Buffalo Bills: Seantrel Henderson Situation Shows Hypocrisy of NFL
By Paul Taylor
With speculation indicating Buffalo Bills’ tackle Seantrel Henderson may face a second suspension this season, it once again highlights how the NFL has their priorities all wrong.
The NFL has been contending with increased criticism this season, with particular note made to their declining ratings and how Thursday Night Football is not working. They may be about to face another onslaught from the media.
As reported by Jay Skurski of The Buffalo News, Seantrel Henderson is apparently facing his second suspension of the season. The suspension is not expected to be announced this week, but it is looming.
There were already question arising, after Henderson missed practice on Thursday. Citing a league source, Skurski writes that it was due to a doctor’s appointment, as the Buffalo Bills‘s tackle continues to deal with Crohn’s disease.
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Understandably, this leads to the reasonable assumption that any upcoming suspension will be related to using marijuana. The 24-year old was suspended four games at the start of the 2016 season, for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy.
If it does turn out that this is the reason Henderson is once again suspended, it shines a light on how the NFL has their priorities all wrong. It’s pretty much known his use of medicinal marijuana helps treat his battle with Crohn’s disease.
As Henderson recently told the media: “I’ve got doctors telling me this is the number one medicine that would help your disease. You try to tell that to the league and it seems like they didn’t care too much.”
Certainly, it does appear that the NFL is out of touch with what they consider to be important. Compare Henderson’s initial four-game suspension to the one game originally handed out to Josh Brown, for domestic violence.
Seriously?! The penalty for smoking some weed was considered four times more serious than reportedly hitting your wife?!?! Kind of makes a farce of the NFL’s claim to be supporting the campaign to end domestic violence.
Henderson went on to say: “I hadn’t even been thinking about marijuana until it was brought up to me by a doctor.
“Since I’ve been in the league, I’ve been in the program. I got drug tested three times a week. There’s no recreational use. There’s none of that.”
The league has their priorities all wrong and unfortunately, a lot of the time it comes down purely to money. For example, the last time we checked, alcohol was advertised all around the NFL and yet we all know about society’s issues with drinking.
Overall, it will be interesting to see how this pans out after the suspension is officially announced. The hypocrisy of the NFL is alarming and they need to wake up soon, or risk losing more fans.
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Regardless of whether you’re a Bills fan or not, what’s your take on this situation? Are you on Henderson’s side or the NFL’s, or do you apportion some blame to both sides? Share your thoughts in the comments section.