NFL Rules of Conduct: Upholding the Sport's Image & Respect - Essay Sample

Introduction

The National Football League Policies are formulated to ensure that the conduct of players is in a manner that upholds the sport's image as well as respecting games. In some instances, the behavior of a player may go against the expectation of the league. For example, in the field, the conduct of a player is controlled by codes and rules of play enacted by the National Football League (NFL) and the league itself that outlines the accepted behaviors and the penalties for each misconduct. It is, therefore, the role of enforcement officers with the national football league management to ensure that players obey the codes and display accepted behaviors in each of the 332 preseasons, playoff, and in regular seasons. By so doing, the national football league compliance officers enforce the expectations of NFL to players, business associates, and other NFL officials likewise to the young fans of the game and their guardians and parents. The jurisdiction of the compliance department covers the conduct of players on the field, such as inhabiting another player's safety, unsportsmanlike behavior, fighting, and other actions that can be harmful to the league (De Bosscher, Shibli, Westerbeek & Van Bottenburg, 2015). Hence, this paper will seek to explore the application of the national football league policies to concussions and domestic violence. The paper will also evaluate the eligibility of NFL's systems to Major League Baseball (MLB), National Basketball Association (NBA), and the National Hockey League (NHL).

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I would like to, first of all, introduce my audience to the precepts of MLB, NBA, and NHL so that you may get to know what these abbreviations entail. MLB is a professional organization of baseball and specifically the oldest of the biggest sports league in Canada and the United States while NBA a professional basketball league for men in North America consisting of 30 teams. Similarly, NHL is an ice hockey league from North America that initially started with 31 teams (Pion et al., 2015). However, I will later discuss in the paper, the eligibility of the national football league policies to these leagues.

Most of the national football league policies are generated from the corporate bargaining process between the NFL players and the national football league association itself. Before the beginning of a season, each player gets circular outlining significant expectations, the impending fines, and the process of appeal in case of any dissatisfaction with the policy verdict. Moreover, the code covers the league officials and players as well as the fairness and integrity of the game. The NLF speaks with payers and the teams all the years to enhance proper understanding of the rules, the consequences of going against the rules, and how to seek an appeal in areas where they might feel infringed. Here, continuous enforcement and collaborate responsibility is ensured just as quoted by Akil Coad (NFL compliance manager), 'Above all else, the NFL's role is to provide equity across our rules and competitive balance in the game.' Fines are considered a last resort for the good of the game.

The National Football League's Policies on Concussion

To enhance their commitment to the protection of safety and health of the National Football League players. Both national football league and national football league association came up with a collective agreement to officiate the game day of the game for concussion protocol and hold culpable the clubs that go against it. With this new policy, both NFLPA and NFL followed a credible and fair process strictly to evaluate incidents and identify appropriate discipline such as confiscation of draft picks and club fines, among others (Ueblacker et al., 2015). The two parties, together with the committees of medical advisory, officiated this day the concussion protocol to handle the management and diagnosis of concussions. They continuously monitored the concussion protocol to ensure proper care for players that show their most updated medical consensus. The national football league's new policy highlights a disciplinary action for any club in a situation where any of its medical staff adheres not to the concussion protocol. In fact, according to NFL policy, each of the parties elects a representative to oversee the impact of concussion protocol and to evaluate the possible violations. However, the investigation does not make medical conclusions but only determines the pursuance of concussion protocol from where the NFLPA and NFL review the results to identify whether the violation happened, and to recommend the necessary penalties for the offense committed. In a situation where the parties fail to reach an agreement then, the matter is forwarded to an arbitrator who, after carrying out a thorough investigation, issues the report to the executive director of NLFAP, the commissioner, and to the parties involved (Zayni et al., 2015).

From the joint agreement by the NFLAP and NFL, the commissioner maintains an absolute direction in deciding over penalties for breaching the concussion protocol. Here, the possible disciplinary actions include; the medical team or club employees involved in the first violation to turn up for remedial education. Or pay a maximum of $150,000 fine against the club, a minimum of $100,000 fine against the club for subsequent or second disobedience to the concussion protocol, and in a situation where the parties come to terms that the indiscipline entails aggravating circumstances then, the club shall be subjected to a fine, not less than $50,000. The commissioner shall then identify an appropriate penalty for violations of revolving aggravating circumstances(Reiche, 2015). In a situation whereby the commissioner determines the failures of the medical team to follow the concussion protocol. Perhaps as a result of competitive considerations then, the commissioner has the legal obligation to ask the club to surrender the draft pick or picks and recommend additional fines heavier than the amounts earlier set above.

The National Football League's Policies on Domestic Violence

Domestic violence between players primarily occurs off the field often influenced by collegiate or professional players, and the most rampant victims of this domestic violence are women (Oja et al., 2015). Most researches have demonstrated that domestic violence regularly occurs after sporting events; the relationship between violence and sports fans is not a matter to debate on even though research shows that domestic violence is more of public riots. A 2011 study from the United States evaluating 900 National Football League games in 11 years, discovered that the reports on domestic violence amounted to 10% in regions. Where local teams lost despite the vice president for shelter programs of domestic violence (Rachel Goldsmith) reporting that domestic violence is underreported hence leading to inaccurate statistics (Parnell et al., 2017). However, the word domestic violence might not convey physical abuse as such, but it is all about control and power. For instance, the perpetrators might exercise control over their partners in a sporting event by disallowing them entry into the podium when the game is on. The reality is at least one to two women from the United States of America has been confronted by some form of physical violence from their partners. Cases of domestic violence had, on one occasion, turned upside down the NFL season back in 2014 when they recorded the most offensive historical event that sent the league into a perpetual crisis. Two domestic violence cases involving the players of the NFL against their women hit the news headlines. The nearly opposite cases exposed the NFL's failures in dealing with cases of domestic violence. In the year 2014, when Rodger Goodell (NFL Commissioner), was interrogated in a situation where Ray Rice (a Baltimore Ravens) struck his wife, he vowed that such an offense would never reoccur (Wicker et al., 2015).

An interview with eight people from the inner workings of NFL affirmed the NFL's leadership complacency in handling matters domestic violence that has for years tainted the image of the club. Moreover, some distant observer accused NFL of failing to learn from its previous lessons, and the national organization for women vice president, Van Pelt said, "this has been an ongoing problem for years...Goodell has refused to implement effective systematic change."

National Football League had to reevaluate its policy on domestic violence following its implication on Ray Rice's case of domestic violence. The 2016 new policies stated that players found in with domestic violence or sexual assault cases would earn a suspension of six-game for first misconduct, and a lifetime ban that is theoretical for subsequent fault. Consequently, "a player procedurally charged with sexual assault or violent crime," or instead of an autonomous NFL findings fund out that they breached the policy of personal conduct then, they will be immediately located on paid leave. However, the think progress highlighted some failures by Goodell in the institution of these policies since it is not clear what they concretely or changed the fact that he classified them under the NFL's theory of personal conduct. He already had the powers to issue Ray Rice with longer suspension in case he wanted to just as he executed a six-game suspension on Pittsburgh Steelers in 2010 when a twenty-year-old college student charged him with sexual assault. This kind of penalty would have been a potential one in the domestic violence case of Ray Rice (Heinze & Lu, 2017).

Additionally, the 2016 NF's policy of personal conduct dictates that a player who is banned may reinstate his status after one year through petition following the commitment of the second offense though there is no assurance or presumption for the grant of the appeal. For typical reasons, the league guarantees not the reinstatement, while the suspension issued after a subsequent offense cannot be accurately referred to as a lifetime ban. This policy takes effect when Baltimore Ravens suspends Ray Rice in 2014, September, after which his suspension is extended by Goodell indefinitely. Ray Rice later appealed in two months period on this indefinite suspension but has not taken part in any professional football match since then (Lawrence et al., 2015).

Also, if we take a keen look at NFL's new policy by Goodell in the Josh Brown, New York Giant kicker following his arrest on a defilement domestic assault charge in 2015 May, he earned a suspension for just one game in 2016 August. The case was revisited by NLF two months later because his police document contained his admission that he had assaulted his wife. However, at this point he was eliminated from the giant's roster and placed on paid leave hence he only served the suspension of traditional six-game for a year once the original suspension was abandoned, and currently has no violation record on the NFL roster (Casson et al., 2011).

The determination of Brown's domestic violence case brought to account the effectiveness of the domestic violence policy of the NFL. Shortly after Goodell's implementation of new systems in 2014 that a representative of the league proposed that the domestic violence policy was more than the relations of a public move made to protect the public image of the national football league against several sexual violence assaults. From here, we can say that the domestic violence policy of the national football league focused more on matters discipline than dealing with the root systematic chances of domestic assaults in the league so as to earn the trust of the public that they care about the sexual scandals contravening the club (Colello et al., 2018).

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