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Editor's Notes

1. The NFL is by far America’s most popular sports league. It has the ability to unite Americans unlike anything else, as evidenced by the fact that over 100 million Americans watch the Super Bowl every year. In our increasingly fragmented society it is an enduring remnant of mass culture.
2. But should we all invest so much of our time and money on a league that doesn’t reflect our values? Recently the NFL has come under fire for a pathetic response to a domestic violence incident by a star player and for downplaying its player concussion endemic for years.
3. Let’s start with the domestic violence. NFL commissioner Roger Godell suspended popular Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice for just 2 games after being arrested for punching his girlfriend in the face in a casino elevator. In comparison, the typical length of suspension for failing a marijuana test is 4 games.
4. After the wrenching video tape of the incident emerged, Goodell then illegally changed the suspension to indefinite. Goodell claimed he never saw the tape but a source said he had sent it to the league office months before.
5. The world was outraged at Goodell. He was seen as not caring about the domestic violence, only the public opinion. Then when TMZ got the tape of the incident before the NFL it became clear he either acted negligently or was involved in a cover-up.
6. Goodell gave a press conference acknowledging that he got it wrong and wouldn’t repeat his mistakes. Yet the whole thing seemed to just be a reaction to public outcry because Rice had told him exactly what had happened long before the tape came out.
7. The league acted by launching a TV campaign featuring players and celebrities saying “No More” to domestic violence. The league also implemented a minimum 6-game suspension for domestic violence.
8. 21 percent of men and 23 percent of women polled after the Ray Rice debacle said they viewed the league less favorably. Yet the league’s TV rating held strong, even increasing by 2 percent among women.
9. The incident made the public question whether NFL players, who were raised to be violent monsters on the field, were prone to be violent off it. While it hurt public perception of the league, it has had minimal effect on people’s consumption of it.
10. In contrast the concussion crisis has greater potential to damage the league long-term. Numerous former players have been diagnosed with CTE, a condition of brain damage caused by constant head collisions.
11. For years the NFL has fought its former players who have accused the league of long-term brain damage. The league for years glorified violent head collisions and has systematically denied claims
12. Junior Seau was an all-time great linebacker. After he committed suicide at the age of 43 his family donated his brain to researchers who concluded Seau suffered from CTE, with severe depression as a symptom.
13. In 2013 Mark Fainaru-Wada and Steve Fainairu released a book and accompanying PBS Frontline documentary both called League of Denial exposing the NFL’s concussion epidemic and the debilitated state of many of its former stars along with the legue’s continued assertions that the evidence was inconclusive.
14. 4,500 former players filed a lawsuit alleging the league of concealing the dangers of concussions and rushing injured players back onto the field while glorifying and profiting from the kind of bone-jarring hits that make for spectacular highlight-reel footage.
15. The NFL finally accepted wrongdoing and reached a $765 million settlement over 65 years with its retired players in July 2014. Some players did not want to settle and believe the settlement undersells the amount of relief that will be required by all the players.
16. In the past 5 years the NFL has started making rules designed to prevent head-on collisions. For example in 2009 they made it illegal to hit a defenseless receiver in the head or neck. These rule changes have limited head collisions but they are impossible to fully eliminate.
17. Economist Roger Noll says the concussions are something the NFL is worried about but it’s unlikely to topple them. The League of Denial guys say that if 10% of parents don’t let their kids play football because of concussions, the effect a generation from now on the NFL will be massive.
18. We spend hundreds of millions of tax dollars aiding the NFL’s billionaires to build new stadiums. Plus the league earns billions in tax dollars. Yet the league seems to be completely absent of moral integrity.
19. The Ray Rice elevator incident was a stain on the league’s reputation and raised questions about how seriously it views domestic violence. But even more troubling is the league’s damaging effects on its players brains and its disregard for their post-career wellbeing.
20. We as consumers must demand more out of our most popular sports league. Unless they show a genuine commitment to people and not just profits, it’s time to just move on as a society from the NFL.