The NFL's Hippocratic Oath
The NFL combine begins this week. This should be a time where young men take one step closer to fulfilling their life long dream of playing in the NFL. However, for 4 young men that will not be able to happen after the NFL either rescinded an invite, or just simply did not invite them to the combine. The reasons are just and fair and nobody would ever disagree with that, these young men by the names of Chad Kelly, Joe Mixon, Ishmael Zamora and Damore'ea Stringfellow have demonstrated poor character choices that does not fit what the NFL wants it's image to be. But what happens when the NFL excludes these 4 from a major NFL event but allows Tyreek Hill the Chiefs punt returner extraordinaire, to be the head on the NFL twitter account and win rookie of the year after punching his pregnant girlfriend in college in the stomach? Where does the line in the sand need to be drawn?
I just don't see how the NFL can continually sweep these issues under the rug. Sure, they have super bowl commercials saying no more, women need to be protected ETC but at what point does there need to be a more significant punishment on players who commit these acts of violence? Lets take a look at the 4 players in question and compare them to active NFL players and see where the fairness is taken into account.
Chad Kelly- Ole miss QB, pleaded Guilty to Disorderly conduct following an arrest from a Buffalo, NY night club. He was arrested for starting fights with the bouncers and alleging to get his AK-47 and shoot up the club. When police pulled him out of the truck he was a passenger in, he continued to fight and be aggressive and swing at cops. Compare that to Adam Jones, Bengals corner, who's been arrested more times than anyone can count, for all sorts of assault related issues. in 2006, arrested for spitting on a woman at a club, in 2007 arrested for slamming a dancers head into the stage for supposedly taking his money he threw at her while she was dancing. In 2017 he was arrested for obstructing official business, disorderly conduct and assault while he was headbutting and kicking police officers. This man has a 10 year NFL career, but Kelly can't go to the combine because of something he did before he was at Ole miss.
Joe Mixon- Oklahoma Running back, but by now everyone has heard the details of his story and arrest. He punched a woman in the head causing broken bones and surgery to her face. There is alot of back and forth regarding this case, he claims he hit her because she used a racial slur and slapped him, she claims he got slapped because he was using homophobic slurs. Mixon is a 1st round talent that most likely won't be taken until day 3 of the draft because of this issue from 2014. Compare that to Tyreek Hill from the Kansas City Chiefs, as stated earlier, he was the rookie of the year in 2016, He was arrested back in 2014 and plead guilty to strangulation, and domestic assault for punching, kicking and choking his pregnant girlfriend at the time. Yet as soon as he started doing good this year, the NFL praised him to the point of making him the face of their twitter for 2 weeks. The NFL will accept this yet, keep Mixon from running at the combine this week because of how it looks and how unacceptable that behavior was.
Ishmael Zamora, Baylor Wide receiver, was charged with a misdemeanor and had to pay a $500 dollar fine after a snapchat video of him whipping his dog with a belt was turned over to the police. While I am not excusing his actions in the least ( I am an animal lover), I am going to ask how is it fair for him to be excluded from participating in the combine, when they let Adrian Peterson continue to play after a far worse act occurred when he beat his child with a switch? Yes Peterson was suspended for the 2014 season, but they let him continue to play while potentially keeping Zamora from ever entering the league.
Finally, Damore'ea Stringfellow, Ole Miss Wide Receiver, while at the University of Washington, Stringfellow was arrested and charged with fourth degree assault after getting into some altercations with Seahawks fans following their superbowl win in 2014 including assaulting a woman and chasing down a man an hour later with former QB Cyler Miles and assaulting him. Then in 2015 he was arrested for disorderly conduct while at Ole Miss. Compare that to superstar wide receiver Dez Bryant. Bryant was arrested after assaulting his mother by hitting her in the face with his hat, and causing bruising on his wrists and neck due to the altercation. We celebrate him as a great receiver but remember he also has had issues while at Oklahoma State as well.
To be clear...I am not condoning any of these guys actions. If it were up to me all of them would either be out of the league or not be allowed to compete in it. But the NFL is a multi-billion dollar industry, and to me it appears that they are picking and choosing who and what to pursue when it comes to domestic violence or any issues for that matter.
There has to be a line in the sand that's drawn.. and the nation is looking at you Commissioner Goodell to get it right this time, and not pick and choose your battles. You can't have your cake and eat it too.
