Life's Not Fair

Life's Not Fair

The NFL has taken some hits to its public image over in recent years. From criminal acts taken by the players and coaches, to the leagues complete disregard for the player’s safety. Few would contest that the NFL loves to have big hits in games because that sells tickets, But coupled with those big hits, are also dirty hits. These collisions cause brain damage and we just now seeing the effects of that on NFL veterans. The NFL has since tried to fix this dirty image. Not just for the future health of the players, but to make its image more family oriented to compete for ratings from rivals the MLB or NBA. The NFL has since made it mandatory fines for any helmet to helmet collisions, fines for unnecessary roughness, and for players to partake in a certain amount of community service. It has also upped the fines on players showing intent to harm opposing players on the field and made bigger penalty on the field, I.E. roughing the passer, chop blocks Etc... These seem to all be steps in maintaining a good image of the NFL as a whole, but one can see a bit of smoke and mirrors in this case. Everyone I've ever known watches football because it’s a contact sport."Contact" being the key word, basically hard hitting drag out helmet to helmet hitting. The NFL has since started fining these hits, but anyone who knows the appeal of the NFL knows these hits bring crowd. All the fines associated with these hit are just smoke and mirrors for the NFL's image whilst it sells the highlights of bone breaking hits to networks and on DVD Specials. The players are very aware of this injustice, especially on the defensive side of the ball. It’s their job to deliver hits that disorient the offense for the next play and make the ball carrier pay for every yard he gets. They are also familiar with this policy, because they are the ones feeling it in their pocketbooks with fines. Sure it’s a drop in the bucket for most of the players considering that the average wage in the NFL is 1.4 Million a year. One can help feel for these players, because their careers are so short before their bodies break down and the fines are symbolic. The fines are smoke and mirrors so the NFL can keep up its facade of being for the players. The NFL is a corporation and with that, its sole purpose is to maintain profits. Ticket sale and ratings are what the NFL is, and unfortunately the players are the work horses of this machine.