Everybody does it

When we hear about rules breakers in the news we are often times flabbergasted when we find out those people are in highly trustworthy positions in government or even elected officials. Whether those people cheat on their taxes or break laws we wonder how those things could happen.

I for one wonder why someone in those positions isn’t in jail for their transgressions, but they always seem to get a pass and plenty of time to take care of their misdeeds. Can the same be said for your average person that makes a mistake or two when they file their income taxes?

Cheating makes headlines when teachers and administrators falsify test scores in order for their students to seem like they have learned more than they actually have. I guess their fear is that others will think they haven’t done a good enough job teaching our future leaders and work force.

I’ve heard of coaches that found ways for a great athlete to move into their district in order to bring great success in a sport they excel in.

There are right and wrong ways of transferring, but when it is done with a bit of suspicion it may be scrutinized by league officials. Any investigation could bring sanctions and forfeitures, which can leave a very big black eye on a school district.

There have been instances where students with a lot of talent have been given preferential grades to make sure they stay eligible and bring victories to the team. Success may have come to the team but at what price to the student. At some point in time the student will have to face reality and get a job and sometimes these kids don’t have a very good skill level to do much of anything.

I remember former Washington Redskin Clint Didier telling a group of Lions Club members and their sons about a guy that was standing in line to get a physical asking Clint what the time was. Clint pointed and said the clock is right over there. The guy told him he knew that, but he couldn’t tell time. Someone robbed this kid of some basic survival skills to make it in this world.

On Monday, the NFL penalized the New England Patriots for the deflate gate scandal. QB Tom Brady will be suspended for the first four games next season for having some knowledge of the incidence as well as not being very forthcoming.

This of course means that the cover up is many times worse that the crime.

The NFL has had a very interesting year with domestic violence issues that rocked the football world hard. No more will pro football turn a blind eye to physical abuse toward women or children.

Deflating footballs is a far cry from domestic violence but because of these issues as well as others the NFL realizes it has to deal with rule breakers as quickly as possible.

I do have a suggestion for the NFL because social media is able to view the bad behaviors and it isn’t something pleasant for anyone to see or discuss. I think the NFL needs to go through the rulebook and discuss these rules and what would be the penalty if the rule is broken.

It would make things a lot easier, I think. Had the football PSI issue been discussed years ago and what would happen to a player that broke the rule, the penalized player may have only had a two game suspension for the first offense.

The severity of the transgression may have been two games but I think two more were added because of the cover up which makes sense.

But if the rule book came out with the fines and suspensions for each major broken rule it would be much easier to implement the penalty phase. The players would know and the public would too. And maybe NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell would be able to crack down on offenders in a timely manner. We can hope, I guess.

I’ve seen where a few people have come to Tom Brady’s defense saying that it didn’t make that much of a difference because they blew out the Colts in the playoff game in question. If it didn’t make that much difference then it shouldn’t have been done in the first place.

The defense of everybody cheats in some manner shouldn’t ever be brought in the discussion. My thought is, if you need to cheat to win, you are a loser.

Do it the right way every single time because you are not above the law. Not even the NFL law.