Earlier this year, Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice punched his fiancee so hard she passed out and then dragged her unconscious body out of an elevator. The whole thing was caught on camera and resulted in Rice being charged with aggravated assault. His punishment from the NFL? Two game suspension.
In contrast, the NFL issued a 16-game suspension to a player who tested positive for marijuana during the offseason. Ergo, we can conclude that the NFL thinks pot is 8 times worse than punching women.
The move by the League — which is characterized for tax purposes as a “nonprofit” LOL — was received with immediate backlash from people who have been quick to note that other, much less socially destructive, woman-punchy behavior (taking Adderall, for example), has led to much bigger punishments for players.
The NFL couldn’t make themselves more clear that they literally do not give a single flying fuck about women; either league brass doesn’t know that nearly half of its fanbase consists of women (unlikely, as in recent years, the League has renewed its push to market merchandise to female fans), or it thinks the millions of women who support NFL teams will be too stupid to notice or care about the endless FUCK YOUs it sends our way. They think that no matter what they do, we’ll keep buying tickets to games, keep dutifully sporting jerseys. Keep lining their pockets.
Maybe it’s time we prove them wrong.