First, we had Ray Rice, and as the Adrian Peterson case became public there were a few more lesser-known players that were added to the list (Greg Hardy of the Panthers and Ray McDonald of the 49ers). And now this evening it's being reported that Jonathan Dwyer has been arrested for aggravated assault stemming from a fight with his wife "from a while ago". (http://www.si.com/nfl/2014/09/17/jonathan-dwyer-cardinals-domestic-violence-arrest)
Is this a sudden, abnormally large group of these crimes all at once, or is it just a case of exposure due to the fact that two of the most famous running backs of our time are involved?
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Hardy plays for the Panthers (although he has probably played his last game as a Panther.)
Sorry about that, it's fixed now. I pretty much wrote this up from memory, and I guess my mental image of him was somehow tied to the wrong team wearing white and light blue.
There are several domestic abuse cases involving NFL players every year. This time it just happened to be a perfect storm of sorts that created the furor. Is it the final straw? No, but the rules have changed, as of last week. From now on, it will be treated differently. At least for the rest of this season.
Dwyer got arrested? Damn. I went to high school with him, and he was always a really nice guy. He was my excuse for knowing a famous person. Now all I've got is knowing a guy that's kissed Miley Cyrus. This sucks.
I would compare the incidence occurring in the general population to the occurance with NFL personnel before I consider it a large sudden number of incidents.
The OP was about incidents involving NFL players, not whether they constitute a higher rate than the population in general. That is an entirely different topic. As with every high profile demographic, the incidents receive more attention than if your neighbor was involved.
No one can rationally deny that the publicity surrounding domestic abuse in the NFL is exponentially higher right now than ever before. As mentioned above, there is something of a perfect storm for that. The biggest factor is the unveiling of the second Ray Rice video. The second biggest factor was the NFL's, specifically Roger Goodell's, seeming indifference to that particular case early on. As a result of those and other factors, the public backlash is sharper than in the past.
i work in a public service field. domestic violence is something that unfortunately is very very common. i think that it is getting more exposure because of the ray rice video. once the media saw the video they jumped on and are giving it a ton of press. seeing something rather than just hearing about it gives people a better idea of what really happened. im not saying they shouldnt cover it, because domestic violence happens at all socioeconomic levels and affects people every day. i think that were going to hear about these cases more and more over the next few months. once the nfl has a definite policy in place that covers all spectrums of the process (from arrest to conviction or acquittal), we are going to hear about players in flux with their teams.
if i did what ray rice did, i would not have a job right now, its that simple. my agency would have fired me from my arrest not even waiting until the judicial process played itself out and definitely prior to a video being released.
i give it another year. once the nfl policy is put in place we wont see so many cases making the front page, they will just be a blip across the bottom of the screen that the player is suspended or fired.