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Todd: My original idea for this week’s column was to catch up on some items that have been left on the back burner and opening with some thoughts on the start of Patriots training camp.  Instead, I want to bring up a topic that’s a bit less fun-and-games than most of what appears in this space.

This blog posts on a website that appeals to both men and women.  With regards to the latter, the percentage of females who follow sports and watch the games has steadily increased.  Particularly in football, where women make up nearly half of the NFL’s fan base.  I bring up these statistics because of some recent mixed messages provided by the sports world.

One of these occurred July 24, when the NFL handed out a two-game suspension to Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice for violating the league’s personal conduct policy involving an assault charge on his then fiancé.  Part of this incident was captured on video, and witnesses claimed that even more transpired than what was caught on camera.

Players who violate the NFL’s substance abuse policy and test positive for any PED not on the league’s approved list automatically receive a four-game suspension for their first offense.  This included Indianapolis Colts defensive lineman Robert Mathis, who took a fertility drug for reasons that had nothing to do with enhancing his performance on the field (in a related story, Mathis became a father for the third time this week).

Sticking with the Colts, team owner Jim Irsay was arrested back in March for driving while impaired and had bottles of prescription drugs in his car.  Four months later, the NFL has still not issued any judgment regarding this incident.

Rice’s punishment feels insufficient to me compared to these other transgressions, which only affected the violator and not another individual.

In addition, the NFL promotes many positive causes, including Breast Cancer Awareness Month every October.  On the cancer.gov website, experts state one out of every eight women born will be diagnosed with breast cancer sometime in their lives.  Conversely, on the NCADV.org website, it is reported that one of every four women will experience some form of domestic violence during their lifetime.

So the league dedicates an entire month to publicize one cause, but then downplays another that is just as significant if not more so?  That doesn’t make sense to me.

Mixed messages indeed.

Mike: This is a hard topic to touch on because it is such a sensitive one.

But, that aside, I do have to say that I think that it is preposterous that Ray Rice only got a 2-game suspension for that incident.

Rice pleaded not guilty to a third-degree charge of aggravated assault, but he avoided trial when he was accepted into a pretrial intervention program earlier this spring.

But the NFL had the opportunity to bring the hammer down and show that it doesn't tolerate acts like this, but instead it lets him off with a relative slap on the wrist. Sure, he was fined $500,000, but to someone making millions of dollars, that's just a drop in the bucket.

You know what? I can't say it better than ESPN’s Keith Olbermann, who destroyed the NFL for this action. Here it is (warning NSFW language--and it shows the video of the incident that Rice was arrested for).

http://youtu.be/6fc_AnLaBew
As for Jim Irsay, I want to say that the NFL is going to come down hard on him, but after this, I have no faith that they will.
And that's just wrong.

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