From what started in the fall of 2014, headlines about domestic violence and sexual assault began to dominate all news stations around the world, bringing with them unprecedented attention and vital conversation around these critical issues.
Soon after, in an expansion of an ongoing partnership with NO MORE and the National Football League, the NFL began airing the original NO MORE celebrity PSAs during game-day broadcasts and in stadiums during games.
Then came a groundbreaking opportunity to involve players in sharing this important message of standing up and speaking out to say “No more” to domestic violence and sexual assault. Over two dozen former and current NFL players took part in this campaign.
Although the NFL released multiple videos that were very dramatic and in tune with the issue, there have been times where the NFL has seemed to continue to look the other way about instances about domestic violence in football. Players accused of domestic violence have repeatedly received weaker punishment than players suspected of far-lesser crimes.
Cleveland Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon was suspended for a full season for failing a marijuana test, while Ray Rice, the Baltimore Ravens running back was only suspended for the first two games of the 2014 season after video surfaced of him in an altercation with his wife that soon turned physical in an Atlantic City Hotel.
First-time offenders, such as Rice, typically are suspended a month or less by the NFL. In the past three years, only 12 players have received more than four-game suspensions and all were repeat offenders. This could mean that if Rice was to become a repeat offender, he could still be serving less suspension time than Josh Gordon.
In early November, the hashtag #MeToo went viral on most social media platforms when the rumors broke of Harvey Weinstein’s sexual harassment allegations. Twitter reported that 1.7 million women and men in 87 different countries used the hashtag.
Both #MeToo and NO MORE has brought light to the issues of sexual harassment and domestic violence all over the world.
The videos from NO MORE that were posted from the partnership with the NFL emphasize things like “‘No more’ she was asking for it'” and “‘no more’ she was wearing what?”?
The NFL’s partnership NO MORE is a step in the right direction for combating the NFL’s disinterest in domestic violence, but it needs to do more.
