Winston, Brady: Two punishments but not the same outcome
Jameis Winston was suspended for three games for sexually assaulting a female Uber driver.
Tom Brady got four games for asking somebody to let some air out of a bunch of footballs.
Two NFL quarterbacks, two different punishments. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is taking a lot of heat for letting Winston off easy. Or is he taking heat retroactively for being too tough on Brady? Probably both.
Here’s what the NFL concluded: “… that Winston violated the personal conduct policy by touching the driver in an inappropriate and sexual manner without her consent and that disciplinary action was necessary and appropriate.”
Winston has to submit to therapy for what might be a problem, seeing as how it’s the third time he’s had to deal with accusations of sexual misconduct. “A failure either to obtain the evaluation or to cooperate with treatment will result in further discipline,” the league said in a statement. “In addition, a future violation of the personal conduct policy will result in more substantial discipline, including a potential ban from the NFL.”
So, it’s a pretty big deal. But it shouldn’t be compared to Brady’s suspension. One is for off the field conduct and the other for cheating.
Sexual assault is more serious than anything that anybody can do on a football field, but that doesn’t mean that the suspensions have to reflect that. If you’re questioning the level of punishment for Winston, you should probably be questioning law enforcement in Scottsdale, Ariz., where the incident occurred.
Too often, sports leagues are expected to make athletes pay the price because law enforcement goes too easy on them.
Cheating and damaging the integrity of the games is the worst crime a player can commit against a league and Brady got what he deserved. His head coach got off way too easy for Spygate.
- Training camps open in a few weeks, the NFL season starts in a little more than two months and it’s already looking like attendance and TV ratings are going to be almost as closely watched as the games this coming season.
The league put a new National Anthem policy in place and there’s a good chance that it will make things worse. Now, players can choose between staying in the locker room until after the song is played or stand on the sideline.
Everybody will be well aware of the number of players who don’t come out and who they are. That will create the kind of discussion the NFL doesn’t need right now.
It keeps getting killed in the polls.
Football is a pretty big deal in Texas. The Cowboys, Longhorns, Aggies and Friday Night Lights, but the latest University of Texas-Texas Tribune poll says almost half of the registered voters in the state, 47 percent, have an unfavorable opinion of the league. Only 26 percent had a favorable opinion and 27 percent had no opinion.
That means about three-fourths of the registered voters in Texas either don’t like or don’t care about the NFL.
Again, we’re talking about Texas here.
In case you were wondering about the effects of (mostly black) players kneeling during the National Anthem, 55 percent of white registered voters don’t like Roger Goodell’s league. Only 20 percent of whites have a favorable opinion. Pretty sure that’s only two out of 10.
Approval among blacks is 49 percent but 24 percent unfavorable and 27 percent no opinion means more than half of them either don’t like the NFL or don’t care about it.
Only 29 percent of Hispanics in Texas like the NFL. Thirty-nine percent have an unfavorable opinion and 32 percent have no opinion. So 71 percent of Hispanics in Texas either don’t like or don’t care.
Makes you wonder which would bother the NFL more, the not liking or the not caring.
The conversation being as much about what happens during the National Anthem as what happens on the field on Opening Day won’t help.
- The national numbers aren’t any better. Economist-YouGov conducted a poll of 1,500 people and the same number, 47 percent, had an unfavorable view of the NFL. Only 35 percent said they had a favorable or somewhat favorable view. Only 15 percent call the NFL, “One of their top interests.”
- I watched most of a Canadian Football League doubleheader Friday night and didn’t see one touchback. I don’t know how they made it out alive.
- It’s still possible that Gregory Polanco will end up with better offensive numbers than Austin Meadows. It’s a long season
- What’s not to like about the Penguins signing free agent defenseman Jack Johnson? At $3 million, the price is right and he will be fifth or sixth defenseman.
- Tim Tebow made the Class AA all-star team. Scouts have been impressed with his improvement. Don’t underestimate what a tremendous accomplishment that is for someone who hadn’t played baseball since high school. There’s a good chance that the best baseball player you’ve ever known wasn’t good enough to make it to the Double-A level.
Tebow playing in the major leagues will, for some reason, make some people’s heads explode. Here’s hoping he makes it.