Case 1: On January 30th 2000, Shortly after Super Bowl XXXIV ended, Ray Lewis and a whole crew of friends, employees and hangers on went to a night club in Atlanta.They were their to party and have a general good time. However, at some point in the night a fight broke out and spilled into the street. Two men on the opposite side of the fight ended up with multiple stab wounds to the chest and heart. Both died that night. Although he was originally charged with the murder of the two men, star LB Ray Lewis ended up pleading his way to an obstruction of justice charge. The case of these two murdered men was never solved. Although we dont know who killed the men, we do know that Ray Lewis was present at the scene of the crime and right or wrong he continued his NFL career with very little visible negative consequences. For his involvement in the altercation outside the club, the NFL fined him $250,000 and gave him a one year probation, allowing him to play the next season.
Case 2: After a October 20th game against the Chicago Bears, Washington Safety Brandon Meriweather repeatedly targeted the head of Bears WR Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery. Meriweather has drawn several penalties for targeting players hits with his tackles. The NFL is a league with a serious problem of head trauma related injuries, especially post playing career. Having a player repeated target the head of his opponents is bad for players safety and the leagues public image. So, the NFL suspended Meriweather for two games. After reviewing the situation that eventually decided to reduce the suspension to just one game.
Case 3: On Thursday December 19th, the NFL officially announced the indefinite
suspension of Seahawks CB Brandon Browner for violating the leagues
substance-abuse policy.The suspension is longer then normal for drug
abuse issues because Browner is a repeat offender. He failed a test in
2005, while a member of the Denver Broncos and then failed to show up
for several follow on tests. This made Browner a "class 3" offender.
Assuming he doesn't win his appeal, Browner will now be suspended for
one year and then eligible to apply for reinstatement into the league.
Unnamed sources claim that the drug that Browner tested positive for was
Marijuana.
You may have noticed that the punishment doled out by the NFL gets harsher in each of these cases. A rational person would assume the crime was also getting worse, but as you can clearly see it doesn't. In the first case, Ray Lewis got a slap on the wrist for being at worst a murderer and at best someone who associates with murderers. In case 2, Brandon Meriweather is basically the exact kind of player the NFL is claiming to try and distance itself from. He is the walking embodiment of what they claim to not want in their league anymore. However, case 3 is just some guy deciding to get high on his own time, in a state that says that activity is legal for adults. Which of these is worse?
When it comes to determining punishment for the negative actions taken by members of the league, the NFL commissioner is the judge, jury and executioner. Apparently, the NFL commissioner thinks murder and targeting the heads of opponents and possibly causing them long term damage is less bad then smoking a joint. Seriously, in the eyes of the NFL, smoking marijuana, a drug that you cant overdose from and is prescribed as a pain managed drug by doctors, appears to be one of the worst offenses a player can commit.
If we dive deeper into the Ray Lewis case it especially highlights the NFL's broken and confusing moral standard. After the murder at the night club, the NFL frequently chose to use Ray Lewis in their ad campaigns. Sports media, like ESPN and Yahoo Sports heralded him for his playing prowess and leadership abilities. Major brands like Old Spice, Under Armour and EA Sports paid him to endorse their products. Because of Lewis's skill on the football field he basically got a pass, when had anyone else been in that situation it would have caused major repercussions in their life. His run in with the law was basically forgotten.
Brandon Browner, who is much less marketable and interesting, got the book thrown at him. He is facing his sentence at possibly the worst time he could in his career. He was about to become free agent and get a big time pay day. Instead he will most likely sit out an entire year and miss out on any pay at all. As a 29 year old football players he is in the prime of his career and will begin declining quickly. His window of opportunity to financially enrich himself as a by product of his athleticism is closing fast. His decision to smoke ganja is most definitely not forgotten.
The NFL and the sports world is basically ignoring Lewis's massive huge life altering (ending for the two men) action and almost rewarding him. While Browner, who committed a much less heinous crime, is being asked to pay a huge price for his transgression. The NFL needs to be dragged into the 21st century and made aware of what issues matter in the modern world. They need to get their priorities straight. They also need to eliminate the blatantly obvious double standard that stardom brings.
Sources: USA Today, Sports Illustrated, Sports Illustrated again, CBS Sports
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