The NFL's Consistency Problem

I don’t understand the judicial system sometimes, especially when it comes to athletes. In the sports world, crimes seem to be treated differently based on certain circumstances. For years, criminals in the NFL have gotten off nearly scot free; the league couldn't afford to lose its stars. From Lawrence Taylor to Pac-Man Jones, the NFL's produced more criminals than Newark, New Jersey. 

However, in recent years, the NFL is trying to change. The league has taken a different route in dealing with their star players, and it seems like the bigger they are, the harder they fall.

Let’s start with Donte Stallworth. In March of 2009, Stallworth thought it would be a good idea to drive drunk, and in doing so, he struck a 59 year old man walking on the street. Stallworth killed the man. Now you’d think killing a person would be a pretty big deal, but in this case, it didn’t really seem like it. Stallworth was charged in April 2010; for a grand total of 30 days. He served 24 days of that sentence, and was back on the field for the first preseason snap of the next NFL season.

Now let’s compare Stallworth’s case to two other, more well known cases; Michael Vick and Plaxico Burress.

In the case of Vick, he was convicted of killing dogs and was sentenced to two years in prison. Dogs. Not humans, but dogs. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying Vick should have been let off because he was only killing animals. I have refused to cheer for Michael Vick since then (and that’s only half because I’m a Giants fan), and I’ve made many a joke at his expense. I think the Vick sentence was just about right. But if Michael Vick had to go to jail for two years for killing dogs, shouldn’t Donte Stallworth get a similar sentence for killing a human being?

The Plaxico Burress case is even more perplexing. Burress was also sent to prison for two years; for shooting himself in the leg. Yes, I know the actual charge was gun possession and illegally carrying a weapon in public, but the point stands. Plaxico Burress carries a gun into a club, shoots himself, and gets sent to prison for two years. Donte Stallworth ends another person’s life, and goes to jail for less time than it takes to spell Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila. (Yes, I did just want an excuse to use his name)

Looking back, the Vick and Burress cases almost seemed like show trials for the NFL. These crimes were a big story in the general media at the time, and that’s why the punishments were so severe. The NFL wanted to show they weren’t going to let their criminals off so easily anymore, and Vick and Burress paid the price. Again, this is not to say that these two should have gotten off easier; I just think that there should be more consistency in the way criminals are dealt with.

Roger Goodell and the NFL seemed to want to clean up the NFL’s image. They wanted to show that they won’t tolerate bad behaviour from their players anymore, and they wanted to set a precedent. But as any sports fan knows, you don’t earn respect with small spurts of discipline; you earn it with consistency. If the NFL really wants to clean up its image and show that they care about the discipline of their players, they’re not going to accomplish it with a few show trials. After all, what’s more impressive, last year’s out of the blue Bengals division championship, or the decade of consistency shown by the Colts?

I’ll take the consistency, and so should the NFL.