You've Got To Be Kidding

If only the "real world" were the same. Maybe its just me, but I am outraged that Jamal Lewis, the running back for the Baltimore Ravens of the NFL, only received a 4 month sentence after agreeing to a plea bargain in which he will testify against a person that at one time I'm sure he considered a friend, or atleast an acquaintance. If you don't know the whole situation Lewis was charged with a federal crime. That's right a FEDERAL crime of trafficking cocaine. With it came a sentence of up to 10 years in prison and for anyone else dire consequences.

It's not just the 4 month sentence that irks me, but he also gets to serve the jail time during the NFL offseason. Along with this Paul Tagliabue and the very forceful NFL came down on Lewis with at best a small slap on the wrist by suspending him 2 games. Excuse me but this man was charged and admitted guilt through the plea bargain to a federal crime of trafficking cocaine. So NFL insiders and analyst can't believe that the NFL even has jurisdiction to suspend him, since the crime took place prior to him signing with the NFL, but I think he should have been suspended a minimum of 8 games (half the season) if not a complete season.

We all know for a fact that if you or I committed such a crime it would be pretty unlikely even with a plea bargain we would get only 4 months in jail and we wouldn't get to serve the time when it was most convenient for us. Not only that but we would be immediately fired from our jobs and not be allowed to return once we served our debt to society. And further more it would be damn tough to get another well established job with a federal crime on our record.

Image is everything for the NFL. Having a player admitting guilt to a drug trafficking charge, especially cocaine, cannot be what the NFL wants or should put up with. Maybe its ironic but we all remember that Ray Lewis, linebacker for the same Baltimore Ravens, was once charged with double murder. That's not your every day misdemeanor. While both Lewis' are beasts on the football field, life is more than who you are on the field and they represent everything that is wrong with sports.

At the same time Rafael Furcal of the Atlanta Braves must spend time in jail for drunk driving charges and was allowed to hold of that jail time until after the playoffs. I guess he'll be reporting soon. The double standards for "famous or well-known" people is ridiculous and the system needs to be fixed. Not only the justice system but also the way in which the leagues handle the players, because like it or not, they are public representatives for their respective company.

The NFL is considered the toughest league when it comes to suspensions and disciplining their players for both on field and off field actions. It disgusts me the way in which they handled the whole situation. But then again, the more I think about it these sports leagues are like the mob. Once you're in and established, you have all the resources and strings to make sure everything is smoothed out. The way the players unions work, makes it an us (players) verse them (league) system, even though I can't imagine too many players who would want to be lumped in with either Lewis because of their off field actions.

Well that's my bitch, and one more thing...don't traffic cocaine because you aren't Jamal Lewis.