Airing of Grievances

Since this is the Festivus time of the year, I want to commence the Airing of Grievances with some NFL related news that has been bothering me for a long time. My main grievance is directed at NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. Have y'all heard the joke about the NFL Rookie who was arrested for sexual assault and was punished by not being able to start a game? Yeah, it isn't a joke, it really happened/is happening. Perrish Cox, formerly of OK State fame-and who was suspended for last season's game against the dogs, is the NFL rookie, and sexual assault is the alleged crime. The punishment handed down (by the Broncos, not Goodell) was a non-start in a game, not a no-play, a no-start! Mr. Cox was not only accused of this crime, he was also arrested and charged for the crime. If y'all are wondering why this bothers me, the answer is because it is another instance of Goodell's inconsistent enforcement of his own precedent. Ben Roethlisberger was suspended for 4 games (originally 6) for exercising bad judgment in conflict with the personal conduct code of the NFL. Big Ben was not charged with a crime, nor was he arrested for any crime. However, he did use poor judgment and probably deserved some form of suspension. BUT so do some of these other players who have not only been exercising poor judgment, but have been arrested for such decisions. The following is a list of some players who have likely broken the NFL personal conduct code in some way shape or form lately, and the punishments handed down for the violations. I have heard that DUIs and the like are not listed under the personal conduct code, but rather the substance abuse code-I am still listing some such cases because the players were actually arrested for committing crimes.

• Perrish Cox - arrested for alleged Felony Sexual Assault - no NFL imposed suspension
• DJ Williams - arrested for alleged DUI (second DUI arrest in 5 years) - no NFL imposed suspension
• Vince Young - cited for misdemeanor assault (caught on tape) - no NFL suspension, (probably because his play alone is worthy of benching)
• Shaun Rogers - possession of firearm at Airport - no NFL suspension (but fined-ohhhhh)
• Tony McDaniel - charged with domestic battery - suspended for 1 game
• Jermaine Phillips - arrested for felony domestic assault - suspended for 1 game (but reason not listed!?)
• And of Course the gunslinger himself Brett Favre - general bad judgment with cell phone - NFL currently tip toeing around the issue.
• Ben Roethlisberger - accused of sexual assault (not arrested or charged) - suspended for 4 games

This is just a nice little sample of some of the infractions committed by NFLers in the year 2010, and the subsequent suspension or lack thereof. This website has a pretty complete list of bad deeds over the past year. Hope y'all enjoyed the Tuesday morning Airing of Grievances.