Most national sports teams have all had their fair share of scandals, and with scandals come cover ups. The National Football League has been in the limelight the past couple of years due to the domestic violence disputes. 2014 is when the huge Ray Rice scandal came out. There was security camera footage of Rice punching his fiancee in the face, and it was not until that footage leaked to the public that people started speaking up for what has been happening for years. The footage being leaked caused a revolutionary change to how football players are disciplined for their actions. Media and technology have changed how America views these icons, and how long has the National Football League been trying to sweep things under the rug in order to maintain their image.

The Ray Rice scandal is what really brought all of the domestic abuse incidents that were forgotten or never payed attention to in the limelight. This was the domino effect for all the confessions of undisciplined domestic abuse. Ray Rice, a Baltimore Ravens running back was charged with domestic abuse after a security camera surveillance footage was leaked to the public of his knocking his fiancee  now wife out in the elevator of an Atlantic City Casino and then dragging her out of the elevator. Rice was originally suspended for only two games, but after the video was seen he was suspended indefinitely and dropped by the Ravens. What really caused the uproar was not him hitting his fiancee, it was that it was on video. When something is on non-altercated video people cannot just ignore it and treat it like any other domestic violence case in the League. They actually have to pay mind to it, and by doing so they have to discipline the assaulter.

Jerry Angelo, a former employee of the League perspective was changed after the Ray Rice video emerged (Peter, 2014). The former general manager of the Chicago Bears opened up about knowing of cases like this. He mentioned how he knew it was wrong, everyone did but all that really mattered was winning games. "I made a mistake. I was human. I was part of it", Angelo admitted. Angelo has been in the business since 1980, and in that time frame he has seen "hundreds and hundreds" of domestic violence incidents during his time in the League. (ESPN, 2014). The usual approach of finding out about a domestic violence dispute with a player would simply just asking if everyone was okay, then half-heartedly ask how they were doing and then go back to whatever he was doing. He also blatantly said that he did not report the domestic incidents because the team would have a disadvantage (Peter, 2014) Later, the Bears issued a statement denying any knowledge of Angelo's comments. (Peter, 2014) A former Bears defensive tackle, Tank Johnson also states in the article that he was aware that domestic violence incidents went unpunished.

Wives of football players have also spoken out about how incidents have been covered up. Dewan Smith-Williams, former wife of Saint's offensive lineman Wally Williams discussed her situation, and how team reps called her to "check up on her" after her domestic violence dispute with her husband. What she sensed they were doing was not sincerely checking up on her well-being, but were trying to figure out if she was going to involve the police in her dispute. Many wives and girlfriends of players felt pressured not to say anything. "Smith-Williams said she was forced to call police on two separate occasions in the years after the baseball bat incident one in 2002 when her husband allegedly shoved her against a wall and choked her and another after their separation in 2005 when he allegedly pushed her through a plate glass window. But unwilling to break the league's code of silence or endanger her husband's career, she opted not to press charges in either incident. "I didn't want the father of my children in jail," she told the Post. "I didn't want him to lose his job. Bottom line." (Gray) Multiple women find themselves in this tough situation between wanting justice for themselves and watching their family crumble to pieces. In an interview between New York Times sports investigator Steve Eder and National Public Radio host Bill Littlefield discussing the National Football League cover-ups, Eder mentions how he interviewed Brandi Underwood, who was married to former Packers player Brandon Underwood. She discussed how the other wives talked to her, "The supportive community of Packers wives became significantly less supportive when the abuse in her relationship became public". (New York Times Investigation) In Underwood's situation, "There was an allegation with her ex-husband involving other women and a prostitution issue, and what she described was people basically saying, "This is part of what we deal with. Move on. Forgive and forget. Stay with him. It'll be better for your kids," and all that kind of stuff". (New York Times Investigation). 

One of the biggest headlines involving a football player was the case of Orenthal James, better known as "O.J." Simpson. His wife Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman were stabbed to death late June 12th, 1994 and their bodies were discovered the next day. Allegedly O.J. was the tried for the case but he was acquitted of their deaths on October 3rd, 1995. One of the most critical and more than likely the most famous pieces of evidence in that trial were the gloves. The left-handed glove was found outside of Nicole Simpson's house, while the right-handed glove was found in O.J. Simpson's house. When Simpson put on the gloves in court, they appeared to be too small and the prosecution claims that the gloves that were drenched in blood, have shrunk. While the defense believes that if the gloves do not fit, then Simpson is not the killer (CNN, 1995). This was one of the most publicized cases of all time and one of the most followed. Between the court case and the car chase, almost every American was tuning into anything related to O.J. Simpson at the time. It changed the way Americans watch television, they were able to see what the verdict of the case was going to be on television. This is also one of the first instances of a great football player turning into someone that could definitely not be looked up to, and also someone who was going to be the butt of multiple jokes.

Many people do not know about the sexual assault story revolving around Peyton Manning during his college years at Tennessee. There are six female former students that accuse that Tennessee violated Title IX. (Boren 2016) "Title IX states that: No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance". (Title IX and Sex Discrimination, 2015). Manning was a sophomore in college, he was getting his foot inspected by Dr. Jamie Naughright. As Naughright examined him, he intentionally placed his naked genitals on her face. "She reported the Sexual Assault Crisis Center in Knoxville "within hours." In addition, the document alleges that there was a previous incident between in 1994, but that document was filed under seal." (Boren, 2016) She claimed that the school asked her to change her story. (Boren 2016) If social media was at a peak in 1996 as much as it is now, many more people would know about it and Manning would not be the man he has made himself to be, a well-respected family man. More than likely the main reason why this story is making headways now in social media is because Manning just won Super Bowl fifty, and is going to retire the League. Since that story came out, people are starting to look at this clean-cut football player differently for a ridiculous thing he did in college.

Adrian Peterson, a great running back for the Minnesota Vikings has also been charged of domestic abuse. He was charged with "switching" his son, otherwise known as hitting his son with a tree branch. "According to radio station KILT in Houston, which obtained the police report, Peterson acknowledged that he "whooped" his 4-year-old son while the child was visiting him in May. The station reported that when the child returned to Minnesota, his mother took him to a doctor, with the boy saying that Peterson had hit him with a tree branch." (Whitmer 2014).  He hit him with a switch until there were wounds that were still visible days later (Battista 2014). He eventually pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor assault charge, but the League suspended him for the rest of the football season. "According to a person aware of the thinking that went into the suspension, the league was most concerned that Peterson has shown no remorse or apparent understanding that his behavior has to change. The fear is that if Peterson does something like this again, he would be subject to banishment from the league." (Battista 2014) The league did not cover this dispute up, but they did try to get their good image back after the Ray Rice scandal earlier than this. 

Then there was the Greg Hardy, a former Carolina Panthers player whose case of domestic abuse that eventually got dismissed. He was arrested and charged with attacking and threatening his girlfriend at the time. Nicole Holder (Hardy's girlfriend) had bruises all over her body, and several on her face. Hardy was "accused by Holder of throwing her against a bathroom wall, throwing her on a bed covered with assault rifles, choking her and threatening her life during an altercation at his apartment" (ESPN 2015). Hardy appealed seeking a jury trial, but was appealed. He asked for the charges to be expunged from his record. He filed paperwork with that request in North Carolina, and a judge signed and approved it. The records have been sealed from the public, and "Holder, who originally worked with police, went silent, and prosecutors said they had "reliable information" that Holder and Hardy had reached a civil settlement and that she "intentionally made herself unavailable to the State" (ESPN 2015). Hardy was put on the National Football League commissioner's exempt list, and was signed a one year deal with the Dallas Cowboys. He was issued a ten game suspension for "Multiple violations of the personal conduct policy in connection with the incident with Holder" (ESPN 2015). That suspension was dropped to four games after the appeal.

Surprising to several, the National Football League had nothing to do with covering up the video of football player Ray Rice assaulting his wife in an elevator. It was proven that the league saw it when it came into the public's viewing. A former FBI director Robert Mueller investigated into whether or not the League had anything to do with the hiding of the video. He concluded that even though the League should have looked deeper into it and that they should have known about it, they did not tamper or hide the video from the public. Mueller also pointed out that league investigators did not contact law enforcement about obtaining the video, despite Goodell's statement on Sept. 8 saying the NFL had "requested from law enforcement any and all information about the incident, including the video from inside the elevator." (Red 2015) Mueller viewed millions of documents, emails, texts, and electronic data logs and did not find anything linking the League to trying to hide the video. The investigators interviewed every female employee, contractor or vendor whose electronic badge recorded that she was in the League's main office on that day," the report continued. "Each was asked whether they made such a call or had any knowledge about the receipt by the NFL of an in-elevator video of the Rice incident. (Red 2015). Mueller sternly spoke to the League about not conducting a thorough investigation of the incident and advised them several different ways to improve their investigation process (Red 2015)

Months before the Super Bowl of the year of all the domestic abuse and violence charges, the League put out two advertisements against domestic and sexual abuse. They teamed up with the Joyful Heart Association to make this Public Service Announcement. The videos include several popular football players in the league like: Eli Manning, Trent Green, Jason Witten, and so forth. The first one is a NO MORE campaign, where they say cliches and stereotypical responses like "No more: boys will be boys", "No more: why doesn't she just leave", or "No more: I'll say something next time". Then it goes on to say No more: ignorance, bystanders and then it ends with Eli Manning saying "No more". The Speechless campaign has two thirty second videos, take one and take two. Both have the same football players speechless, as it turns to slides saying, "Domestic violence and sexual assault are hard topics for everyone to talk about". This Public Service announcement was an attempt to again regain some of the NFL's image, but in a more serious and approachable matter.

The National Football League has to pay attention to what their players are doing as well as disciplining them fairly in order to maintain their image due to the rise of media and technology. So many kids and even adults look up to these players like their heroes, and in their minds that is exactly what they are. The National Football League may not really care too much about what its players do off of the field, but it does care about profit margins and revenue. In order to keep profits up they have to maintain a good image, and in order to maintain a good image they must watch out for what their players are doing and they cannot keep swiping things under the rug anymore because social media has a way of getting everything exposed. It is a cycle that they have to accustom by if they want people to pay money to go to their games and buy all the merchandise and help the keep the investors happy so that everyone's wallets are filled.

