Four.
That’s the number of games New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady will be suspended from in the coming NFL season. This, of course, is due to Brady “violating the NFL policy on the integrity of the game” after he was found aware of illegal deflating of footballs in the Patriots' playoff victory over the Indianapolis Colts in January.
Coincidentally, that's the same number of games that Dallas defensive end Greg Hardy was suspended for by the NFL. His crime? In legal terms, Hardy was charged with assaulting a female and communicating threats. In more specific terms — as told by his accuser — Hardy put his hands around her neck, and threatened to kill her, as she held their 2-month-old child. He then threw her onto a pile of assault rifles in his apartment on the night of May 13 this year, according to CBS Sports.
You might think this is a bit ridiculous. A 6-foot-4-inch, 274-pound NFL player putting indescribable fear into a woman’s eyes will be serving the same punishment as a quarterback who knew of footballs being deflated.
Well, what if I told you that this wasn’t originally the case? What if I told you that Greg Hardy was sentenced by the NFL to a 10-game suspension on April 22, only to appeal and have it reduced to a four-game ban on July 10, according to USA Today.
That’s right. After further reviewing this particularly disgusting domestic violence case, the NFL decided to, shockingly, lessen Hardy’s punishment.
So Greg Hardy nearly beats his wife to death & gets a 4 game suspension yet Jerome Simpson gets 6 games for susbstance abuse? @nflcommish
— DIAMONDCERTIFIED™ (@taimani650) August 18, 2015
Of course, on the opposite end of this argument, Hardy has argued he was the one abused the night of May 13, stating that his accuser threatened to commit suicide and violently threw her body into his apartment walls and bathtub.
Hardy should have been suspended for the entirety of the 2015 NFL season. The NFL has put a serious emphasis on the violations of many things: drugs, alcohol, DUIs, cheating, etc.
Arizona Cardinals star linebacker Daryl Washington was suspended all of last year for smoking marijuana in the 2014 off season, and he is not the first to do that.
Cardinals right tackle Bobby Massie will also serve a multi-game suspension this year for receiving a DUI on Jan. 31, according to ESPN.
And, as touched on above, Brady will be out for a quarter of the season due to the deflation of 11 or 12 game balls in the Patriots' January playoff game against the Colts.
Hardy’s offense is a bit more extreme than smoking pot, deflating footballs and, in my opinion (by the slimmest margins), a DUI.
Yet, he will still be appearing in three-fourths of the Cowboys' games this year.
Greg Hardy almost killed his significant other and he gets a ten game suspension reduced to four games. That's the same as smoking pot?
— L⃒I⃒N⃒D⃒H⃒O⃒L⃒M⃒I⃒E⃒ (@BrandonLindholm) August 3, 2015
As of the start of the 2014 NFL season, there were 12 players in the NFL with domestic violence arrests, according to Business Insider.
Over the last 14 years, there have been 87 domestic violence arrests involving 80 different players. That’s just arrests, not counting the numerous allegations and accusations each year that are dropped against players, according to NBC News.
The league has never shown a serious stance against domestic violence unless it really had no other choice.
Ray Rice, former Baltimore Ravens running back, was released by the team and suspended indefinitely by the NFL on Sept. 8, 2014, after a video surfaced of him knocking his wife out in an elevator at the Revel Casino in Atlantic City in February 2014.
Rice had been previously suspended just two games for this incident with his wife, but upon the releasing of this video, the NFL suffered serious public backlash. The intense criticism condemned the league to ban Rice for the year. A court then overruled the move completely due to Rice completing a pretrial intervention, according to USA Today. Nonetheless, the NFL responding in such a swift and strong manner was likely for PR and not indicative of the NFL’s true feelings, or lack thereof, on the matter.
The fact that it took a leaked video and a public outcry for the NFL to finally act accordingly is alarming enough, however, it does not change the fact that Hardy will be missing just one month of the season as opposed to four or five.
The NFL does not take domestic violence as seriously as it should, not by a long shot. It’s a disgrace.
Related Links:
Domestic violence victims speak out to raise awareness
Deflategate a fitting end to tough season for NFL
NFL got second chance it didn't deserve with Rice
Reach the columnist at spencerhann1995@gmail.com or follow @spencer_hann on Twitter.
Editor’s note: The opinions presented in this column are the author’s and do not imply any endorsement from The State Press or its editors.
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