Should We Boycott the NFL?

 

                The NFL is one of the most well-known corporations not only in the United States but around the world. The NFL (short for National Football League) is made up of 32 teams around the United States equally divided up into conferences. Every year in February the teams that can win their conference and the playoffs will make their way to The Superbowl, one of the most watched sporting events of the year. Lately, there has been a lot of controversy towards the NFL. If you’ve been watching news at all, you probably have heard all of the negative comments towards two highly paid players in the NFL.

                Ray Rice is a running back for the Baltimore Ravens, one of the 32 teams within the NFL. He was signed to the Ravens in 2008 and has been playing for them ever since, up until a few weeks ago. A few weeks ago, a video was leaked of Ray Rice. The video was shot from within an elevator that showed Ray Rice physically abusing his then fiancée and punching her across the face, knocking her out cold. News of this domestic assault had been known, but the only evidence they had on Rice was a video showing him dragging his fiancée from the elevator. Now that actual footage had turned up, the NFL knew they had made a mistake and suspended Ray Rice from the NFL indefinitely.

                If Ray Rice didn’t put a strain on the NFL, on September 12, 2014 Adrian Peterson, also a running back for the Minnesota Vikings was arrested for child abuse. Over the summer, Adrian Peterson was visiting one of his many children when one of his children shoved another one. To discipline the child, Adrian took a stick and pulled his child’s pants down, repeatedly whacking him with it. When the child was returned to the mother, he had to go to the doctor’s due to serious injuries all over his body from the beating. When the NFL caught wind of this, they suspended Adrian Peterson as he went through court for child abuse charges. The Viking’s reinstated Peterson amid his charges, but 3 days later he was put on the NFL’s exempt/Commissioner’s Permission List and was asked to stay away from all team activities. It is unknown if he will ever return to the NFL.

                After the exposure of these 2 cases, many people have been saying that we should boycott the NFL. So should we? Some people think that the actions of these athletes are the fault of the NFL and believe that we should stop the program. Others believe that there is no reason to put this on the NFL. These athletes chose to make their own choices and the NFL wasn’t responsible for their actions. After the elevator video of Ray Rice was released, the NFL took a lot of heat for their weak punishment, but many people say that they gave Rice his punishment from the evidence that they had, while others say that they knew about the video but chose to ignore it and not release it. What do you think?