being stubborn in my ways, there has to be a reason to let these players to continue to play and that is punishment. Even though I think the punishments need to be harsher, they still need to get a chance to bring themselves back up.
The NFL should make their punishments harsher and more consistent. In the NFL today and in past years, the commissioner and the league have had many players stand before them who have cheated, lied, committed crimes, and made poor judgements. They have committed crimes from dog fighting, to drug charges and to domestic assaults. The NFL has poorly punished these players and that is why they continue to misbehave. They should have harsher punishments and be more consistent. The league doesn’t look at the bigger picture with the players. Tom Brady has cheated multiple times to win many games, Ray Rice knocked out his fiancée, Adrian Peterson beat his son with a stick, and Michael Vick has trained dogs to kill each other. All of these players are all in the NFL besides Ray Rice but he is going to be on a team soon. To football and NFL lovers, this is frustrating because it is demeaning the league and it is ridiculous with what they allow. These players should be banned from the league because this type of behavior doesn’t belong in the NFL. The league needs to realize what they are doing wrong and figure it out because it is going to continue to happen until they do so. The Major league Baseball has banned people when needed and it has made an impact on the players, the NFL can do the same. It will make a change if they were to ban just one person. Changing the game so everyone realizes that the NFL isn’t a joke.