If you go onto NFL.com right now, there is no mention of the fact that Broncos DE Antonio Brown is under investigation for a criminal action against a child that is "sexual in nature." Ironically, just like with the Ray Rice elevator footage, TMZ first reported news of this investigation. On the most recent update on TMZ, one particular comment stood out to me defending Brown:
"Innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, not public opinion on on TMZ comment section."
I agree fully with that statement. I honestly hope that Brown didn't commit any of the actions he is under investigation for because if he is truly innocent, then at least one more child would've escaped abuse. Unlike the NFL, I will wait to hear the result of the investigation to decide my future opinion on Brown.
I have no way of knowing if the NFL had any knowledge that this investigation has been underway since November. If they did, they were also conducting an investigation into Smith to protect the integrity of "The Shield." At the very least, Smith was signed as a free-agent this offseason. Shouldn't the Broncos have done some semblance of due dillagance when they signed him to see if there were any open criminal investigations against Smith? The case was first reported to officials in Colorado, which, incase you're from Colorado and forgot because you love legalized marijuana, is where Denver is located. But hey, at least the Broncos are looking into it now right?
Innocent or not, the Broncos failure to even know about this situation should be a huge story. This comes on the heels of the Seahawks only asking draftee Earl Clark about his history of domestic violence. How do these two teams protect the integrity of the game? But somehow this isn't a big story. How could this be?
Maybe the NFL and the media learned their lesson with Deflect Gate, sorry, I mean Deflate Gate, and are showing restraint and not running stories about someone who, at the time I write this, is still considered innocent. Maybe they decided after they permanently destroyed the reputation of arguably the best quarterback of all time Tom Brady, they should wait until they gather all the facts before destroying Antonio Smith's reputation. Maybe they learned a lesson. Something tells me though, watching the way the NFL has failed to learn from its past mistakes and mishandling of almost everything over the past several years, this is not the case.
So why aren't more people outraged by this? Why isn't there still a link to this on ESPN's frontpage? You have to go to their NFL tab to find a link to ESPN's coverage of this story. The top headline on the NFL section of ESPN's website? "Lawyers endorse Goodell hearing Brady appeal."
I want to point something out here. Goodell has not officially announced if he will ultimately hear Brady's appeal, we just found out that his lawyers think he should. The NFLPA officially requested Goodell remove himself on Tuesday. So did it take Goodell's lawyers three whole days to decide Goodell should hear the appeal? Is that why we are hearing about their council today, or was there maybe some other reason behind leaking this information today?
I have to hand it to Goodell here. He was smart enough to announce his lawyers advice today. Goodell could have just as easily announced "Under/Against advisement from my lawyers, I have decided to/not to hear Tom Brady's appeal." IF the investigation into Smith results in charges being brought forth against him, Goodell still can announce is final decision on if he will hear Brady's appeal. Once again, Goodell will use the media to focus the national spotlight on deflated footballs and not the real issues plaguing the NFL. Once again, the NFL will win.
How much longer can this go on America? How much longer will we be distracted enough for Roger Goodell to keep his job? How much longer will the most popular, multi-billion dollar sport continue to condone domestic violence against women and children? At least since it's the offseason, players aren't getting concussed in games, so the NFL has a little bit of time before they can go back to ignoring player safety issues.
Shame on Goodell and the NFL for deflecting the media's and fan's attention to the real issues at hand. Shame on us for letting it work. It is time for the masses to wake up. It is time for Goodell to go.
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