Unpopular Opinion: Consequences that follow our actions.

The NFL needs consistency regarding consequences for rules broken.

For one of my jobs – it’s actually more of a hobby – I officiate high school basketball. And I’d like to think I’m pretty good at it too. But throughout the two years that I have been officiating, I have found one principle that has come up again and again: Consistency.

In almost every game, I can hear a coach comment to me while I’m running down the court, “We just want you to be consistent.” And I agree with them. All they want is for a fair game to be called. How can I argue with that?

This principle of having consequences for our actions is something that I feel the NFL has not been consist on – especially in recent years.

Now I’m not an expert on all the policies that the NFL has in place regarding what players can and can’t do, so this is all based on reports and facts that are made public.

I figured the best way to get my point across is to look at two similar cases and compare them side-by-side, so here go:

Saints’ bounty scandal vs. Spygate

To give you a little background, the New Orleans Saints bounty scandal occurred when the NFL discovered that Sean Payton, among other coaches, were paying players to physically injure other players during games.

Spygate was committed by the New England Patriots when they taped signals of the New York Jets defensive coaches during a game in 2007.

The NFL perhaps gave out one of the harshest punishments it has ever given to an organization in its history. Sean Payton was suspended one year from coaching without pay, the GM was suspended for eight games and the former defensive coordinator, Gregg Williams, was out indefinitely.

The Saints also were fined $500,000 and gave up their 2012 and 2013 second-round draft picks.

As punishment for Spygate, the NFL fined head coach Bill Belichick $500,000 which is the largest amount ever fined to a coach. The Patriots organization was also fined $250,000 and forfeited their first-round draft pick.

Overall, I think this one was dealt with fairly. In my opinion, the bounty scandal was way worse than Spygate. And I think it was dealt with accordingly. Cheating by recording play calls is one thing, but paying players to intentionally harm other players, that’s on a whole other level.

Deshaun Watson vs. Calvin Ridley

This is the one that perfectly exemplifies the inconsistencies that you are going to find in the NFL.

Let me first say that this whole Deshaun Watson thing has gone on way too long. I used to have a lot of respect for the guy and how talented he is, but not anymore. I believe he should go to jail for the things he has been accused of.

For those who don’t know, Deshaun Watson currently has twenty-six charges filed against him by women who have accused him of sexual assault. Most, if not all, of these charges come from altercations during massage therapy appointments.

It also was reported that Watson book over 60 massage therapy appointments in the recent year. So, there could very well be more charges coming his way in the months ahead.

Oh, by the way, this began when he was on the Houston Texans, so when the offseason came around this year, nobody thought that anyone would sign him.

But what does he get for allegedly doing all of this? An outrageous contract from the none other than the Cleveland Browns.

That dude goes and gets a 5-year, $230 million contract. Fully guaranteed too! I mean, are you serious?

Ok, let’s go to the other story with Calvin Ridley.

When this last season ended, Calvin Ridley went on Twitter and announced that he was going to take a step back from football for mental health reasons. Respectable.

Anyway, some time goes by and then suddenly, the NFL reports that it discovers that Ridley was betting on NFL games during the 2021 season. That’s a wrong thing to do, but not nearly as bad as Watson’s case.

After Ridley even admitted on Twitter that he only bet a total of $1,500, the NFL still suspended him for a year. A YEAR!

My question that I have is how does one man have legal charges against him and still gets set up for the rest of his life, but another man doesn’t get to play football for a year because he put chump change on a game? Somebody please explain that to me.

The NFL just broke the news last week that they think Watson should be suspended indefinitely, if not the season, until they can resolve these charges. But even then, that was only after the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth charges were made public.

To wrap up

The NFL needs to do something. Everybody must be treated equally. And that doesn’t just mean for the positive things. That also includes consequences for our actions.

My purpose in comparing the two is not to say that they are going against each other. The point I am trying to make is that there seems to be a double standard when it comes to breaking the rules. And some of it, I think, comes from how talented and popular you are.

Take Deshaun Watson. He has led his team to the playoffs, he has been to the Pro Bowl, he’s a top 5 quarterback in the league. The guy has proven himself on the field, but that doesn’t mean that he gets to get off scratch free. There are dues to be paid; consequences to own up to.

I just hope the NFL comes to a conclusion, and the right one, fast. Not just the right one, but one that matches the level of offenses that he reportedly has committed. Otherwise, I fear that this might become a trend in the future: Players thinking they can do whatever they want and get away with just a slap on the back.

Sources:

Rank, Adam. “Biggest Football Punishments.” NFL.com, 15 Mar. 2012, https://www.nfl.com/photos/biggest-football-punishments-09000d5d827a273e#0394caf0-cfb9-41af-b2ee-065b4af95486.