In Defense of Jeremiah Ratliff

 The NFL has suspended Bears’ defensive lineman Jeremiah Ratliff three games without pay—costing Ratliff in the neighborhood of $344,000—for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.  Ratliff has decided not to appeal the ruling.  Me, I’d be hollering to the mountaintops.

The suspension dates to a Texas DUI incident in January 2013, when Ratliff played for the Cowboys.  In April, he received a $750 fine and one year’s probation.  In other words, Ratliff is square with the law.  He’s paid his debt to society…but not Roger Goodell.

Ratliff did not come to work intoxicated or become that way during the course of a game or practice or team-sponsored event.  That being the case, what authority does the NFL have to act?  I doubt that Goodell would come down as hard on any owner or executive or member of the commissioner’s office facing DUI charges.  I also wonder if the league has any disciplinary rules regarding tax evasion.  A whole bunch of people on the field and in the front office might be in trouble then.

Again, if it doesn’t happen at work, it’s not the league’s—football or any other—business. If you don’t like the justice meted out by the courts, protest and organize for change.  Just don’t be surprised when a player someday mounts a successful challenge to this kind of suspension by arguing a violation of Fifth Amendment rights.  Double jeopardy or due process, take your pick.