NFL Gets A Win With Von Miller Suspension

The NFL has a poor track record of taking the moral high road. Before the Ray Rice video was leaked (but after the NFL saw it), the league and the Baltimore Ravens collaborated on a plan for Mrs. Rice to take the blame for the incident. When Adrian Peterson beat up a 2-year-old boy, he was punished by getting a year off with pay.

Roger Goodell has typically levied fines and suspensions based on how good a player is. The better the player, the easier the league goes on them. It also depends on the organization. Patrick Chung of the New England Patriots was arrested after his New Hampshire home was found to have significant amounts of cocaine in it. After the initial round of news, nobody ever heard about the case again.

Von Miller is 35 years old, and not quite the player he used to be. He is used sparingly, as a situational pass rusher for the Bills, so his recent 4-game suspension might not be worth shouting from the rooftops, but it is a step in the right direction. In November of last year, Miller turned himself into the Desoto Police Department. A warrant had been issued for his arrest after his pregnant girlfriend reported him for domestic assault.

According to the police report, Miller choked the woman for 3-5 seconds. This was after repeatedly shoving her and stepping on her feet until she fell into a chair. The police were called, and when they arrived, Miller had fled the scene, and the bruises on the woman were consistent with her story.

What makes the suspension (which is for violating the personal conduct policy) applaudable for the NFL, is that the case has been closed and Miller was never convicted of wrongdoing. In the past, the NFL was happy to say, "We can't punish a player if they are found not guilty in a court of law."

In the case of Miller, this belief is being waived, because the NFL conducted their own investigation into the matter, and determined the incident required a suspension. Hats off to the NFL for suspending Miller, and hopefully this will entice other leagues and organizations to dig deeper than the authorities, to get to the truth. Domestic abuse is a serious offense, and there are no mild cases of it.