LETTER: Black Lives Matter and NFL wrongdoers
It’s fall and the NFL is coming back. But are there hypocrites protesting within the league during our national anthem? Brent Schrotenboer of USA Today researched the matter. He compiled all the NFL arrests since 2000 — other than your garden variety traffic citations — and this is what he found.
There is a small percent of those on NFL rosters involved. Over those 20 years, the league had 656 major arrests — .0128 percent of players faced serious charges. Did we hold the entire league accountable for the actions of that 1 percent? No.
The Black Lives Matter protests and athletes taking a knee during our national anthem are taking aim at a different 1 percent. They are the officers among America’s police departments. With millions of honest hard-working officers responding to hundreds of millions of illegal civilian acts over the same 20 years, we see a similar pattern. They, too, have personnel who need reviews, suspensions or charges brought against them. So how is it any different?
This isn’t about privilege. This isn’t about race. We are human. People make mistakes. Should an entire league or country be held accountable for the actions of a few? Do everyone a favor: Police yourself and save us the trouble. If you can’t do the time, then don’t do the crime.
