When footage of Ray Rice dragging his unconscious fiancee out of an elevator first surfaced, the NFL sentenced him to a two game suspension. Perhaps in a different setting, this would have made sense – office workers typically do not receive strict punishments for actions that don’t occur in the office setting. However, the NFL is not like any other work environment. For being so visibly in the public eye, the bureaucratic actions of the NFL must be held to a higher standard.

When a typical private company makes a decision to discipline or fire an employee, no one outside of that company takes any notice. But whether the NFL likes it or not, people pay attention to its activities. Even minor internal decisions will be reported on and widely broadcast throughout sports media. As a result, these decisions carry a heavier weight, and their social consequences must be taken into consideration whenever the NFL acts.

When pop singer Rihanna returned to dating singer Chris Brown after he infamously beat her, many accused her of being a terrible role model to young girls. Rihanna dismissed this criticism, saying that she had no intention of being a role model to girls in the first place. The problem with this logic is that whether she wants it or not, young girls will look up to Rihanna, and possibly be influenced by or emulate her reaction to domestic violence. The same can be said of the NFL’s stance on the topic of domestic violence.

If the NFL had initially given Rice a harsher penalty, it would have been sending the message that domestic violence is a problem that needs to be taken seriously, and this is a message that its fanbase and demographic need to hear. Instead, it implied that domestic violence isn’t a big deal, and as a result these opinions are justified by thousands of football fans. Instead of taking the necessary steps to help improve our society, the NFL has contributed to an ugly and terrible part of our culture.