Those of us who are fans of the NFL, such as myself, do a lot to show our teams and this organization that we support them. Whether it be spending every weekend glued to the TV or spending big money on tickets and jerseys, most of us are proud to do what we can to show our love for the game. However, we also know that the NFL has been plagued with problems for many years now, some only becoming public because of the NFL getting caught. Though the NFL on the surface seems to do some good, there is more than enough issues that they wish to keep secret away from the fans. In this sense they are acting like every other big company that tries to hide things they are not proud of. The problem with that though is they are way too big and public of an organization so keeping these things on the low is a bit harder for them. When these unfortunate events finally come out, they go into full damage control and do their best to make themselves look as least guilty as possible. Here are just a handful of unsavory topics the league doesn't want you to know about.

The NFL has a reputation of covering their own tracks

They wait until it is too late to discipline

The NFL is no stranger to having been in the headlines for their players behaving down right disgusting, but why don't they take action when they know that these players are causing more trouble than they're worth? Bottom line is usually they do not want to suspend their star players. If they did that they know it would hurt their ratings and overall business. They know keeping these top players benched is not how you become a billion dollar organization. Take for example three of many incidents that went public like Aaron Hernandez, Adrian Peterson, and Ray Rice. Hernandez was found guilty of murder. His team knew of his off putting behavior and severe aggressiveness. Not to mention he was charged with multiple previous assaults and this was ten years before the murders took place. The Patriots were well aware of those assaults. Adrian Peterson was initially suspended by the NFL after being accused of causing negligent injury to his son. However, it wasn't long before a leaked voicemail from an executive in the league came out with the executive saying that they promised Peterson he would only get a two game suspension. Let's not forget about Ray Rice and how could we? Most of us NFL fans have seen the video footage of Rice knocking his girlfriend unconscious in Atlantic City. It was hard to watch, but apparently the NFL had and it took them more than five months to decide to have him released by the Ravens. The fact that they got caught and knew this had occurred left a bad taste in many fans mouths.

The NFL was well aware of Ray Rice assaulting his wife

Concussions and brain injuries are still a problem

I recently wrote a post touching on some of this. Here's the thing, the issue is not just about concussions and head injuries occurring. It is also about the fact that they are doing the bare minimum to fix it. It's not getting better and they spent more time trying to cover up what was actually happening in the league than actually trying to do anything to make it better. Like I have said, it took almost 18 years for them to admit there is a link to CTE and concussions. Not only did it take a ridiculous amount of time, but it took them being brought to court, losing a one billion dollar lawsuit and having a spotlight shined on them. Now when it seems they should be doing everything in their power possible to try to change this, they're doing extremely little. With the amount of money the league brings in every year, fining players for using their heads to tackle or claiming to use safer helmets is insignificant. There's even studies from last season showing the increase in concussions. Time to start thinking of a new plan before you have another lawsuit thrown at your feet.

Concussion rate rose in the NFL in 2017

Truth about the cancer drives

As previously stated, the NFL is a billion dollar industry. They're basically oozing money. Every year the league puts up tons of pink to support breast cancer. Everything from the players uniforms to merchandise they sell is supposed to be to raise money for this cause. This sounds like a really wonderful and heartfelt thing that they're doing. The only problem is they got caught donating a tiny eleven percent of what they actually raised. On top of it most of the money raised goes back to manufacturers of that pink stuff they sell to begin with. The NFL also feels for whatever reason that they are entitled to take an extra 1 1/4 percent. I know that amount sounds like nothing, but when you are bringing in billions of dollars annually, anything is too much to take from a charity. Breast cancer groups have actually gone against the league for using the cause to make money phrasing the term of pinkwashing. The NFL must have heard them loud and clear because recently they have decided to get rid of the annual fundraising they do for breast cancer. Now why would you do that if you have done nothing wrong?

The NFL makes way too much money

Any organization in America making money should be seen as a great thing for our country. It turns into a nightmare when these organizations would rather profit than actually fix their own internal problems. For example, healthcare in the NFL is a joke. These guys wreck themselves every week and end up with long lasting conditions that are hard to manage. Now you'd think playing for a billion dollar company they would have no problem with getting top of the line healthcare, right? Wrong. Often when these players get hurt and need specialized care, the league does not pay enough to cover the medical bills. This means they end up using something like Medicaid which means us, the taxpayers, get stuck with the bill instead of the billionaires that should be paying it. Bottom line, some if not all of these problems without a doubt could be fixed by these guys if greed wasn't in their blood. Charities getting far less than they deserve, players having garbage healthcare, and even the fact that referees make something closer to a part time salary is inexcusable. Think about how much the NFL brings in just for the Super Bowl let alone for the entire season. Think about how much you pay for one team jersey. Think about how much you'll be shelling out to get mediocre seats at a game. Then ask yourself if it is fair. Don't get me wrong, I love football, but i'm sure as hell not going to turn a blind eye to what actually occurs within the NFL. These are only a fraction of the problems within the league and I'm sure with due time there will be more issues coming to light.

I hope you enjoyed! Thanks for reading!