Why the NFL is the worst league in professional sports

Don't get me wrong, I love football. I watch every game, especially every Pats game, but the actual league is an absolute disaster. We're talking about the league that suspended Ray Rice only 2 games after knocking his girlfriend out in an elevator. I'll spare you the details on some of these other ones, but there are cases for multiple other players. The league is more concerned with the air in teams footballs, and making sure their players don't smoke weed. Josh Gordon is a great example of this. I won't get into his time at Baylor (I'm bashing the NFL, not the NCAA. Thats coming) but kicking him off the team for a misdemeanor drug charge seems like it was the least of that programs worries.Gordon was suspended from the NFL multiple times under their "substance abuse policy", for smoking weed and for drinking alcohol. He did get a DUI so I can see where a suspension would come down from that, but he was suspended for an entire year. One whole year, when Ray Rice got 2 games for throwing a haymaker at his defenseless girlfriend.

Another reason the NFL has been such a terrible governing body for the game of football is their denial of concussions. For years, they stated that there was no evidence that linked concussions to football. Anybody with two eyes and half a brain could figure out two, grown men running into each other at full speed is going to bounce your brain around. Still Roger got up behind that podium and denied, denied, denied. Now, they have finally admitted that football CAN cause concussions and CTE. Emphasis on "can" because they still refuse to admit that it is the reason former players are killing themselves. (i.e. Junior Seau, Frank Gifford, Aaron Hernandez, and so many more).

This league is more concerned with appeasing their fans by making it impossible for their players to protest than they are with their own players safety. The NFL should consider taking some notes from the NBA. I'm not going to sit here and tell you the NBA is the prefect governing body, we know its not, but they certainly are more supportive to their players. Instead of forcing players who are going to protest to stay in the locker room, the NBA helps open avenues for their players to speak on social issues. The ESPYs in 2016 are a perfect example. LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Carmelo Anthony, and Chris Paul took to the stage to discuss racial tension in the United States. While this was an ESPN event, and not an NBA event, the commissioner of the NBA, Adam Silver, also got on stage to discuss racism. He cited Bill Russell who was one of the forefathers of African-American basketball players. Not only does the NBA encourage their players to speak on social justice, they also don't pretend like mental health is nonexistent. Players like Steph Curry use their popularity to help raise awareness while other players, namely Kevin Love, share their own stories of anxiety and depression. The NBA has their own website dedicated to awareness.

Maybe, one day, the NFL will figure it out. It is going to take some serious work and some leadership changes for them to catch up to the rest of the professional sports world. For now, we can only hope they take the first step, firing Roger Goodell.