Editorial: Domestic Violence, Drugs, and Assault Crimes Trump Political Stances In The NFL

Regardless of what side you are on concerning Colin Kaepernick, there is one certainty. His stance, right or wrong, is considered more threatening to the NFL’s image than criminal arrests and convictions.

Unless you’ve been hiding underneath a rock the last year, the decision from Colin Kaepernick to sit during the national anthem has irked many of people. From the fans, the media, and the NFL, one has to wonder why other players get a pass on crimes or arrests in some cases.

Is it because TMZ doesn’t have the video? Is the public aware of the various cases through the years that include domestic violence and other crimes. The information that I found yesterday was disturbing. In any case, I wanna make clear of one thing in particular. NFL players as a whole have a lower percentage rate of being arrested versus the general public. Furthermore, the purpose of this article is not to call out certain players or behaviors in any way.

Ultimately, it’s the reader’s decision to study the evidence and judge for themselves. However, something doesn’t add up. This site that was put together from Patrick Murphy from nflarrest.com has it broken down very clearly. The site lists the number of crimes that were committed over a 17 year period.

In addition, it lists the exact charges and the dates they were committed. Also, the site gives the outcome of every arrest and name including the charge. Not everyone that was arrested was convicted for various reasons. To give a snippet of some of the numbers, here is some cliff notes. Lets start with going back 17 years.

17 year period

212 DUI’s were handed out, 95 drug violations, and 93 arrests were made for domestic violence. Sticking to domestic violence, there was one arrest for domestic violence which was Eathan Westbrooks from the Los Angeles Rams just recently. Those charges were dropped. He is still an active player. In addition, Junior Gallette, who used to play for the Saints had an incident two years ago. A woman had her earring ripped out of her ear allegedly and had scratches on her face.

Charges were dropped. Although Gallette had some more run ins with the law later. He is still an active player though. Also, WR Dez Bryant turned himself in after he was accused of hitting his mother in 2012.  Obviously, Bryant is still active and a star for the Dallas Cowboys.

Furthermore, Donte Stallworth pleaded guilty to DUI manslaughter back in 2009. He killed a man while driving drunk and spent just 30 days in jail. He went on to play for three more teams including the Baltimore Ravens, Washington Redskins, The New England Patriots

And we all know about one of my favorite NFL players on the field Michael Vick with the dogfighting scandal. To be clear, I am not going to judge any of these men. These are just the facts supporting arrests in the NFL. There are so many more and countless names of players that will never show up on ESPN or TMZ. If players were allowed to play and go on with life to be a productive citizen then perhaps that is good for society. You be the judge.

The point being is that Colin Kaepernick’s views have essentially blackballed him from the NFL so it seems. Kaepernick’s stats speak for the player he is on the field. In a three year period, Kaepernick’s record was 25-14 as a starter. Breaking that down by a yearly record, that’s basically a 10-6 record. That would get his team in the playoffs almost every year. It’s obvious. The question is why and who? Is it the pressure that teams will face if they sign him. Is it the drop of NFL ratings that have come about last year. Because, there is no question that Kaepernick is better than most of the scrubs that have gotten huge contracts this past free agency period.

In my opinion, the NFL needs to be clear of what is bad conduct and what it really detrimental to the SHIELD. The NFL is a business. Make no mistake. Roger Goodell is responsible to the owners. In fact, like him or hate him, he’s just doing his job. The issue seems to be much bigger than the NFL. And the risk for teams may be too big. However, that doesn’t make it right. Nor does it make it wrong. The fact is, there is a really good quarterback that is not playing football for political reasons and beliefs. There is no question about that.