This Ray Rice issue is the final straw

[Troubadour]

I'm done with the NFL. Everything about the sport is revolting. Between the NCAA, head trauma, violence employed on and off the field, and the kind of masculinity that completely rejects any form of decency, I have had enough.

The final straw was the Ray Rice thing. It started with that press conference, but it somehow got worse this past week. He gets a two game suspension, which happens to be two games less than if you get caught smoking weed. Rather than asking why the NFL has such an issue with domestic abuse and other forms of violence (including serial murder), the media and the NFL Network are debating Ray Rice's punishment.

The NFL Network to describe a 2 game suspension for what Ray Rice did as the NFL ruling with an iron fist is past comical. It is insulting to anyone who has ever experienced domestic abuse or who has had someone in their lives abused by a spouse.

In case that wasn't enough, the NFL is marketing a Ray Rice jersey that is designed for women! Do you know how I know it's for women? It's not because of the cut of the jersey or how it's sized differently, no, that would be too reasonable for a sport that profits off of the brain trauma of hundreds of faceless athletes. It's for women because it's pink and has sequins on it. It is disgraceful.

Stephen A Smith spent a few minutes rambling on ESPN about how we should instead be discussing the "elements of provocation" in domestic abuse. This is the same argument commentators such as Smith apply to sexual assault. If a woman is assaulted, the same questions always get asked. "What was she wearing?" "What time of day was it?" "Was she alone?" "Did she lead him on?"

You shouldn't have to answer questions about your attire after you are assaulted. I like to think of human males as intelligent enough to resist the purportedly base urge to sexually assault someone or even physically assault a woman when they are angry or sexually aroused. Apparently we are all so stupid that we ask women to take precautions to protect themselves from the raging men that roam our society, so full of anger and lust that they may strike at any moment.

No one in the NFL has taken accountability for what has become endemic to the league. The media would prefer to debate the suspension as opposed to what Ray Rice did. The words are too ugly for daytime television, it would seem.

Does the NBA have its issues? Absolutely, but I have at least seen some significant strides in the last decade to keep my interest in the game. I don't want to have to follow criminal proceedings as part of my fandom of a sport. The NFL seems perfectly comfortable letting its players live above the law. When Ray Rice assaults his partner, the league's first instinct is apparently to start/continue selling obnoxious Ray Rice jerseys that are marketed to women.

Can't support a sport like that. Had to get this off my chest. Thanks for reading, if you made it this far.

[EArl]

I agree with what you are saying, but we cant really blame it on the sport per se. It sucks that the rape culture is the way it is, but is more of a result of the patriarchal society that we live in. If you want to see change than write a letter to the NFL explaining to them that what they are doing is wrong. Get more people to do it. You never know what can change.

[Troubadour]

I agree with what you are saying, but we cant really blame it on the sport per se. It sucks that the rape culture is the way it is, but is more of a result of the patriarchal society that we live in. If you want to see change than write a letter to the NFL explaining to them that what they are doing is wrong. Get more people to do it. You never know what can change.

The NFL must have some sort of rookie symposium, right? The entire league, executives/owners included, should have go through a seminar covering three basic topics:

- DUI
- Violence
- Violence against women

One day session. All there is to it.