In a league where every single action that a player takes is monitored so as to make sure they are doing no wrong, lately all the wrongdoing seems to be coming from those who might just be above the law.

Roger Goodell and his team of NFL executives have dropped the ball on protecting the NFL shield and all of what it stands for.

People now know the NFL as the organization that not only makes money off of men obliterating each other, or the organization where so many players are sustaining serious brain damage, but now it is where domestic abuse has a home.

Can you think of another sport that has gone through such a major social problem? Baseball had steroids, but that is nothing compared to what some of these players are doing to their loved ones.

Let’s backtrack. Roger Goodell and the NFL can’t be responsible for making sure players don’t abuse their loved ones, right? Where Goodell and his team went wrong is how they have gone about punishing these players as well as making a stand as an organization against what these players have done.

Now let us dig into what actually happened. Ray Rice was seen dragging an unconscious body out of an elevator at an Atlantic City casino. The body happened to be his wife, Janay Rice, who we later found out was unconscious due to being punched by her husband, Ray Rice, running back for the Baltimore Ravens.

Ray Rice is seen in a surveillance video punching his wife in the elevator

Ray Rice apologized for his actions and met with Roger Goodell to figure out his punishment for his actions. Goodell ended up suspending Rice for two games, which pales in contrast to the suspensions other players got for using marijuana or other banned substances.

Goodell, the NFL and the Baltimore Ravens pretty much ditched this issue (as did the United States legal system, but that is just a whole other issue) until TMZ uncovered the surveillance video from within the elevator showing Rice punching his wife.

Now the NFL was ready to be stricter. The Baltimore Ravens released Rice and the NFL issued the “suspended indefinitely” tag to him. Why did it take this video to demand action? Why didn’t the NFL have this video to begin with?

What the NFL did was react to the public’s reaction to the video. They knew what happened. They should have seen the video. Rice confessed to punching his wife, so the video changes that? The NFL knew all of this and didn’t come down on him enough. They came down once the video came out just so they could save face.

Then comes the Adrian Peterson issue. Peterson is one of the biggest stars in the league. Allegations came out that Peterson abused his 4-year-old child. Once pictures came out, this got even more serious. These pictures showed bruises and deep bloody gashes across the child’s legs.

These sensitive images show the extensive abuse Peterson committed to his 4-year-old son, using a “switch”

Adrian Peterson was inactive for one game. His team, the Minnesota Vikings, announced that they would start Peterson the following week, but once one of their sponsors dropped out, they suspended Peterson until his legal issues would be resolved.

My problem with these teams and the NFL as a whole is how they wait until sponsors or public outcry force things to happen. What this says is that they aren’t against the issues that these players have. If you are going to issue a two game suspension to someone for punching their wife, versus a four game suspension for using banned substances, what does that say?

If a player curses on the field they get fined. It is a penalty to dunk the ball over the goal post. Players can’t extensively celebrate a touchdown. Everything these players do is being watched and Goodell is ready to throw out fines and suspensions to these players with ease.

How about you Mr. Goodell? Who is watching you? Who is ready to throw a fine in your direction? Where is your suspension? I am not alone in thinking that what you have done is worse than cursing on a football field. It is time for you to take responsibility for your actions as commissioner of the National Football League.

If a major NFL sponsor decided to back out of its deal with the NFL, you would see how quickly Goodell makes a drastic decision or the owners of these football teams force a decision. It is all about the money and has always been. Ray Rice puts money into everyone’s pocket. Adrian Peterson puts money into everyone’s pocket.

It is time to take money out of Roger Goodell’s pocket. Actually, it may just be time to take his job all together.

National Football League, you have disappointed me.