I’ve always been a football fan. Growing up in the 80's in the San Francisco Bay Area it was hard not to be. The 49ers were ripping off Super Bowls with one of the all-time greats at Quarterback in Joe Montana. The West Coast offense was changing the game and Bill Walsh was the Captain of the NFL ship. I would spend whole weekends doing nothing but watching NFL games. Once I got my own place I made sure I got DirecTV so I could get the NFL Sunday Ticket. $300+ a year just to watch NFL games from all over the country. I did that for 10 years. Thinking now that I spend over $3,000 just to watch the NFL is a little sickening.

Fast forward to 2013. This is the year I didn’t pay for the NFL Sunday Ticket. Instead I purchased a streaming package from NFL.com that allowed me to watch the games the day after. But, it only cost $40 and I didn’t have to have cable. At this point I had cut cable for almost a year and the NFL was the only thing stopping me from canceling for years. But, I had made the decision. I was going to save money and as long as I could wait until Monday to watch I was going to be okay.

But, that extra time I had on the weekend was nice. I spent more time with my family. I started hiking local trails. I knew I was better for not having the NFL rule my life from September to February. This year I’m not paying for the NFL anymore. But, its not because of my extra time on the weekends or the money. The NFL is out of control and I’m not going to participate helping them continue their cycle of hatred, violence, and greed.

Aside from the enormous amount of money players, coaches, owners, and the league make they are constantly squeezing in more advertising. Game tickets are too high and taking a child to a game is out of the question. Alcohol rules the stadiums across the country and has ruined watching a great live sport. I’m not including that the league identifies itself as a non-profit corporation so it doesn’t have to pay taxes . I’m not even considering that Michael Vick is still a Quarterback in the NFL. As disgusting as that is its still not the main reason why I won’t pay or watch the NFL anymore.

I’ll give you three names for why I finally had enough. Why this year is the death of the NFL to me: Michael Sam, Ray Rice, and Mike Priefer.

The firestorm around Michael Sam as the first openly gay player to be drafted has been sickening and not just from the bigots that strike from their anonymous twitter handles. Former and current players attacking, criticizing and flat out discriminating against Michael Sam has shown what kind of league the NFL is. Recently a Hall of Fame head coach and a mentor to several players in the league (including Michael Vick) said in an interview that he would not have drafted Michael Sam.

In an interview published Sunday in the Tampa Bay Tribune, Dungy didn’t mince words when it came to discussing Sam, a defensive end drafted by the St. Louis Rams earlier this year. “I wouldn’t have taken him,” Dungy said. “Not because I don’t believe Michael Sam should have a chance to play, but I wouldn’t want to deal with all of it.”

“It’s not going to be totally smooth,” he added, “things will happen.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/21/michael-sam-tony-dungy-rams-gay-nfl_n_5606464.html

This is coming from a man who took Michael Vick under his wing after Vick spent 18 months in federal prison for unspeakable acts while supporting cross state dog-fighting and gambling. He “wouldn’t want to deal with it all”? He can’t find a reason to judge a player based on his merits as an individual and as a player? The league has become sensitive to players and coaches using homophobic slurs on social media or in meetings, but not in the same fashion they would hold people accountable for racist remarks against players.

This is where Mike Priefer comes in. In 2012 he said some downright terrible things about gay people in Minnesota to punter Chris Kluwe. Although people are allowed to their own opinions, something like what Mike Priefer was saying in the locker room has no place in a work environment. We forget that though these men are playing a game, it is still a workplace. This is their job. Yet, the Minnesota Vikings and the NFL did nothing until Chris Kluwe threatened to sue the Vikings. This is the type of league we support. They only act once there is a threat of loss in revenue. And its disgusting.

Showing its true form, the Minnesota Vikings levied a 3 game suspension against Mike Priefer. This brought Mr. Priefer out to the press this week to announce how terrible of a person he was. But one of my favorite people has a fantastic quote about these situations, Jim Rome. To quote him,

“You’re not sorry for what happened, you’re sorry you got caught.”

The NFL has shown it refuses to get involved in situations that include important social issues which lead to the Vikings finally being the one’s to impose a punishment. Of course it was after there could have been financial repercussions, but I guess you can’t back pedal forever.

In an attempt to close this quickly, the Vikings set up a press conference at the beginning of training camp with general manager Rick Spielman, coach Mike Zimmer, and the embattled Mike Priefer to give Mike one last chance to apologize and the team to show their support. Which gave us this gem:

“I know what is inside of him, I know what’s in his heart. And he made a mistake, and if anyone here hasn’t made a mistake, I want you to raise your hand, because I know I’ve made plenty.”

Coach Mike Zimmer

Once again the players and coaches in the NFL are circling their wagons around one of their own, defending actions that should appall all of the staff on that franchise. How the owner, coaching staff, and players would defend his actions as a “mistake” is beyond me. It truly shows the culture of the league. One I want no part of.

Clearly punishment in the NFL only understands money, though. That must be the only reason Ray Rice is still an NFL player. This is the most upsetting news from this off-season and is despicable. Every off-season there are multiple NFL players arrested and fans continue to look past the culture of the NFL just to watch a game. There is a disassociation between fans and the real people underneath the helmets of the men on the field. Most NFL fans must be able to look past the appalling acts some of these players commit off the field.

Ray Rice should have been banned from the league. Rice was arrested following a February 15 attack on his then girlfriend, knocking her unconscious. This attack was caught on security cameras leaving no question if he was guilty of the attack.

Domestic violence of any kind should not be tolerated under any circumstances. Yet somehow both the judicial system and the NFL felt Ray Rice didn’t need much of a punishment. Rice avoided a trial and took a deal to enter a diversionary program. <http://deadspin.com/ray-rice-to-avoid-court-enter-diversionary-program-1579220162> Swing and a miss by our judicial system. Next up, the gutless NFL.

Ray Rice Timeline

After months of deliberations, Roger Goodell decided to place just a 2 game suspension on Rice proving that domestic violence will be frowned upon, but tolerated. Everyone involved with this decision should lose their jobs. Currently a player can get a longer suspension for being caught with “performance enhancing substances” or marijuana than what Ray Rice received for physically attacking a woman and knocking her unconscious. Even Mike Priefer received a longer suspension for saying some words.

The NFL, Roger Goodell, and the team owners don’t deserve any support from fans any longer. The league. Aside from the staggering amount of player who fail to obey the law, the league’s inability to levy punishments on people deserving is ludicrous. Every season the NFL chooses to look past the failures of implementing correct and just punishments on players and coaches who are despicable human beings for the sake of money.

Players arrested in 2014

Its time to move on, at least for me. I won’t support this any longer. We should all feel ashamed we’ve failed to stand-up earlier. There is no defense for the NFL’s inaction to prove to the world they don’t support racists, zealots, cheaters, alcoholics, and violence against any person or animal. Goodbye forever, NFL.