This just in: Assigning moral characteristics to a business or corporation is incredibly stupid, and we should really stop doing it.

Yeah, I'm going to have to disagree

I am a huge fan of podcasts and typically listen to anywhere from 15-25 shows per week. During this past week I was listening to ‘The righttime with Bomani Jones' and he said something so outrageous that it had to become the topic for this weeks post. On his October 27, 2015 show, Jones was discussing Greg Hardy in the wake of his ‘no comment interview’ and the possibility of the Dallas Cowboys re-signing Hardy to a long-term deal, when he made the following statement:

“…Like I think one thing that’s happened in the course of this, Greg Hardy thing is that, the NFL demonstrated with the way that it handled Ray Rice in the beginning that it generally doesn’t have much of a respect for women. I think they reinforce that in many different ways all the time…”

After I heard that comment and subsequently picked my jaw up off the table, I had to rewind it to make sure I heard him properly. 3 listens later, I knew I had a topic because I thought it was a bit much when I first heard it and listing to it again to transcribe the quote I still think it’s a bit much. 

Now I assure you that I am not here to put on a cape and come to the defense of Greg Hardy. While I do not know him personally, based on what he has done and what he was convicted of doing, I think it is safe to say that he is probably not the best human being in the world. My issue is this narrative that has been created and maintained by ESPN and the larger sports media that the NFL has no respect for women.

So here's the thing

One of the things I personally never understood is why athletes are looked up to as role-models more so than any other celebrities. Here in the United States I get that we deify the uber wealth. However the majority of athletes really aren't that wealthy compared to their actor counter-parts. I mean why is it that whenever we see an actor do something dumb like pick up a DUI or get caught in a scandal, we as a society collectively reach for our pop-corn, eager for the train wreck. Yet when it's an athlete that finds him or herself in trough, we eagerly clamber onto our  soap box with a speech full of condemnation we have prepared for just this moment, as if being able to run fast and jump high makes you a moral authority. 

However, what I find even more disturbing than that is how American society has begun to take the same moral obligations that we once placed upon athletes and now place them upon businesses such as sports teams, college sports programs and even entire sports leagues. This conceit that the National Football League has "no respect for women" is so laughably stupid, it can't even bother to remain consistent. Don't believe me, I'll give you an example.

Let's play a game called which of these players was allowed back in the league. A player that was caught shoplifting, a player that has multiple DUI's, a player that has multiple drug charges, a player that is a known racist, a player that was convicted of animal abuse, a player convicted of child abuse, and a player that killed somebody. If you answered, 'all of the above', you are 100% correct. Yet in the wake of any of these scandals how many times did you hear that the NFL has an agenda against the victims of these crimes?

When Riley Cooper was caught on camera publicly using the n-word, did the NFL show a lack of respect towards Black people by allowing him back into the league? According to pubic opinion, no. When Adrian Peterson, was convicted of child abuse, did the NFL show a lack of respect and a callousness towards the plight of child abuse by allowing him back into the league? According to public opinion, no. When Donte Stallworth killed a man and spent only 24 days in jail, when the NFL allowed him back in the league did they show a callousness and lack of respect towards victims of drunk driving? According to public opinion, no. Yet I'm supposed to buy that by suspending Ray Rice for 2 games in the immediate aftermath of the video coming to light, that they have no respect for all women. Keeping in mind that they have women who work for every team, women who work for the league office and even a woman owner. Sorry, not buying it.

Now look, I'm not trying to make light of the issues of domestic violence (honestly, I really don't want those problems), it is an important issue and the fact that it is in the news so much means that we as a society are taking it more seriously that possibly ever before. However unless we are prepared to say that the NFL doesn't care about every group  of victims that a player has wronged, then personally I cannot buy into the narrative that the NFL has some vendetta against one group in particular.

However, even as I dispel this myth that the NFL doesn't respect women that doesn't really answer the question as to why the general public wants businesses and corporations to be their moral governor in the first place.

These are not the morals you are looking for

In the wake of the Ray Rice incident the country was in a complete frenzy because of what they had seen on the video from inside the elevator. Some groups even went as far as to begin to call for the NFL commissioners job and say that he should either resign or be fired (right, like he was going to quit a 50 million dollar a year job). 

However, the entire conversation surrounding the NFL and their "role" in domestic violence made me incredible uncomfortable. After all, the NFL isn't church or religious organization, they are a sports league. And I don't know about you, but I am really not looking for a bunch of dudes that left college early so they could run headfirst into a bunch of other dudes to set my moral baseline. Yet what I found even more disturbing was when the NFL came out and stated that they wanted to be a leader when it came to such social issues. This from a league that wasn't even a leader and on the forefront when it came to the safety of their players, i.e. something that is actually directly related of their core business model. 

In advance of writing this article, I was talking to my mom and she made a comment to the effect of, "why can't businesses and corporations use their platform to advocate for important moral issues." Lucky for you readers I actually have the answer for you. As a matter of fact, I'm going to hit these two birds with one stone and knock this out along with the people who think that it is the responsibility of these athletes and these leagues to be role-models for their kids. When it comes to these players and these leagues, THEY ARE REALLY JUST IN IT FOR THE MONEY! 

*GASP* 

I know this may come as a shock to you, but businesses exist solely to make money. As much as you might hate to hear it, players in professional sports play the game, primarily to make a lot of money. And what is the one thing that we have seen time and time again since the history of the world when it comes to money? Ethics and morality really don't matter when enough money is involved. 

So with that in mind let's look at the 2014-2015 NFL season, yes the one plagued with all of these domestic violence and child abuse scandals. The league actually had an increase in revenue of 16%, moving revenue up to 12 billion dollars and 1 billion of that being profit. This season, revenue is expected to increase again, up to around 13 billion dollars. Now do you really think the NFL cares about any moral issues more than its 13 billion dollars of revenue? In case you want to be intentionally naive I'll help you out, no it does not, and that's the way it should be. 

Look, we can't expect big business to be societies moral compass no matter how big their platform is, because at the end of the day they will say and or do anything (and yes I do mean anything) in the name of profit. As much as it may hurt to hear, in the face of billions of dollars of revenue and profit a pesky little thing like ethics and morals just doesn't matter. If we aren't going to look to the likes of Apple, Google, Walmart, Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook, and other large corporations to set our values, then we need to stop expect that of sports leagues. Just because we follow sports like a religion in this country, doesn't actually make it a religion.

There's an old saying that goes, "behind every great fortune, lies is a great crime." Now I'm not making any insinuations about how these NFL owners amassed their wealth, but I will say this. You can keep looking at 31 of the wealthiest individuals in this country to be the bedrock of your morals if you want to, but in this moment I would just like to inform you that each one of these individuals owns their own private jet, and the last time I checked jet's don't run on morals and ethics. So if they have to choose between their jet and your moral cause, I'm pretty sure they are going to choose the jet. I know I would.

Until next time,

May you too become so wealthy that you can afford to sell your morals and buy a private jet. Even if you don't get jet money, you should still totally list them on Ebay. I think know of at least 31 individuals what might be in the market for some morals.