Ray Rice Essay
Zackery Everhart Everhart 1 Professor Kent Quaney English 99 22 October 2014
As everyone who has access to a television or the Internet knows, a lot of the major headlines today are dealing with the domestic violence problem in the National Football League. In the article written by Thomas Barrabi in the International Business Times, “NFL’s History of Domestic Violence Extends Beyond Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson Abuse Cases”, it addresses the discrepancies the NFL has displayed throughout the years when it comes to disciplining the players involved in domestic violence disputes. This article takes a look at the NFL’s position on the crime of domestic violence throughout the years and today and also what they have done to address the problem within their own organization. In previous years before technology was so readily accessible to near about everyone, the NFL basically took an out of sight, out of mind stance on domestic violence. They believed it to be a family matter that did not affect their organization and that it was none of their business. They took this point on the matter even though statistics showed that a good number of professional and collegiate athletes had been reported to the police for violent acts against women. The article states that in 1994 the Washington Post reported that in a 5-year span between 1989 to 1994, 140 violent acts against women were reported among these athletes. However, these occurrences were never big news stories for the media until the OJ Simpson case in 1994. Because of the media attention this case received, a closer look was taken at the crimes committed among professional football players. The most common crime committed was violent acts against women. The NFL continued to turn the other cheek to these facts, stating that it did not influence their business, and it was not their responsibility to discipline the players for acts committed off of the field. Therefore, players that had
As everyone who has access to a television or the Internet knows, a lot of the major headlines today are dealing with the domestic violence problem in the National Football League. In the article written by Thomas Barrabi in the International Business Times, “NFL’s History of Domestic Violence Extends Beyond Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson Abuse Cases”, it addresses the discrepancies the NFL has displayed throughout the years when it comes to disciplining the players involved in domestic violence disputes. This article takes a look at the NFL’s position on the crime of domestic violence throughout the years and today and also what they have done to address the problem within their own organization. In previous years before technology was so readily accessible to near about everyone, the NFL basically took an out of sight, out of mind stance on domestic violence. They believed it to be a family matter that did not affect their organization and that it was none of their business. They took this point on the matter even though statistics showed that a good number of professional and collegiate athletes had been reported to the police for violent acts against women. The article states that in 1994 the Washington Post reported that in a 5-year span between 1989 to 1994, 140 violent acts against women were reported among these athletes. However, these occurrences were never big news stories for the media until the OJ Simpson case in 1994. Because of the media attention this case received, a closer look was taken at the crimes committed among professional football players. The most common crime committed was violent acts against women. The NFL continued to turn the other cheek to these facts, stating that it did not influence their business, and it was not their responsibility to discipline the players for acts committed off of the field. Therefore, players that had