Playing is a Privilege

Okay everyone, I think it's time that I throw my hat into this discussion, and I have a lot to say. 

By now, you'd have to be living under a rock to not have heard that domestic violence is apparently what's "in" in the NFL. I say that with every last kind of disgust, seeing that I love watching football.Yet, when all that's on the news is Ray Rice, Greg Hardy, and recently Adrian Peterson, the sport I love to watch starts to become secondary. The league America loves to watch starts to, or at the very least should be, becoming secondary. Why? 

Because we're talking about three of the leagues most talented players doing things NO ONE should ever do: physically harm a woman, and physically harm a child.

Oh, but it doesn't stop in just the NFL, folks. Recently in the NBA, Charlotte Hornets forward Jeff Taylor was suspended 24 games. For what? You guessed it: domestic violence. 

So allow me to say something everyone should be on board with: I don't care if you are a rookie trying to make it in the league, a superstar, or just an everyday Joe Schmoe walking the street. You DO NOT inflict pain on your loved ones.

Domestic violence is a touchy subject. If you say one thing that can even be remotely misconstrued, you're going down a slippery slope. With that said, remind me why people would go so far out on a limb and say things like, "Well, the women provoked it," or "It's self defense," or even "Well, if she was hitting him, she kind of deserved it." 

Really? A woman deserves to get punched senseless? A woman deserves to get physically dragged out of an elevator by hair?!? A woman deserves to have visible scars and bruises, and have to be scared senseless to come forward?!?! 

And please, don't even get me started about children. I get that sometimes it's referred to as an "old-school method." I get it. Really, I do. But at some point when it comes to that said old-school discipline, enough is enough.

What any athlete needs to understand, those who we know have committed domestic violence incidents and those whom we don't know, is that playing professional ball is a privilege. I repeat: playing professional sports is an absolute privilege. How many athletes get to grow up and fulfill their dreams in the NBA, NFL, MLB, MLS, and so on? Better yet, how many of those said athletes become superstars? Faces of their respective franchises? Faces of their respective leagues?

With anything in life that is a privilege, it can be taken away much easier as it can be earned (and I say earned because you don't just get privileges. You work for them, and you earn them). And call me cynical, call me uneducated, call me heartless for what I'm about to say. But if you go as far as to physically harm your loved ones, or ANYONE for that matter, you need to earn back that privilege all over again. Why? The answer is simple:

More attention needs to be focused on improving your life and the lives of others affected your actions.

It's good to see that professional sports leagues are starting to realize this, showing so by dishing out lengthy suspensions and harsher penalties. But work still needs to be done. Athletes need to do some soul-searching and ask, "Is it really worth derailing my life and other lives to just hit someone?" We as fans need to do the same, but also need to put our fan allegiances to side and stand up to this social issue. Enough is enough.

We need to rid sports of this issue, and then also try to rid it from our culture. No more domestic violence. No more hearing about this damn near every day.

Please, just no more. 

(Photo above from: http://www.forbes.com/sites/tommytomlinson/2014/09/15/adrian-peterson-the-nfl-and-whippings/)