Book Publishing Never Bans A Ray Rice: NFL Shouldn’t Either

The whole Ray Rice -- and now Adrian Peterson fiasco -- with how a sports league (NFL) handles players accused of off the field wrong-doing has dominated media headlines for weeks. It’s time to put the whole mess behind us with one simple policy: Separate the law from work, just as we separate church and state.

Is Ray Rice a bad guy? Or can we say he did a bad thing? Certainly. Did the law adequately handle the situation? No. Is it the responsibility of the employee to do what the law failed to do?

No.

I don’t condone nor defend the actions of Ray Rice. As a fan I can choose to root for him or not. But the NFL, and his employee, The Baltimore Ravens, should no be involved in a non-sports related matter. Otherwise, the NFL becomes the judicial system and morality police. Where do you draw the line on actions, words or beliefs expressed by those connected to the sport?

Problem number one: If a person is punished by the law, why punish him twice?

Problem number two: If the law didn’t punish him and /or didn’t convict him of a crime, who is the league to say that he did something wrong?

Problem number three: How do you create an all-inclusive, consistent policy to handle things beyond what happens on the field? How will you rank things? Does spousal abuse rank higher than child abuse or getting into a bar brawl and breaking someone’s nose or cheating on your taxes or getting a speeding tick when doing over 100 mph?

I know it’s not easy to judge others and that’s why it’s no business of a sport to discipline off-the-field behavior unless it relates to performance. For instance, if you took a banned substance, from steroids to cocaine, you tried to cheat and pose a danger. Ban him. If you try to haze your teammate, ban him. If you publicly do something on the field that violates the rules or show poor sportsmanship, fine or ban him. But when one runs into the law, let the law handle it.

The real problem is the law and its ability to adequately punish and reform criminals- and to take steps to help prevent certain crimes from happening. Sports and other industries should not have to make judgments on actions, outside of the boundaries of work.

Look at book publishing and the entertainment business. We not only make money selling books about criminals or authors with checkered pasts, we also publish books by criminals, unethical losers, and admitted pieces of shit.

Book publishing, in both its fictional and non-fictional content, entertains readers when it comes to crime and criminal types -- TV and Hollywood studios produce many shows featuring people with broken moral codes, violent streaks, criminal activity. Many books feature hate, anger, bullying, negativity, violence and a slew of bad things.

Let’s not be hypocrites. Ray Rice should be in jail, but he is not, and so he should be running with a football down the field. Sports are separate from life off the field. So is book publishing and other industries and professions.

We would never say that a writer accused of a crime should be banned from publishing a book. We’d never say a person convicted of a crime can’t write a book. We would never say we shouldn’t publish a book about a criminal,  violent event or nasty person. We would never concern ourselves with any of this unless the author:

·         wrote a book of lies

·         committed liable or defamation

·         didn’t double-check the facts

·         advocates for violence

·         physically used a book as a weapon

           

Short of that, publish away. It’s up to readers to decide what to buy or read -- not a morality police, not a government censor.

And Rice should be playing football, not to be stopped by the morality police or a government that failed to punish him.

Society has an obligation to speak out against Rice and the government needs to do a lot more to handle or prevent such a crime, but it should never be the place of a sports league, a book publisher or a Hollywood studio to penalize someone over something that has zero to do with their work. 

Don’t put me down as someone defending a woman beater or the like. I don’t defend his actions. But the courts determine punishment, not a sport. And in the end, fans decide if they root for him or not, but the league should let him play. If his accuser can forgive and marry him that doesn’t make it any less of a crime and just because the law failed doesn’t mean he’s innocent or a nice guy. But he is allowed to work, to vote, and do what he does best -- play football.

And writers shall continue to write regardless of whether they are abusive parents, alcoholics, cheating spouses, liars, racists, or even criminals. Believe me many authors would fail a morality clause. Authors and athletes are no different. If you ban them, society loses out.

Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his employer, Media Connect, the nation’s largest book promoter. You can follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog © 2014