Oh, whatever will we do about the National Football League?
The past month has been a nonstop public relations disaster for the NFL. Beginning with the dreadful Ray Rice footage, the NFL is slowly revealing itself as a haven for violent men and those who will keep defending them.
Adrian Peterson, a running back for the Minnesota Vikings, was indicted earlier this month on child abuse charges. Another running back — Jonathan Dwyer of the Arizona Cardinals — was arrested last week for punching his wife in the face after she refused his sexual advances. A few weeks ago, San Francisco 49ers player Ray McDonald was arrested for felony domestic violence.
Along with the unforgettable Ray Rice tape, the NFL’s reactions (and lack thereof) to domestic violence are sending a gruesome message to women: Your pain doesn’t mean as much to us as your money does.
Women make up nearly half of the NFL’s fanbase, yet the organization couldn’t care less about the well-being of the women. To the NFL, women are nothing more than consumers who will buy season tickets for the whole family and wear the pink jerseys that practically scream, “Look, gals! You’re allowed to like sports now, too!”
Speaking of pink, Breast Cancer Awareness Month is just a week away, which adds to the awkward relationship between the NFL and its female fans. In October, the NFL is comically overdone with pink merchandise, which is their way of saying they care about women.
Or their breasts, more specifically.
While there is a plethora of issues surrounding the Breast Cancer Awareness movement in general, it’s comedic that the NFL thinks putting pink sneakers and mouth guards on its players will help them appeal to women. In fact, it is estimated that the NFL only gives back about 8 percent of the proceeds they receive from their “Pink” merchandise to cancer research. It’s more like NFL Awareness Month than anything cancer-related.
One in four women will be the victim of severe domestic violence, according to the Centers for Disease Control. However, only one in eight will develop breast cancer. The NFL can actually prevent one of these by adequately punishing its violent and abusive players.
Earlier this year, Carolina Panthers player Greg Hardy was convicted of assaulting and threatening to kill his ex-girlfriend. Still receiving his $13.1 million salary, Hardy has barely been penalized by the NFL. According to a North Carolina newspaper, none of the players are going to “allow Hardy’s situation to become a distraction.”
And that’s where the heart of the problem lies.
The NFL is not concerned with the personal lives of their players. Unless you’re using performance-enhancing drugs, the NFL almost prefers its players to be nothing but uncontrollably violent masses of sheer muscle and mass so they can be modern-day gladiators, fighting to the death. But whose death will it take for the NFL to take some serious action, instead of getting glorified oaf Roger Goodell to do another meaningless press conference?
What needs to happen now is a mass boycott of the National Football League. We can keep giving them free publicity by writing thinkpiece after thinkpiece about why football players are violent, or hashtagging away with #WhyIStayed, or we can turn off our TVs and find something else to do on Sundays.
SidneyRose Reynen is a 19-year-old film and media arts and art history sophomore from New Orleans. You can reach her on twitter @sidneyrose_TDR.