The NFL is STILL a Joke

Back in October, I wrote a piece on how I believe the NFL has turned into a damn joke. Here we are in September of 2016 and, well, to the surprise of absolutely no one, the NFL is still a damn joke. Why? Allow me to explain:

9/11

We all know what 9/11 is, so I won’t go into that. What I will go into is the reports of fines for any player that wears tribute cleats. However, New York Giants wide receivers Victor Cruz and Odell Beckham Jr wore tribute cleats and the NFL promoted it. What?! Listen, I’m not saying it is wrong for the Giants to wear those cleats. My problem is the NFL was going to fine ANYONE ELSE that did it. “Oh, well 9/11 happened in New York, Tristin. Of course they’ll let the Giants wear the cleats and no one else.” 9/11 also took place in Philadelphia and Washington DC, and had a worldwide impact. Yet only the Giants were able to do this without fine? 

Priorities:

This is a huge topic in American Society, which is really f*cked up by the way (my Boss hates f*cking cursing so I f*cking censor myself), so I don’t need to explain that. Take a look at some punishments dished out for atrocities committed since I wrote the first article:

• Uniform Policy Violation: fine
• DeflateGate: fine, four game suspension, loss of draft picks, destruction of Tom Brady’s cell phone (RIP)
• Artificial Crowd Noise: fine, loss of draft pick
• Offseason Workout Violations: fine, loss of draft pick

Do you know what hasn’t incurred any for of punishment or repercussion? Why, it’d be protesting the National Anthem. I’m not saying that I’m offended by these protests because I’m not, I have a basic understanding of what the First Amendment states, but just because I’m not offended it doesn’t mean that someone else is. People are saying that they are going to stop watching if these protests continue, and while I find it to be a rather b*tch move, the NFL can’t take it with a grain of salt like I can. They have ratings to worry about, I don’t, and if they don’t do something, it could be problematic. It is a double edged sword, though. The NFL could just let this go, take the backlash from the offended fans and lose ratings. It could also come down on these players, take the backlash from players, coaches, owners, and non-offended fans. It’s really up to them.

Pretty much, what I’m getting at is the NFL is telling you, the fan, that taking a little it of air out of a football is more of an egregious crime than what the majority of Americans believe is disrespecting the flag.

Miscellaneous:

This Miscellaneous section is going to be a few things combined into one section because f*ck it, I don’t get paid enough to spread it out (that’s a joke, boss, please don’t fire me). Anyway, let me start with the concussion controversy. That’s more of a long-standing issue in the NFL, but f*ck it, I’m covering it anyway. 

So, if you either don’t know, which I hope you would, it’s pretty much the NFL refusing to acknowledge the link between football and concussions. This one I could really get into, but I think I only need to bring up two players: Case Keenum and Cam Newton. Both showed concussion symptoms during games, yet neither of them were removed. This on top of the NFL withdrawing funding towards concussion research and it’s just a joke. 

Strangely, we go from an actual injury to rules designed to protect players from injuries. I’m talking about player safety rules. These are some of the most ridiculous rules I can think of. Here is an article from 2010 about player safety rules. In comparison, here’s one from 2016 where it highlights changes and all that not-so-good stuff. First of all, the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty is A) extremely dumbfounding and B) has nothing to do with with player safety half the time. You’re saying that a little pushing and shoving after a play in a sport where you’re supposed to wrestle dudes to the ground is unsportsmanlike? What do you expect players to do when emotions run high?

Sometimes, pushing and shoving isn’t even what does it in. If one player calls the other an asshole, that can get you flagged, depending on how the ref is feeling that night. It’s such a mindf*ck.

Lastly, I come to the NFL’s extreme disdain for celebration. Antonio Brown twerks in the end zone and gets fined for it. It wasn’t that much of a “I’m gonna show you up” type thing. It was more of a flat out unnerving scene. Children cried, parents screamed, I didn’t do anything because I was too busy cooking, OBJ looked on in astonishment. Absolutely horrific. There’s an actual rule that states that you’re not allowed to dunk the ball in the uprights. I just don’t get it.

I didn’t even mention the fact that the NFL tried to cover up the Ray Rice situation a few years ago. Well, I didn’t until now. The NFL has the least amount of integrity out of the four major North American sports leagues and it’s sickening. At least it gives me something to vent about. 

Photo Credit: Sporting News