Is the National Football League broken? Does it need to be fixed? Can it be fixed?

All three questions are legit in my mind but at the same time all three contain various levels of reaction from the fans who buy the jerseys, hats and tickets.

The sewer in which the NFL currently resides in is not jammed with residents but instead sparsely populated with a few young men who have made some colossal errors in judgment.

Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson and Greg Hardy, et al, will be held accountable in two courts – legal and public opinion.

It’s the latter which will have the biggest impact it seems as the fans don’t want to be seen paying homage to a perpetrator of domestic violence and rightfully so.

These acts and others being uncovered might even be enough to make a person stop watching or supporting the NFL and if that’s what your reaction is that’s your choice and yours alone.

I read somewhere that a fantasy league disbanded due to all the terrible business coming out of the NFL and gave the entry fee to a charity.

That’s fine. Some might say over the top but it’s what they wanted to do and that can’t be wrong.

The degree of bad taste left in your mouth is your own and so the way you decide to rinse is your call as well.

One thing which doesn’t get the coverage it deserves is the number of good things the league does do and the fact these three young men and their situations are far from the norm in the NFL.

In fact, recent stats show they aren’t even close to the norm for people outside of football in their age group.

There is no doubt the domestic violence protocol in the NFL needs to be scrapped and built fresh.

The commissioner might have to be replaced as he is certainly responsible for the stench surrounding the Rice case but we can’t look at the more than 1,600 players employed by the league and paint them with the same brush. Can we?

So back to the three questions at the top.

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You can decide for yourself what the answers are and choose the path you want to follow in the weeks to come as a result.

Whatever road you decide to go down you alone have the hands on the steering wheel .

For me, I will still watch the game. For now.