Courtesy: ESPN
The hard hits, the locker room mentality, the salty language; football has long been seen as a man’s sport. Of course that’s changed over the years as more and more women have learned to love the sport and now spend as much time in the stands or in front of their televisions as men do.
The NFL is aware of this and interspersed between the beer and car ads are ads for NFL women’s apparel usually done with actual NFL wives. Teams now hold women’s days at their stadiums to explain the rules of the game and get women involved in booster clubs. A great way to increase the fan base and revenue of course.
But if you decide to add to your fan base, then you better learn what that addition means.
This week, the NFL does what it seems to be doing best lately, leaving people shaking their heads. Real life met sports again but this one has a twist.
Robert Mathis has been suspended for the first four games of the 2014 NFL season after testing positive for a performance enhancing drug. That drug was chlomid. Chlomid has the distinction of making the NFL’s naughty list of performance enhancing drugs, while making fertility’s nice list of performance enhancing drugs.
Mathis and his wife were having problems getting pregnant. Following the advice of his urologist, Mathis decided to take chlomid because it increases testosterone and sperm production. Good for conceiving a child in your personal life but not so good when playing football in your professional life.
Personally speaking, I have friends who’ve had issues getting pregnant. Their goal was to have their own baby and they’d do anything to make that happen. So I understand what Mathis and his and his wife were going through and I understand why they did what they did. The fact that Mathis would take a drug to help his wife get pregnant says volumes. Male fertility is a sensitive subject and being able to man up to it and do what’s necessary says a lot about Mathis. This is something the every day fan, but especially a female fan, can relate to.
Mathis’s wife did become pregnant and when that happened, Mathis went off the drug. But it was still in his system when he was tested and the NFL suspended him. Mathis explained why he was on the drug, but the NFL practiced their zero tolerance policy and suspended Mathis for four games.
Mathis did not check with the league before taking the drug. Fair enough. Maybe if Mathis had informed the league of his situation, then possibly an alternative could have been found. But when you’re talking about having a child, sometimes your real life overshadows everything else. Again, something fans, and especially female fans can relate to.
The irony is that the first game Mathis will suit up for will be the Colts vs. the Ravens.
Which leads to the second part of this story. Ray Rice.
Courtesy: CBS Local Baltimore
We are told that no one knows the whole story. And that’s true. But this is what we do know. In February, Ray Rice and his then fiancée were in Atlantic City at the Revel hotel. A physical altercation occurred and according to police, Rice cold cocked his fiancée and knocked her out. TMZ then released video footage showing Rice dragging her out of the elevator. After being confronted by a security guard, Rice walked away, leaving his fiancee on the floor.
Rice was arrested but later released from jail. Rice’s fiancée declined to press charges and they left Atlantic City together and quickly got married. Rice was eventually indicted on assault charges but could avoid jail time because he entered a program for first time offenders. This was definitely a PR move and it seems to have worked. Rice has not been contacted by the Commissioner’s office and has received support from Ravens management. Another PR move was holding a press conference with his wife on Memorial Day Friday, assuring minimal scrutiny as most fans are focused on preparing for the weekend.
What Goodell needs to remember is that behind the additional viewership and revenue are faces. Female faces.
While he can hide behind the “let the justice system play out before a decision is made” scenario, as the saying goes, perception is reality.
And right now the perception is, only in the NFL can one man spend the summer knowing he’s suspended for knocking up his wife while another man can spend the summer on his honeymoon after knocking out his wife.
