Football players should wear black and blue

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Do we really want to see the bruisers of the NFL play for pink? As Breast Cancer Awareness Month begins, the NFL will continue its high-profile fundraising for the American Cancer Society, and its push for women to make the “crucial catch” — early detection through screening.

As we sit down to watch a game and we see big guys sporting pink, we can’t ignore the scorching hypocrisy of the NFL. As an organization, it has been ignorant, insensitive and immoral in its handling of violence toward women. A pink ribbon is not going to undo the damage that has been done these last weeks.

I want to be sure not to confuse two separate issues. The NFL maintains a website that sells a variety of pink clothing and sports mementos. The pink items that the players wear on the field are eventually auctioned off, with the money going to the Cancer Society. The NFL site claims that 100 percent of the money goes to the organization.

Encouraging awareness and supporting cancer research and services all seem good. When I first noticed the NFL’s pink campaign in 2011, it seemed an enlightened and good-hearted way to support women.

However, recent events shed doubt on the charitable efforts of the league and make them seem self-serving. We’ve heard about the Baltimore Ravens’ Ray Rice, who was caught on video punching his then fiancée unconscious in an elevator. After his arrest, they got married. The NFL initially sidelined Rice for two games, but when the video of the punch became public, the league walked it back and indefinitely suspended him.

Days later, Adrian Peterson, star running back for the Minnesota Vikings, was suspended for beating his 4-year-old with a tree branch, causing visible wounds and prompting a visit to an emergency room. Peterson is fighting the suspension, arguing that he has the right as a parent to discipline his child.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is in the hot seat. In March he spoke before a group of 32 league owners — all men — urging greater community involvement for the league and greater respect for players and fans. Now he’s ducking charges that he knew of Rice’s elevator video and in fact had seen all of it before imposing the two-game suspension.

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