NFL Exempt List: Should Players Get Second Chance?

Before reading this article, note, I do not condone or support domestic violence or child endangerment in any form. This article is simply based from a professional opinion; I do not sympathize towards the players mentioned within the article.

Over the past year it seemed like the NFL has become home to the hated, and rightfully so. With numerous players being placed on the NFL Exempt List in 2014 for domestic and/or child abuse, the integrity of the NFL has taken a significant blow. It felt like new reports of domestic violence came out every week, turning NFL stars into hated icons.

Players that were once loved are now looked upon as criminals, most of which were at one point league stars. Some of the NFL’s greatest players like Ray Rice, Greg Hardy, and Adrian Peterson became apart of the violence, turning them into the face of domestic and child abuse. For many of these players, being placed on the NFL’s Exempt List was a turn towards the end of their career.

The Exempt List is a special player status available to clubs only in unusual circumstances. The List includes those players who have been declared by the Commissioner to be temporarily exempt from counting within the Active List limit. Only the Commissioner has the authority to place a player on the Exempt List; clubs have no such authority, and no exemption, regardless of circumstances, is automatic. The Commissioner also has the authority to determine in advance whether a player's time on the Exempt List will be finite or will continue until the Commissioner deems the exemption should be lifted and the player returned to the Active List. This Exempt List does, however, allow players to continue to be paid by their team.

For many fans, these players associated with domestic and child abuse shouldn’t be allowed off the Exemption List. No one can say they blame them considering these players have been charged with crimes that can place them in jail. That being said, these fans did get their wish for some players. Ray Rice and Ray McDonald, two members of the 2014 Exempt List for domestic violence, are no longer on NFL teams. Rice, who was the first “big name” player to be placed on the Exempt List was released by his former team, the Baltimore Ravens, within weeks of his placement and has yet to receive an offer from another NFL team.

Ray McDonald was released by the San Francisco 49ers after the 2014 season and then signed with the Chicago Bears in the offseason. McDonald didn’t last long with the Bears before being released after another arrest for another domestic violence and child endangerment.

Greg Hardy became one of the most serious cases on the Exempt List, after being accused of numerous domestic violence cases. The NFL still hasn’t let Hardy rest, even after missing the entire 2014 season. Signing a 1-year contract with the Cowboys this offseason, Hardy received news that the NFL is going to suspend him 10 games in 2015.

The Exempt List’s biggest name may have been Minnesota Vikings’ running back, Adrian Peterson, who was arrested for child abuse on September 13, 2014. After only playing one game in 2014 Peterson was placed on the Exempt List. Peterson is one of the only members of the Exempt List to not be released by their team in 2014.

These players have started a major conversation within the sports world. The question that everyone continues to ask, should teams give these players another chance?

I know everyone’s first response is “no,” but in the NFL, each team is a bussiness. Yes, in many cases involved with domestic violence, the accused is terminated from their job, but that’s the employer’s decision, just like it’s the general manager’s and coach’s decision. The decision has many factors. Of course, no one should sympathize towards people accused of domestic violence and child endangerment. That doesn’t mean that professional decisions on whether or not to keep the employee (player) shouldn’t be based on their ability and the companies’ (teams’) need for them.

These players may or may not be a huge necessity for their NFL team. In the cases of Greg Hardy and Ray Rice, their teams seemingly didn’t need them and found replacements soon after their placement on the Exempt List. Without the domestic abuse cases that each player was involved in, these teams most likely wouldn’t have released them in 2014.

This goes the opposite direction as well. Minnesota Vikings’ running back, Adrian Peterson, who after being arrested for child abuse, is still an active member of the Vikings. It goes to shows that even though Peterson was in legal trouble, the Vikings needed him enough to keep him during this time.

It shows that the NFL is a business. Within this business, there are people who are needed more and less than others and because of this, players lose their jobs for certain reasons. When it comes to domestic and child violence, even players with a high mark aren’t needed enough by teams to keep them, and the ones that are kept are among an elite group. It’s simple, if Adrian Peterson was a free agent, every team would want him. So therefore, if you already have him you deal with the trouble and help him resolve it.

Domestic violence and child endangerment are obviously touchy subjects. No sympathy should be given to people who have admitted to abusing their loved ones. Within a business, however, employers need to take their need of the employee into consideration when deciding whether or not to keep them after their arrest. Depending on the player and the ability of the player, teams will have either an easy choice or a difficult one. It seemed that in most cases in 2014, teams decided to abandon their troubled player and move one. However, in some cases, they felt they needed to hang on to the asset that is the player. There isn’t a right answer when deciding on whether these players should get a second chance, but for now, the NFL will continue to run like the business they are.