A Troubled League

"I don't know what the point is of this, of democracy and freedom and patriotism if there are no white hats. If everyone is evil. If the deck is always stacked. If everyone I love is a monster. If no one is worth saving, what's the point?" — Olivia Pope, "Scandal"

This summer I have been catching up on "Scandal." I hadn't ever seen it before, but I have heard it's great. The first three seasons are on Netflix, so since the Fourth of July I've been making my way through the 47 episodes available. It's addictive, and it started with a flourish. But something has bothered me as I'm making my way through the third season — the characters aren't that likable. They've all done some good things, things that make you like them, but they've also all done terrible things. In other words, it's a mixed bag.

I like the show, I want to keep watching it, but the other day I turned to my wife and commented that the characters were all sort of unlikeable.

I was reminded that of that feeling this week when slogging my way through the daily barrage of awful NFL news. For those of us who are fans of professional football, who live and die with the games on Sundays and look forward to this time of year, it's been a bummer of a week.

After a set of exciting games on Sunday, we awoke Monday to the Ray Rice debacle. The tape of Rice hitting his then-fiance is tough to watch. It's tough to understand how anyone that saw it would have been OK with his original punishment.

Similarly disheartening has been the situation with Greg Hardy in Carolina, Ray McDonald in San Francisco, and now Adrian Peterson in Minnesota. All the while the NFL has been working on a new drug policy that may — or may not — reduce or cancel several ongoing suspensions.

At a time when we should be rejoicing in games that count, we're talking about courts, suspensions, investigations, and whether or not the commissioner should resign. And all of it, even for the casual fan, has impacted their enjoyment of the game. As one person said on a podcast, we want to enjoy watching the battles on the field, but with all this going on we feel kind of bad about watching and enjoying football. And that makes us feel bad.

Many have jumped on the easy target — Roger Goodell — calling for his resignation. I don't know how I feel about that, but in this post I've come neither to praise or bury the NFL. But rather to explore this issue, and all that surrounds it.

Many people have wanted to make this out to be a black-and-white issue, but we live in a world colored in grey. We have for a while, and this issue is shades of grey, too. Don't mistake me — what Rice and these other athletes have done is awful. There is no grey in that. But the grey comes in what we do next.

This is a complex issue, and not everyone feels the same. That was evident on Thursday night when many fans — including female fans — wore Ray Rice jerseys to the game as a show of support. Not for what he did, but for the man. And it's hard not to wonder if he's being overly vilified through all this.

I don't think Rice belongs on a field, but the NFL isn't the only one that failed here. I don't know how you get probation and counseling for that act — something less than one percent of offenders get in New Jersey. I know I certainly wouldn't want to watch him on a field, but does that have to last for forever?

A few years ago, I took heart to see Michael Vick — despite his star status — lose his contract, his career, and his freedom for what he'd done. I love dogs, and I was appalled by the facts in the case. I was glad he was made to stand account for those actions.

But a funny thing happened. Vick showed repentance. He served his time. He worked to become a better man. And he sought to return to his love of football. And I was glad to see him back. I like to think he's an American success story — and example of how our justice system could and should work.

For Rice, he will have no real opportunity to atone aside from losing his livelihood. It remains to be seen if he can earn trust back, if he can really change, and if he can find redemption. It won't be this season, but I'd like to hope he can.

As Americans we believe in redemption and second chances. As Christians, it's the bedrock principle of our faith. No matter what we've done, or how far we've gone, we believe that if we earnestly repent our God forgives. Look at what Jesus did for the criminal who hung on the cross beside him.

But I also don't know what to make of the NFL, or Goodell. I love football. I love when the games are on. But the people that play those games — especially after a week like this — are flawed and, at times, unlikeable. What am I saying when I tune in anyway? A week like this week can make you feel like Olivia Pope did in the above quote.

I think Goodell made some mistakes. I think he's mishandled some things, and there might be a lot of reasons for that. I am curious to see what this investigation brings up. But until then, I'm as frustrated by the insanely vitriolic people on the Internet, Facebook, and Twitter calling for him to be fired as I have been by the actions of these players. We live in a culture of ridiculous snap judgements where people use Social Media and blogs to make ridiculous snap judgements, and this week has been perhaps the worst example of that.

I think Goodell should be held accountable based on the evidence, which isn't in yet. I think Hardy and McDonald should be in street clothes. And I think the way the Vikings handled things with Peterson was an admirable first step forward.

But mostly, I hope that tomorrow I have a reason to feel good about watching the game I love again.