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Greetings and Salutations, my name is Ryan Gordon and this is my project. I have created this padlet to discuss domestic violence in sports.

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Greetings and Salutations, my name is Ryan Gordon and this is my project. I have created this padlet to discuss domestic violence in sports.

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- Is there a domestic violence issue within the sport of football.

- Is there a correlation of playing a hard hitting game such as football that leads to more domestic violence cases.

- What steps have the league taken to stop these incidents.

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Women are mostly the victims during domestic abuse cases. Football is at the center of the discussion surrounding domestic violence with professional athletes. Individuals have considered many variables when trying to correlate the nature of athletes to domestic violence. It is suggested that the violent behavior ingrained in the football environment can be a potential accelerator or stimulator of domestic violence. Major sports franchises are increasingly criticized for their lack of action in regard to domestic violence.

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Majority of the arrest that were seen were from Assault, Battery and Domestic Violence. This discovery got me to thinking about the discussion in week 10 about violence in sports and the triad and the idea of toughness and having to be tough on the field that they feel like they have to be tough off the field and not seem weak.

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NFL Arrest-Database - NFL Football - USA TODAY

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Current NFL Arrest-Database - NFL Football - USA TODAY

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The Domestic Violence Policies of America's Pro Sports Leagues

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The Domestic Violence Policies of America's Pro Sports Leagues

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in the wake of the Ray Rice domestic violence assault the NFL changed their domestic violence policy and this video discusses the new policy as well as the policies in the other major sports.

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national football league (sports association)

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The Domestic Violence Policies of America's Pro Sports Leagues

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Originally aired 8/29/14-- The NFL has announced a new policy on domestic violence policy for its players and personnel following the release of video that shows Ravens player Ray Rice dragging his then fiance from a casino elevator.

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This article discusses how professional athletes compare to the general public in domestic abuse cases

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Several professional athletes have been charged recently with domestic violence, but are athletes actually more prone to domestic violence?

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Former NFL players George Martin and Chris Kluwe talk about how player misconduct is handled in NFL locker rooms.

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Former NFL players George Martin and Chris Kluwe talk about how player misconduct is handled in NFL locker rooms.

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NFL Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault

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Enhancing Awareness Presentation - 2014 - 2015 Presented by Dwight Hollier and Deana Garner for the National Football League. The goal of this presentation is to create a better understanding of domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse. Please see the attachment tab to the left for resources.

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The Rate of Domestic Violence Arrests Among NFL Players

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The Rate of Domestic Violence Arrests Among NFL Players

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What the NFL Can and Should Do about Domestic Violence

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What the NFL Can and Should Do about Domestic Violence

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Tennessee State University men's basketball coach Dana Ford is unapologetically blunt with his recruits. Not about winning, not about the player's role in his system, not about their professional prospects, but about something far more important. He tells the recruits, "We're not going to tolerate abuse against women in any kind of way."

It doesn't stop there. From the very first meeting, Ford reminds the entire team about the role all men play in preventing abuse against women. They have to watch out for each other and their friends. Good men have to intervene when they see something. He'll remind them throughout the season, whether it's by speaking to them again during team meetings or printing out articles from the papers and displaying them around the locker room. For Ford, it's not an issue of the program's reputation or making sure none of his best players lose their scholarships. This is not about sports.
Read More: The NBA Just Showed the NFL How to Handle Domestic Violence Cases
Given how Roger Goodell botched the Ray Rice investigation and punishment-especially his decision to interview Ray and Janay Rice at the same time-there was good reason to deride his proclamation that he would become "a leader in the domestic violence space." Despite Goodell's somewhat encouraging promises in late August regarding league efforts and reforms, recent weeks have provided only more reason for skepticism. Deadspin's Diana Moskovitz described the NFL's main partner, No More, as "a branding campaign" akin to Pinktober, the NFL's breast cancer awareness campaign that doesn't actually give any money to breast cancer research.

Like the NFL's Pink October, No More is a " non-profit project" dedicated to selling merchandise to heighten awareness. Pat Shea, CEO of YWCA-Nashville, opted out of partnering with No More because awareness is "an important first step to bring about change, but it really is only the first step." One of the big questions for Goodell and the NFL has been what the next steps are. For those who, unlike Goodell, have been concerned with domestic violence for more than six months, the answer couldn't be clearer.

Shea works with Ford and many other Nashville leaders as part of a community-wide initiative called MEND, a program focusing on mentors of young men. As YWCA-Nashville's website describes:

"The words we say to each other-whether on the field or behind closed doors-create our culture. So the way we speak about women to one another sets the stage for how others act toward women. That's how violence against women starts: with men, just like us, just saying words. As men, we're responsible for this culture of violence. And as men, we have the power to end it."

This, Shea believes, is the key to ending domestic violence: a long-term strategic plan focused not on harsher punishments for those who abuse women, but on educating and openly discussing the issue with middle- and high school aged boys. MEND's focus is not on the perpetrators of violence, but on the good men who allow it to continue. "I'm always floored we have allowed men to not be in the conversation for this long," Shea tells me over the phone. "The good men got a free ticket for so long. If the good men step up, that will change the culture."

Such grassroots measures-teams talking to coaches, coaches talking to youth athletes-extend far beyond the NFL's official efforts thus far. Jackson Katz, founder and director of MVP Strategies, has been speaking to professional and collegiate sports teams about the issue since the early 1990s when he co-founded Northeastern University's Center for the Study of Sport in Society. He also founded the bystander approach, which seeks to "change social norms in peer cultures at all levels." Like Shea, he says the problem is not what should be done, but how to get professional sports teams to buy in.

In his August 28 letter to NFL owners, Goodell listed new measures in response to the Ray Rice scandal. One focuses on expanding the training offered at the Rookie Symposium, which Katz has previously conducted. The problem with such training, Katz says, is that the time allotted is not nearly enough to sufficiently cover the issue. "No serious educator would say [90 minutes] is adequate." Moreover, such lectures treat the issue "like an inoculation." Anyone who attended a middle school DARE presentation knows such assemblies don't accomplish much. "Those of us in the field know you have to spend more time," Katz says, but teams often reply that their schedules are too busy.

Although Goodell's letter did mention a MEND-like effort, it failed to provide any specifics. "We will expand the educational components in our college, high school and youth football programs that address domestic violence and sexual assault," he wrote. "We will seek to create and promote programs that develop the character of the young men who play, coach or manage our game, emphasizing respect for women and appropriate ways to resolve conflicts."

According to an NFL spokeswoman, "The NFL is expanding its awareness and educational initiatives-including developing age-appropriate character development, healthy relationship education as well as dating/domestic violence, child abuse, and sexual assault programming to those who play, coach, or manage football in college, high school, and youth programs." When asked for specifics, the league spokeswoman cited a summit at the Pop Warner Super Bowl for 50 high school football coaches from around the country, but didn't provide further details, including what organizations the NFL is partnering with, how much money is being given to those organizations or spent by the NFL to develop these programs, or whether any advisors are working with the NFL on these specific initiatives. The NFL did not immediately respond to a request for further information.

Shea was adamant that the NFL can and should play a major role in these types of initiatives. Domestic abuse is a culture problem, she says, and the best way to reverse cultural norms is when influencers speak out against it. "I don't know there's any other organization that could change the culture of violence as much as the NFL could."

What isn't nearly as important, according to Shea, is what she called "reprimanding bad men," a reference to the NFL's new (and old) personal conduct policy and Goodell's focus on punishing players for all types of off-field behavior. "Reprimanding bad men is just the tip of the iceberg," Shea emphasized. "The punishment is symbolic. They need to roll their sleeves up."

What can the NFL do specifically? Shea and Katz were not short on suggestions. They can launch public awareness campaigns-beyond the occasional TV commercial-featuring prominent male role models. They can help organizations similar to YWCA-Nashville finalize curricula for coaches, enabling a way to get key information to them on a consistent basis. They could fund and organize training programs. Katz recommended NFL teams host a full-day training session at their stadium every year for local high school coaches on their role in preventing abuse.

For all its power, money, and influence, the NFL's potential impact on curtailing domestic violence is not through anything the front office does, but rather through initiatives it backs. Few people care what Roger Goodell says, but most young boys have a Dana Ford, a role model they will respect. Those are the men who need to speak up.

Ultimately, any possible solution begins with the NFL recognizing that, if it truly wants to be a leader in the "domestic violence space," then they have to acknowledge it may not be able to double as a branding opportunity. Shea's advice to Goodell is straightforward: make a 10-year commitment to programs geared towards behaviors of young men and boys, and don't treat violence against women like a public relations problem, but recognize it as a societal epidemic.

"My message to the NFL isn't about what you're doing wrong," she says, "but look what you could do."

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What the NFL Can and Should Do about Domestic Violence

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Tennessee State University men's basketball coach Dana Ford is unapologetically blunt with his recruits. Not about winning, not about the player's role in his system, not about their professional prospects, but about something far more important. He tells the recruits, "We're not going to tolerate abuse against women in any kind of way."

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Domestic abuse among professional athletes is not a problem that just started, but the National Football League (NFL) received a big deal of criticism with their handling of Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rick incident, where he knocked his then girlfriend out, in a hotel elevator. Sometimes professional athletes are idolized and we look the other way to some of their wild behaviors. With professional athletes having a big platform, we has a society and the players themselves should take this time to groom and encourage our younger generation of how to act outside of the playing field. They should be shown that there are consequences for your actions and although sports is a business and a player brings in a lot of money, their actions outside of the playing field that are negative should be overlooked.

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Does on the field behavior lead to violent behavior off the field?

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Does on the field behavior lead to violent behavior off the field?

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It is not clear if on-field violent behavior leads to off-field violence. Common sense suggests that people who become accustomed to using physical intimidation and violence in sport naturally revert to those behaviors when facing conflict outside of sport. Athletes who hang out at bars, restaurants, or clubs are often targets for other tough guys, who bait them with insults and disrespect. The athlete, who feels his manhood is being challenged, may struggle not to respond with physical force. However, athletes who do respond physically may be simply reflecting cultural upbringing that was established outside of sport. Sport may not be the cause of violence, but rather a result of the athletes' upbringing or natural disposition, which led them to choose a violent sport. As we saw in chapter 13, young males from lower socioeconomic classes tend to embrace sport to prove their masculinity. Any challenge to their manliness compels them to respond or lose face in front of their peers.

Alcohol consumption and binge drinking add to the problem of violence. In chapter 7 we discussed studies showing that athletes are more likely than nonathletes to binge. Athletes who are not in full command of their faculties are more likely to lose control and commit violent acts.

A sensitive topic for many athletes is the apparent rise in violence against women among male athletes. Most men would be quick to say that they respect women and certainly don't intend women harm. Here are some statistics from the National Coalition Against Violent Athletes on its website at ncava.org:

A three-year study showed that while male student-athletes make up 3% of the population on college campuses, they account for 19% of sexual assaults and 35% of domestic assaults on college campuses.

Athletes commit one in three college sexual assaults.

The general population has a conviction rate of 80% for sexual assaults, while the rate for athletes is only 38%.

These statistics were gathered from 107 cases of sexual assault reported at 30 Division I schools between 1991 and 1993 (Crosset, Benedict, and McDonald 1995). Critics of this study say the sample size was relatively small and was not controlled for the use of alcohol, the use of tobacco, and the man's attitude toward women. Those three factors are the main predictors of a male's inclination toward gender violence. More recent studies have corroborated the study by Crosset and colleagues, and one researcher concluded that "a disproportionate number of campus gang rapes involve fraternities or athlete groups" (Simmons 2002). However, Todd Crosset (1999) reviewed the published research on violence against women by male athletes and concluded that while male athletes seem to be more frequently involved in sexual assaults than other male students, the differences between the two groups were not statistically significant.

Domestic violence is the number-one crime perpetrated by athletes (Benedict and Yaeger 1998). In almost every case, the domestic violence involves male athletes who play violent sports physically abusing wives or girlfriends. In 2010, starting running back Steve Jackson of the St. Louis Rams was accused of beating up his girlfriend while she was nine months pregnant with his child. His former girlfriend, Supriya Harris, said that Jackson "forcibly grabbed my arm, flung me against the door and repeatedly pushed me to the ground." Jackson took Harris to the hospital and told her to tell the doctors she had fallen in the shower. Ten days later, she delivered their child, but the couple separated four months later after he threatened her again (TMZ 2010).

Yet it is not clear that athletes are any more involved in serious crime than the general population is. In a follow-up study, Blumstein and Benedict (1999) showed that 23% of the males in cities with a population of 250,000 or more are arrested for a serious crime at some point in their life. That compares with the 21.4% of NFL football players who had been arrested for something more serious than a minor crime as reported in Benedict's earlier study (Benedict and Yaeger 1998). In fact, when Blumstein and Benedict compared NFL players with young men from similar racial backgrounds, they discovered that the arrest rates for NFL players were less than half that of the other group for crimes of domestic violence and nondomestic assaults. Is it difficult or nearly impossible to turn the violence off as soon as practice or the game is over? The majority of athletes who display violent on-field behavior don't continue their aggression off the field. If they did, the court records and news media would surely let us know. We simply do not have enough research to address this question, nor do we have complete data on the incidence of domestic violence by athletes. Most families prefer not to publicize such incidents until they become frequent or incapacitating, and most women do not wish to press charges.

Some athletes do develop a sense of entitlement as their fame grows (Benedict and Yaeger 1998). Whatever city they're in, male athletes are surrounded by female groupies. The athletes often treat these women with disdain and yet are still tempted by their offers of sex. Wilt Chamberlain, a former great NBA player, boasted in his autobiography that he had slept with over 20,000 women . . . which, if true, shows a definite degree of deviance (ESPN 1999).

A notable case involved boxer Mike Tyson, who attacked and raped Desiree Washington, a church- going beauty queen with a squeaky-clean image. Although Tyson was convicted and sent to jail, Washington's career, psyche, and reputation were sullied forever. Typically, the male aggressor contends that his victim was "asking for it" and acting like a "slut." Tyson claimed that he did not rape Washington, but once she filed charges he became so angry that he said, "I just hate her. Now I really do want to rape her" (Rivers 2003).

More recent cases of violence or rape charges against prominent superstars such as basketball player Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers and football player Ben Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers illustrate just how difficult it is to evaluate the facts of the cases. While both players admitted to a consensual sexual relationship, they denied having forced themselves on the women. It is no secret that there are many cases of women who actively pursue a relationship with a famous athlete and then later renounce their responsibility for it. Although some of these cases make high-profile news reports, the legal process is often lengthy and costly and in the final analysis reveals only shades of gray in assigning blame.

Perhaps no case captured the public's attention as much as that of O.J. Simpson, who was accused but found not guilty of killing his wife Nicole in 1994. As a football player, Simpson had won the Heisman Trophy in 1968 while at the University of Southern California, and he went on to stardom in the NFL for the Buffalo Bills and then the San Francisco 49ers. Simpson followed his football career as an on-air television sportscaster and was a familiar television personality. In spite of widespread suspicion of his guilt, Simpson was acquitted of all charges. However, in 1997, he was held liable in civil court for the deaths of Nicole and her acquaintance Ron Goldman, who had been at her home. O.J.'s case is often pointed to as the ultimate example of a professional athlete who avoided punishment because of his money and fame.

Could reports of violent behavior by professional football and basketball players be rooted in the racist fears of the U.S. public? You'll recall that table 11.3 showed the percentage of African Americans in 2008 in the NFL to be 66% and in the NBA to be 77%. With such dominance also comes some jealousy and suspicion on the part of whites about violent black men since they see violent behavior on the football field or the basketball court. According to the National Opinion Research Center survey sponsored by the National Science Foundation at the University of Chicago, 56% of Caucasian Americans believe African Americans are more violent than whites are (Lapchick 1999). Also, of the 1,600 daily newspapers published in the United States, fewer than half a dozen have African American sport editors in cities where there are pro franchises. The United States appears to have Caucasian American sport journalists writing for a Caucasian American audience that may already have prejudiced views of African American men.

While there is no question that violence occurs, when it involves football or basketball athletes it receives exhaustive media coverage. Since African American men dominate those sports, if they are involved in violent behavior it is practically guaranteed that the case will be widely publicized. African Americans such as Satch Sanders, who helped the Boston Celtics win eight world championships, are outraged by the violent portrayal of African American athletes. They point to the millions of dollars that famous athletes donate to schools, charities, and youth foundations. Most professional athletes are solid family men who respect their wives, mothers, sisters, and women in general. Joyce Williams-Mitchell is the executive director of the Massachusetts Coalition of Battered Women's Service Groups and an African American woman who hates the violent image of athletes. She says, "It is a myth! Most batterers are men who control women through their profession, and they include police officers, clergymen, dentists, and judges. Athletes get the headlines, though, and an unfair public rap. Men from every profession (regardless of race) have the potential to be batterers" (Lapchick 1999).

As already stated, we need more research before coming to any conclusions about violence and sport. Rather than rely on sensational examples from the press, we need solid data such as rates of occurrence to compare with the data for other groups of people. Drug and alcohol use should also be noted, since they and not sport may be the cause of violence. No one is helped by sensationalized reporting or hidden facts. We need to address this issue as a society and take steps to prevent violence (Hughes 2004).

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Does on-field violent behavior lead to off-field violence?

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It is not clear if on-field violent behavior leads to off-field violence. Common sense suggests that people who become accustomed to using physical intimidation and violence in sport naturally revert to those behaviors when facing conflict outside of sport.

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If NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's indefinite suspension of Ray Rice seemed out of line considering the alleged crimes committed by other players who were allowed to stay on the field, that's because the NFL, MLB, NBA and other sports leagues aren't guided by the same rules as the criminal justice system.

Instead sports leagues use a combination of factors in determining how to treat accused and convicted players, including Collective Bargaining Agreements that are shaped by years of negotiations between union leaders, commissioners and ownership as well as arbitration rulings.

Of the four major leagues - the NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL - the NFL is the only one to have a specific policy on domestic violence, though it has been quickly adjusted in the past month.

"There needs to be better defined codes of conduct that players and owners know beforehand what are the expectations, what are the codes they have to follow and if they violate one of these codes, what are the punishments, what are the fixes," said Michael Buckner, a sports attorney at Buckner Sports Law.

"[In the Rice case] the NFL had to come back and clarify because they didn't have an adequate policy that was defining what the code was, what the expectations were and what the appropriate punishments were. ... I think you should find all professional leagues going back and reevaluating what they have on the books."

When contacted by USA TODAY Sports reporters, representatives for the NBA and MLB said that domestic abuse falls under broader clauses in their respective CBAs, which leaves room for questions about discipline. The NHL's CBA has similar language.

A lack of consistency

Of the 10 players arrested for in the NFL for domestic violence since Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher killed Kasandra Perkins, the mother of his daughter, before killing himself in the parking lot of Arrowhead Stadium ( as compiled by Newsday), four were cut by their teams including Rice. In fact, as pointed out by Lindsay H. Jones in 2013, of the 84 arrests between 2000 and 2013 for domestic violence, no player received more than a one-game suspension.

The NFL isn't the only league often without consequences for players who are charged with domestic violence.

Suspensions in the NHL for non-on-ice incidents are very rare, but in 2008 Sean Avery was suspended indefinitely for calling his former girlfriend a pejorative term in an interview. The league cited a clause in the CBA and alleged Avery's behavior was "detrimental" or "against the welfare" of the league.

But in 2013 when Avalanche goaltender Semyon Varlamov was charged with assault after allegedly bruising his girlfriend, Colorado responded to the charges by giving him their full support. "He grabbed my hands and twisted me. When I tried to close the door to the room and get him out of the room, he kicked me in the chest with his leg," the complaint read ( via SI.com). "Twice I fell on the ground, and it hurt me a lot. After that we had a small fight between the kitchen and the lobby. At this moment, he was laughing." The charges were eventually dropped and Varlamov was not disciplined.

MLB has similar language as the NHL in its CBA - punishments in most cases is left to the discretion of the commissioner.

In cases of sexual abuse or domestic violence, according to the player code of conduct, players must be evaluated by a neutral expert - though they can be separately disciplined.

The NBA also lacks a specific domestic violence policy but does have policies regarding violent misconduct and unlawful behavior - though suspensions have been rarely meted out. Multiple NBA players, including Matt Barnes and DeAndre Liggins, were also charged in domestic violence cases though were never disciplined by the league after the charges were dropped. Liggins was waived by the Thunder but upon charges being dropped, he signed a camp deal with the Clippers.

In 2013, Jared Sullinger was suspended for a game by the Celtics after being charged in a domestic violence incident. (The charges were later dropped.) "We have higher expectations and standards, and it was a distraction to our team during an important time this summer," Danny Ainge said at the time.

In MLB, a recent memorable case of domestic violence involved then-Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez who struck his girlfriend's father during an argument near the team's clubhouse. He was suspended by the Mets for two games and put on the disqualified list due to a season-ending thumb injury that resulted from the fight. He pleaded guilty and then returned to the Mets the next season. He was traded to Milwaukee in 2011, where he was arrested in September 2012 by deputies responding to a 911 call from his girlfriend. He was charged with domestic abuse but those charges were dropped after the witness and victim left the country.

He faced no disciplinary action from MLB.

The future

The easy argument against suspensions or discipline in domestic violence cases is that in most cases there were no convictions which makes it even trickier for leagues to define. How does a commissioner look at the police reports of one accuser and deem them more credible than another? But then comes the flip side: How do sports leagues let players who allegedly punched, kicked or choked women play when all reasonable evidence other than the victims being too scared to cooperate or press charges point to them being guilty? It's the league commissioners, after all, who often remind players that it's a privilege, not a right to put on the uniform.

Even if the NFL does take the latest scandal as a reason to change its disciplinary code, another round of CBA negotiations could take that power away from the Commissioner's office. "I would probably predict that in the next round of the CBA, the NFLPA will probably negotiate to have a significant downgrade in the commissioner's authority over certain decisions regarding the players," Buckner said.

Meanwhile, the league is facing two more recent cases of domestic violence allegations: It is investigating Jets rookie Quincy Enunwa's arrest on domestic violence charges earlier this month. Enunwa, a practice squad player, is still with the team. Ray McDonald, a 49ers player who was arrested on August 31 on suspicion of domestic violence, also suited up on Sunday.

Barring convictions in either case, which would mean a six-game suspension, it is unlikely they will spend any time off the field.

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Why so many professional athletes accused of domestic violence are still allowed to take the field

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If NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's indefinite suspension of Ray Rice seemed out of line considering the alleged crimes committed by other players who were allowed to stay on the field, that's because the NFL, MLB, NBA and other sports leagues aren't guided by the same rules as the criminal justice system.