Open Rants by MillerTime81

The NFL has not had a great 18 months. Their product is intact, but viewership and revenues have dipped for the first time in over two decades. Publicity from national anthem protests, good bad or indifferent, bogus and uneven execution of the rules of the league and just general watering down of the game for safety and revenue purposes have made the professional level of football struggle, even if slightly, for the first time in most of our lives.

The Rob Gronkowski situation does not help. As a fan, we see players lose their cool often. It is usually 1on1 in a fair fight, shoving match et al. Rarely do we see something like what Gronk did to a promising Bills rookie in Tre’Davious White. I do not think it is necessary to really hash out the incident except to highlight the fact that Gronk may have cost a promising rookie, perhaps even defensive rookie of the year candidate, the remainder of the season. That could cost him millions in contract negotiations when his first contract is up. The act was deliberate, egregious, designed to maim and injure. White was defenseless, out of bounds and could not see the impending abuse. It was disgusting.

Albert Haynesworth was suspended for 5 games for stomping on a players head in 2006. Suh 2 games for stepping on an arm. Andre Gurode, the player Haynesworth went after, required stitches but was otherwise fine. Neither player on the receiving end missed games because of the incidents.

I think this was an easy win for the NFL had they dealt with it well. Suspend Gronk for 3-5 games and prove to the public that this is not the WWE and that intentionally injuring a player, especially outside the boundaries of a normal play, would not be tolerated. Instead, a white player is given a lenient punishment for a crime other players would have been far more harshly punished. Bottom line; Gronk is a white player that has a positive reputation so he was not punished basically at all. The player and the team will not miss his performance. If anything, he will be more well rested for the push for the first overall seed. Only fantasy owners in the playoffs care about this.

In the end this is another massive failure by the commissioner and discipline committee. Goodell needs to go, and the Patriots continue to get away with horrors the should not be allowed permeate the league.