dog's life>human life?

With the recent suspension of Donte’ Stallworth, I began to think about all the suspensions that have taken place over the past couple years in the NFL. Since Roger Goodell has taken over as the commissioner of the NFL, he has handed out suspensions like a pharmacist hands out drugs, and with good reason. I don’t believe that manslaughter should go unpunished. However, I do feel that some of these suspensions are out of whack.

Michael Vick has been a hot topic lately as he is returning to the NFL after a two-year suspension. As if that wasn’t long enough, he is suspended for another six games to begin this season. All he did was kill dogs. Donte’ Stallworth plead guilty to vehicular manslaughter, and is only suspended for one season. If the penalty were proportionate to the crime, Roger Goodell’s punishment is saying, “tis better for man to die than man’s best friend”.

His suspension of Marshawn Lynch raised an eyebrow of mine. As a Buffalo Bills fan, I expected nothing less than a four game suspension just to stay in line with all the other suspensions that Roger has handed out for minor infractions. His three game suspension for carrying an unlicensed handgun made me wonder how much of it has to do with his partiality towards the Buffalo Bills. Roger Goodell is from western New York and the Bills need every advantage they can get in order to have a chance at the playoffs. Could this be a show of mercy on the part of the commissioner?

Plaxico Burress has made headlines of his own during this off-season. In a New York City night club, he supposedly dropped his gun, and while in mid-air, somehow went off and shot his leg. From what I’ve read, it sounds as if it was a Glock 23. Glocks are illegal to carry in New York whether you have a concealed weapons license or not. If you know nothing about Glocks, all you need to know is that the only safety that the handgun has is a trigger safety, which means the gun will not fire unless your finger is actually pulling the trigger. This leads me to believe that there is more to the story than a fumbled handgun.

Following the accident, his teammate, Antonio Pierce, took him to the hospital where he provided false information as to their names and how it happened. Under most circumstances, this would be considered a felony. Despite all this, Plaxico and Antonio have not been disciplined by the NFL. The message being sent, “if you are going to carry an illegal firearm, use it”.

Perhaps Roger Goodell is just a Giants fan.

While I admire that Roger Goodell has taken a more proactive approach to ensure that the NFL maintains a clean image than Paul Tagliabue, I’m afraid that his efforts just aren’t enough. You can take the gangster out of the slum, but you can’t take the slum out of the gangster. You can’t teach an old dog new tricks, so you kill it. Just ask Michael Vick. If someone has a history, give them one chance.

In a sport in which the players are idolized by the future of this world, the last people that should receive such glory are criminals that never learn.