The National Football League announced Wednesday that Arizona Cardinals running back Tevin Smalls Jr. would face a four-game suspension for his recent behavior off the field. Smalls was arrested last week on charges of criminal conspiracy, breaking and entering, and assault, and was able to walk free after posting a $250,000 bail. Police reports indicate that Smalls and two associates broke into the home of Smalls’ former Oklahoma teammate Ju’Wuan Givens and beat him to the point of unconsciousness. Before the crimes were committed, Smalls revealed his motive on social media, citing Givens’ recent accomplishment of surpassing Smalls’ school rushing record as “unacceptable” and “a betrayal.” “You like to run, huh? I’ll make you run,” said Smalls in a now-deleted X post.
The relatively lenient penalty issued by the league has been widely criticized since it was announced. Opinion journalists, social media users, and even the victim’s family have joined forces in slamming the NFL’s decision. Most critics share the sentiment reflected in the words of Givens’ mother, Georgia, who said that the NFL is “punishing a knockout with a slap on the wrist.”
The elder Givens and those in agreement have also cited the penalty issued to former New York Giants cornerback Malachi Hurd last year as evidence of the league’s poor judgment. Hurd was arrested during a Bronx sit-in demonstration that sought to keep developers from leveling a historically protected building that once held the borough’s most iconic Black bookstore, Dunbar’s. Hurd was released later that day and answered questions at a press conference the following day. After he defended his participation in the sit-in, the league saddled him with a ten-game suspension and a hefty $65,000 fine. Commissioner Brian Short told journalists he believed the penalties “reflect the severity with which the National Football League views his offense. This league stands with law enforcement and the proper carriage of justice. Any member of this organization who would not only seek to disrupt a police procedure but also go on to defend that disruption, is asking to be harshly disciplined.” The length of the suspension only allowed Hurd to play one more regular season game that year.
“So a black man exercises his right to peacefully assemble and he’s done for the season,” said Givens’ mother to a reporter. “We’ve established that. But a black man breaks into my son’s home and beats him half to death over his football stats and he can’t play for four weeks. Let’s put two and two together. Does the NFL prefer black men killing each other to them standing up for themselves?”
Shortly after her comments were published, Smalls added to the controversy by returning to X to harass Givens, Givens’ mother, and his own critics. Soon after, Short was asked in a press conference about a post reading “Bossman Brian said I can beat up on whoever I want so I don’t care what y’all gotta say…man I love football!!!” A confused-looking Short replied, “What, the guy can’t tweet now?”
Featured image courtesy of NoonVirachada/Getty Images.