When the Cleveland Chapter of the National Action Network made public its demands that the National Football League move this summer's Hall of Fame Induction and game to a site other than Canton Ohio, the usual knee jerk response was forthcoming. "What does the NFL have to do with an alleged act of misconduct by the Canton Police department?"
In the past, under the reign of former NFL Commissioner Paul Taglibue, maybe nothing. But since 2006, the NFL has been under the leadership of former counsel Roger Goodell, who from day one, has set an aggressive agenda regarding the off-field conduct of the league's main partners; its players.
Goodell's message was seemingly clear: "This is not the NBA, we are going to hold the line against the "cornrows" and the gangstas." He implied that the last thing the NFL needs is for mainstream America to tune out and stop buying cars and lite beer our sponsors peddle, although he did not say those words.
As the Kansas City Negro sportswriter Jason Whitlock might say, the day of the 'Bojanglers' was over. Beat your spouse or baby's mama and you're going on timeout. Decide to start your own armory out your suburban Chicago home and you too will have spend some time on the sidelines. Fight dogs and get caught, you might never come back.
Regardless of his intent, Goodell set the bar high when he put one set of the league's "partners" on notice. Would it not be the height of hypocrisy for the league to hold some of its partners to a high standard and not hold them all to that same high standard?
The city of Canton is a ghost-town during the fifty-one weeks of the year when the NFL is not in town with the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. An argument could be made that the city derives much of it annual budget from the proceeds of the induction ceremony and game. Thus, the Canton area has nearly as much at stake in the reputation of the NFL and its players as does the NFL itself.
The above video shows just one incident in a decade-long struggle between the Canton police and the citizens that the police swear to protect and serve. There will be those who will tell you that the young man in the video, Cortes Everitt, has a criminal record and does not deserve such a platform. If the treatment Mr. Everitt received was an anomaly, then,maybe, "they" would have a point. The treatment seems to part of a pattern.
But, this issue is bigger than Mr. Everitt. This is about respect for human dignity. Please don't tell me the NFL places a higher value on the care and handling of pit bulls than they do on the care and handling of Black and poor folks. As for those who say: "You can't harm good, white, business folk because of the action of the few," I say, name me one Black vendor the NFL uses for the game. Or, name one Black vendor who has a services contract with the Hall of Fame. I suspect the answer is the same in both cases. There are none.
At the end of the day, the answer to the question raised in the title of this post is simple.
The NFL changed the rules. If they are going to hold some of their "partners" to a high standard, then hold all of their partners that same high standard.
