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The Disgraceful NFL

Did anyone see that vicious assault last week in the NFL? The one that should have resulted in an arrest and prosecution, but won’t even get the player banned from the NFL?

Myles Garrett - NFL
Cleveland Brown’s Myles Garrett Assaults Steeler’s Quarterback Mason Rudolph

No Longer a Fan of the NFL

First, let me be clear: I no longer watch the NFL, and I don’t miss it one bit. Raised as a Rams fan, I switched to the Packers when the Rams left Los Angeles. I’ve been to more than a dozen NFL games in Los Angeles and Anaheim, and I’ve even been to Lambeau Field to see my beloved Packers.

But once that moron Kaepernick began disrespecting our nation, our flag, and our men and women in uniform—military and police—my lifelong love affair with professional football began to wane. The next year, on opening day, when the spoiled children who are the faces of today’s NFL chose to not only take knees but to also pull their little “hands up, don’t shoot” routine, I was done. Divorced. No más.

Unacceptable Conduct in the NFL

The players are employees of the NFL. Fans come to watch them play, not to hear (or see) their political opinions.

As a deputy sheriff, I was not allowed to express my political opinions at work or while representing my department, and that was an appropriate rule. Too bad it wasn’t equally enforced.

A Deadly Weapon

Back to the deadly assault that most of us have now seen on the internet.

The player is a thug named Myles Garrett who is a defensive end for the Cleveland Browns. (They still have a team?) He also happens to be one of the players who took a knee as a way of protesting “police brutality.” At any rate, during the game last week against the Pittsburgh Steelers, he ripped the helmet off quarterback Mason Rudolph’s head and used it as a weapon against him.

Garrett swung the helmet with all his might and struck the intended target: Rudolph’s head. It was a blow that could have resulted in severe head trauma. In some cases, a blow like that could lead to death. That makes the helmet a deadly weapon as defined in most state statutes.

Where is the Justice?

Yet our criminal justice system stays out of the fray, allowing this criminal conduct to go unchecked, so long as it involves athletes.

If a police officer witnessed such an event on any street in America, he/she would be compelled by law to make a felony arrest of the aggressor. The local prosecutor would likely file felony charges on the defendant—especially if a video of the event was available—regardless of whether or not the victim wanted to press charges.

Conversely, imagine what would happen to a police officer if, during civil unrest, he removed his riot helmet and El Kabonged a protester on the head. Prosecutors and politicians would trample over each other trying to get in front of cameras to announce that charges would be sought against said officer. The officer would be crucified by the media. There would be protests, and thugs like Garrett would take a knee to demonstrate his opposition to police violence.

The Law

There are no exceptions in any state’s penal code or statutes (at least of which I am aware) that allow for criminal conduct to be permissible in the form of sports or entertainment.

So why is such conduct allowed to go unpunished?

Money? Entertainment? Or, is it something far more cynical than that? Is society hesitant to call out that behavior because of who it is committing it? Sort of like Jussie Smollett not being charged for the crimes he committed by filing a false report of a hate crime and whipping the left into a frenzy.

NFL Rulebook

Rule 12, Section 2, Article 17 of the NFL rulebook, entitled “USE OF HELMET AS A WEAPON” states: “A player may not use a helmet that is no longer worn by anyone as a weapon to strike, swing at, or throw at an opponent.”

The penalty for any such violation is a loss of fifteen yards and automatic disqualification.

Currently, the thug-in-question is suspended. But he won’t lose his job with the NFL, and he certainly will not face criminal charges. He will continue to make millions, though he should be in prison with his ilk.

Felonious Assault – Ohio Statute

In Ohio, a person commits felonious assault when he or she knowingly causes serious harm or when he or she “knowingly causes or attempts to cause physical harm to another or another unborn child by means of a deadly weapon or a dangerous ordnance” (ORC 2903.11). A deadly weapon, as described in this statute, is “any instrument, device, or thing capable of inflicting death and that is either: (i) designed or adapted for use as a weapon; or (ii) possessed or used as a weapon.”

Thus, anything such as a ballpoint pen, a motor vehicle, or a firearm can be considered a deadly weapon under Ohio law. Even a helmet.

So clearly, Garrett committed a felony in Cleveland, Ohio, as documented on video and witnessed by thousands. Where are the prosecutors?

No Real Loss for Me

I understand that many of my friends still support the NFL. Personally, I cannot and will not. I view it as a bad relationship; I miss her in some ways but know that I’m better off without her.

The good news is, the NFR starts tomorrow. Professional hockey is going strong, and spring training (MLB) is around the corner. You won’t see any of the athletes in these sports taking a knee during the National Anthem anytime soon, if ever.

* * *

Thank you for reading my blog. I hope you will share it with your family and friends.

 

 

A GOOD BUNCH OF MEN
DOOR TO A DARK ROOM
ECHO KILLERS

 

 

 

 

THE COLOR DEAD

 

 

 

 


Death after dishonor

 

 

15 thoughts on “The Disgraceful NFL

  1. The failure to prosecute doesn’t surprise me. It’s probably a case of a reluctant victim. The quarterback was probably under a lot of pressure not to press charges. The unsportsmanlike behavior was obvious, but let’s face it, the NFL is not interested in doing the right thing.

  2. F#&% the NFL (oops, did I say that)? Oh well. Anyone who still watches the NFL is really doing the wrong thing if we take the time to unpack the moral aspects involved. I put it right up there with supporting a Jane Fonda movie or work out disk, etc.
    The problem with the NFL presented itself long before the substandard QB took a knee in protest of American law enforcement practices. Remember when the St. Louis Rams players all came out of the locker room with their hands held in the air? And the lack of good sportsmanship conduct was blatantly apparent a long, long, time ago.

  3. I totally agree with you, brother. I haven’t watched a football game since that jerk started his disrespectful “protest.” He sat on his ass until one of the other knuckleheads came up with the kneeling idea. Regardless, they’re all a bunch of idiots. Kaepernick was paid something like 65 million by the gutless NFL to go away, but he’s still hanging around like a bad smell. Remember this is the same NFL that refused to allow the Dallas team to wear patches on their uniforms after those five police officers were slain. His stupid comments about the Betsy Ross version of our flag being racist shows how dumb he is. Someone should tell him Betsy was an abolitionist against slavery. And Nike running an ad making Kaepernick a hero who in their words “gave up everything” for his principles. If they want to talk about a real hero, they should have used Pat Tillman, who gave up his football career to join the army, and was subsequently KIA. I refuse to support the NFL or Nike in any way.

    1. I really don’t see why the assault is not being prosecuted. I agree with your analysis of the relevant criminal code, and although consenting to play football and receive the hits inherent to the game, the victim certainly never consented to having his helmet ripped off and used as a weapon against him!

  4. The NFL has lost it’s way and is in dyer need of a new commissioner who is willing to do his/her job. Conduct like kneeling during the National Anthem brought consequences but not from the NFL but from owners with some courage to stand up and be counted.
    I truly hope that people like Colin Kaepernick never be afforded the privilege to play again. The 49rs sure don’t miss him.
    The violence is present in more than just the NFL it has been an issue in College Football also. The liberals would say that it’s the sport that is violent. The truth is that the pros and the college teams recruit from violent neighborhoods and these kids bring the violence with them.
    Apparently Pop Warner, and high school coaches need to be surrogate fathers and correct this violent behavior in it’s early stages and root those players from the game if they are unable or unwilling to change. What ever happened to rewarding good sportsmanship.

  5. A bad relationship—the perfect analogy.
    August of 2016, a player began protesting during the National Anthem. The NFL could have put a stop to it immediately. The owners and Roger Goodell CHOSE to let a player who had become a political activist keep throwing political tantrums in the workplace. They caved to it because it was a “touchy” subject. They CHOSE to be the PC “Cool Kids”. They chose political correctness over good business. Oops. All of a sudden, within a matter of weeks, they had an epidemic on their hands. Entire teams were taking a knee. (Gee, who could’ve seen that coming). Lifelong fans like us quit watching. Their business began suffering. The 2016-17 season ended.
    The NFL had the entire 2017 off-season to throw lifelong fans like you and me a bone, after basically telling us to go to hell for the entire 2016-17 season. We missed football. They could’ve instituted a rule then. It woul’ve been very easy. They had an out. All they had to do was follow the NBA’s lead and institute the same EXACT rule as the NBA. . Nope. Once again, they told us to go to hell…..And the 2017 season began with players throwing their political tantrums in the workplace.
    Guys like us had enough. We were done.
    Oh, what’s that you say? They instituted a rule in 2018? They are doing all kinds of patriotic pre-game stuff to woo fans like you and me back?
    Sorry. Too late. We’ve moved on. THEY CHOSE to make us live without them for a year and a half………and something happened they didn’t expect. We got over them….and we learned we are better off without them.
    They gambled that because of our long term love affair, they had us henpecked. They thought we’d come back to them.
    WRONG !!!

  6. As you say, appalling behavior on the part of Garrett, and the NFL. However, it seems (to me) that Kitchens should be given some consideration of responsibility–is it illohical to regard him as a head, like a fathe who has an unruly son? And the GM Dorsey’s and owner Haslam’s responsibilities should not be minimized. As noted, Garrett is on suspension. To shift that to a more appropriate environment–given the egregious mayhem–the suspension is akin to putting an ankle monitor on an M-13 member convicted of murder.

    There is nothing appropriate about the “resolution” of that savagery, and the lack of consequence to all of the responsibile parties is scandalous. jus’ sayin’

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