Some NFL Issues

Two players dominate sports talk radio these days--Ezekiel Elliott and Colin Kaepernick.  The Elliott matter just came up a few days ago when Commissioner Roger Goodell handed down a 6-game suspension for a series of domestic violence incidents a year ago with his ex-girlfriend.

Some commentators whine vociferously that this is unfair because Eliot was never charged with a crime. This is a totally irrelevant point.  The NFL conducted an intensive year-long investigation, and went into the matter in considerably more depth than a city prosecutor ever could have.  It seems some people don't understand that we have prosecutorial discretion in this county, meaning that prosecutors get to pick and choose which cases they want to pursue with criminal charges, and which ones are not worth the expenditure of their limited time and resources.

One especially ignorant commentator on CBS sports radio complained that the NFL should turn over all of its evidence to the city prosecutor for prosecution. The idea that any prosecutor would want to pursue this at this late date is ludicrous. What would be the point? We are talking about  misdemeanor violations by someone with no prior criminal record, meaning the defendant, even if found guilty, would surely get probation, or perhaps a deferred prosecution agreement would be entered into prior to trial. We are not talking about a serious felony here.

The NFL proceeded correctly by doing an exhaustive investigation.  Perhaps the 6 games is too long of a suspension, but certainly the NFL wants to send a message that domestic violence simply will not be tolerated. And it might turn out to be just the wake-up call which Ezekiel Elliott needs, in order to grow up and become the good citizen which the NFL wants its players to be.

And somehow, the Colin Kaepernick saga continues to receive hour upon hours of air time. This is an absurd phenomenon.  What gets commentators (and callers) all riled up is that Kaepernick has yet to receive a job from another NFL club, after he left the 49er's at the end of last season.

People argue that he is one of the 96 best quarterbacks in the country, as if that should settle things.  Of course Kaepernick had the right not to stand for the national anthem, which is what started this whole controversy almost a year ago now.  And of course NFL owners have the right not to hire him, if they feel he is not a good fit for their organization for whatever reason. End of story, let's move on to something worth talking about.