Another week, another slew of fines for the Pittsburgh Steelers for “uniform violations.” If you haven’t been keeping track, different members of the Steelers have been fined for showing their support of and raising awareness of cancer and domestic violence, respectively. Each of these men have been touched, personally by these issues and wanted to use their platforms as NFL players to create a stir. Unfortunately, it created an undesirable outcome and each man (William Gay, Cameron Heyward, and DeAngelo Williams) a little lighter in the pocket.
William Gay was fined for wearing purple cleats against Arizona in support of Domestic Violence Awareness Month. That may be one the NFL wanted to turn a blind eye to given its recent track record of player-related domestic incidents over the last several years. You have a man here who was personally affected by domestic violence when his step-father shot and killed his mother when he was 7-years-old. He’s had to live with that nightmare for most of his life. He had to bear the brunt of “when domestic violence goes too far.” This was far from a “look at me moment.” Gay has been involved in public service announcements and has spent his own time advocating domestic violence prevention. He doesn’t go out of his way to make a spectacle, rather he makes a gesture to show that domestic violence prevention is still at the forefront of his mind – even when on the gridiron. The NFL’s response? A $5,787 fine. Who comes up with these amounts, anyway? This is not a good look for the League, as the most recent incidents with Ray Rice, Greg Hardy, and Johnny Manziel (currently under investigation) are still fresh in the minds of the public.
DeAngelo Williams, whom the Steelers signed this past offseason, lost his mother to breast cancer and has done work to promote awareness and has worked independently to raise money for breast cancer research and recently paid for over 50 women to get mammograms. His tribute to his mother and others in his life affected by the disease is to dye the tips of his locs pink and painting his toenails pink. It’s not my first choice of a way of tribute, but who am I to knock what this man has done and continues to do. Williams was fined $5,787 for writing “We will find a cure” and a pink ribbon on his eyeblack. Williams petitioned the league to allow him to wear pink accessories throughout the season in support of breast cancer awareness. Heaven forbid the uniform guidelines prevent someone from making a decent gesture! So, because the NFL only wants to acknowledge Breast Cancer Awareness Month during October, like breast cancer only matters in October, players, staff, and fans should only focus on it during those four Sundays in October? Got it.
Cameron Heyward, Craig Heyward’s son, was fined twice (before having the second one rescinded) for writing the words “Iron Head” on his eyeblack. For those not familiar, “Iron Head” Heyward played fullback in the NFL for 11 seasons (Saints, Bears, Falcons, Rams, and Colts) and died of bone cancer (from a chordoma) in 2006. The League rescinded the second fine after they struck a “deal” with the younger Heyward to monetize a cause that was personal and devastating. How insensitive is that?
I understand the NFL is a multi-billion dollar business that can seemingly make its own rules and the men who play in the league should consider themselves “privileged for the opportunity to play this game and make a living.” That nonsense aside, this multi-billion dollar corporation (that is somehow tax-exempt) has a tremendous platform and the ability to embrace so many different causes and do so much good, but it spits in the face of everything that’s decent and sensible. There are those that will say the NFL doesn’t have a domestic violence problem, and “statistics” may support that statement, but the NFL does have a “woman” problem in that the League doesn’t value the impacts, especially financially, that women have on its business. Throwing women a “bone” a few weeks out of the season, by donning pink accessories and promoting the sale of the same on your website at a markup that’s above your normal practice, isn’t valuing them, it’s borderline patronizing and insulting.
MB
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