Why The NFL Needs A Domestic Violence Awareness Month

With the recent surge in domestic violence and ignorance in the NFL, it would only make sense for the NFL to show survivors they stand with them.

The National Football League has always been known for their bad press, but lately, it’s gotten out of hand. With the recent situation with Josh Brown, the NFL is under a microscope. They have even opened an investigation on another player who was cleared but this will only go so far. The NFL has to do more and be better.

The NFL likes to pride themselves on their Breast Cancer Awareness month but we all know that’s a sham. They don’t actually donate all the proceeds and instead keep all of it themselves. They also didn’t allow DeAngelo Williams to wear pink the whole season to honor his family members who died of the disease. Instead, Williams decided to dye his hair pink but no one has talked about Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

Taking back in October, Domestic Violence Awareness Month is “Domestic Violence Awareness Month (DVAM) evolved from the “Day of Unity” held in October 1981 and conceived by the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. The intent was to connect advocates across the nation who were working to end violence against women and their children.” Besides being an amazing PR opportunity, it would give players who have survived domestic violence or know survivors show their support.

Via The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence

Even a simple google search would tell the NFL everything they need to know. Players would wear purple instead of pink or wear a purple ribbon on their uniform. The NFL wouldn’t have to get rid of Breast Cancer Awareness month either because the two would go hand-in-hand and players could have the choice of wearing both or only one.

The one thing worth changing would be how the league distributed the money. The NFL should use some amount of the money to try to help their players who were abusers. Right now, they don’t have anything to actually rehab them. I’m not saying they should get a second chance in the NFL, but they should get a chance for help. For a more in-depth look at this, I’ll re-route you to Katie Nolan’s video.

Nolan goes into a lot of detail about how the league can change their way. The most important and legitimate are counseling for the players and their families. It might not be what people are looking for, but their families deserve support. The other way the league should use the money is giving it to a charity who will use it in the right ways.

Another way the NFL could really utilize their resources is having an expert in domestic violence awareness come in. Educating their players on things such as domestic violence, types of domestic violence and how to avoid abusive tendencies could be extremely helpful. It might not stop domestic violence in the league entirely, but it would certainly be an effort to combat it which is more than what they’re doing now.

The NFL would be stupid not to do this with all of their screw-ups with domestic violence. There are a lot of things the league can do but some of my suggestions are easy and could be done relatively quickly. If they want to keep their female fanbase, why not show them how much they value them?

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