Recently
in the news, the NFL has been under fire for how they handled the Ray Rice
domestic violence case. Of course we understand the National Football
League has to make an example out of someone; but why not use one of the many
players that were actually convicted of assault; or even one of the players currently
on trial. But is it the league’s decision, of course not. When a
player signs his contract and enters into the NFL, he legally agrees to the
“morality clause”. Section 11 of the standard NFL player contract states, “if Player has engaged in personal conduct reasonably judged by Club
to adversely affect or reflect on Club, then Club may terminate his
contract”.(Baaki) Ray Rice’s actions
placed the NFL and the Ravens in an awkward position. Before the tape was
released and made public, the league attempted to dumb down the situation
because he was not found guilty of a crime; when legally, Rice disregarded his
contract. Domestic violence, assault, drug use and any other type of
negative behavior is viewed as unacceptable by role models. Athletes are
considered role models. Of course Rice’s actions did not affect his
performance on the field, but if the NFL failed to act then they would have
been saying it is okay to abuse your spouse.
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