The NFL is sometimes supposed to act as a watchdog entity for its players and dole out discipline when the situation deems such a thing necessary.
After multiple disciplinary faux pas, one must seriously consider if now the watcher needs a babysitter.
In two separate incidents this past week, the NFL’s jurisdiction was brought into question when Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott and former New York Giants kicker Josh Brown were both handed a six-game suspension.
Elliott was originally suspended for six games by the NFL for violating the NFL’s conduct policy and allegedly inflicting physical harm to an ex-girlfriend in June 2016. According to a Washington Post report, Elliott was granted a restraining order from the suspension by U.S. District Judge Amos Mazzant III in Texas, effectively negating the suspension until further legal action finds Elliott definitively guilty or innocent.
Brown also received a six-game suspension as an addendum to the one game suspension he served last season for physically abusing his wife at the time. Per a New York Times report, Brown was arrested for the crime in May of 2015, and despite knowledge of an ongoing investigation the Giants signed Brown to a two-year contract in April of 2016. Once evidence began to mount against Brown in his own case (including multiple admissions of guilt), the NFL opted to administer a slap on the wrist and suspend Brown for one game.
Upon reevaluating the circumstances of Brown’s transgression, the NFL decided to add a further six-game suspension to Brown’s punishment, who was cut by the Giants after playing in only five games.
In both of these cases, the NFL appears fickle in their discipline and unconvinced in their own decisions. There is evidence both for and against Elliott’s innocence, but the only real truth revealed in the subsequent investigation is that the NFL is downright inept when it comes to investigations.
Even prior to the blunders committed this week, the NFL has cemented a reputation as an organization unable to properly discipline those who break its rules. Ray Rice undisputedly battered his wife on camera to the brink of unconsciousness and the NFL dragged its feet through a lackluster investigation that initially produced only a two-game suspension.
The Deflategate saga dragged out for upwards of a year before Tom Brady served a four-game suspension that stood on indefensibly shaky ground. There are quite simply too many incidents in which the NFL conducted more of a witch hunt than an investigation that led to a ruling that brought about more confusion than was present before the investigation started.
This has to change if the league is to maintain its integrity.
To clarify, Elliott’s case of possible battery deserves to be investigated. Josh Brown’s actions definitely deserve punishment, and the NFL was right to pursue investigations into the players. However, if the NFL is going to be responsible for handing out its own discipline and interpreting its own rules, there must be some semblance of accountability and effective action. Suspensions should be properly doled out the first time, and the players have no reason to believe that their employer is capable of accomplishing such a task.
The NFL’s inability to investigate its players properly and punish them accordingly indicates a dire need for a third party that can take care of this issue. The players deserve fair investigation and a consistent system of punishment.
Understanding that the NFL is a profit-crazed enterprise, additional expenses funding third-party investigations will be an incredibly difficult sell to the owners. But, if those owners want to maintain a league that does not actively destroy its own credibility, the power to investigate and discipline players must be handled out of house.
Jonah Baker can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @jonahpbaker