WOODLAND HILLS, CA — The NFL and NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell, were criticized this week by some media professionals after Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Calvin Ridley was suspended for seventeen games on Monday for gambling on NFL games during the 2021 season. Multiplatform media professionals throughout the United States pointed out that NFL suspensions in the past for more serious offenses, like violence against women and children, have been significantly less harsh.
Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Calvin Ridley. (Photo Credit: USA TODAY)
One of the voices that spoke about this was ESPN’s Molly Qerim during the show First Take. On International Women’s Day, the day after the news of the suspension broke, Qerim read the league’s policy on suspending players involved in domestic violence, sexual assault, or child abuse. For a first offense, the baseline suspension without pay is six games.
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The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s, Joe Starkey gave his opinion about the suspension versus the initial suspension of running back Ray Rice who played for the Baltimore Ravens.
“I’m not saying Ridley shouldn’t be punished. The rules are clear. NFL players are prohibited from betting on NFL games. But a full-year suspension, when you compare it to, say, the initial two-game suspension of Ray Rice for punching his fiancee in an Atlantic City casino elevator, is pathetic,” said Starkey.
The NFL has a history of handing out suspensions that are more lenient than what Ridley just received for situations that involve violence against women or children.
The reminder of the culture inside the NFL comes at a time when the NFL has already taken steps to address these issues. After the Ray Rice incident in 2014, the NFL developed a training program for players, coaches, and staff of all 32 teams on domestic violence and sexual abuse. However, the experts that the league consulted with, Kim Gandy a former president of the National Network to End Domestic Violence, and Esta Soler the founder of Futures Without Violence, felt like the program fell short of what a program should look like to train people about these serious topics.
Despite the NFL’s efforts to establish training and change its public image in regard to how it treats women and how seriously it takes abuse against women, many former staff members feel as though not much has improved.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. (Photo Credit: Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
Ridley’s suspension, which some view as being too harsh, brought to light these conversations about the NFL’s culture again.
“There is nothing more fundamental to the NFL's success -- and to the reputation of everyone associated with our league -- than upholding the integrity of the game,” Goodell wrote in a letter to Ridley notifying him of his suspension.
Qerim commented on Goodell’s use of the phrase “upholding the integrity of the game.”
“I wish there was the same intensity and energy for protecting women and children that there is for the integrity of the game,” Qerim said.
AUDIO
Jenilee reports on the criticism the NFL is facing
The public debate continues about the severity or lack of severity of NFL suspensions and the messages that they send about what issues the NFL values.
By: Jenilee Borek
Contributions: The New York Times, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Washington Times, ESPN, NewsOne, First Take Instagram, TMZ
Photo Credit: USA TODAY, Sean M. Haffey, Getty Images
Audio: Jenilee Borek, First Take Instagram
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