Cheating in National Football League (NFL)

The national football league is an American football league that has been categorized into two that is national and American football league and thereby consist of 32 teams. This association has been associated with cheating by the players, the referees and the coaches. Tom Brady is a quarterback who plays in the NFL and has been accused of cheating against New England by deflating of footballs (Guardado). This meant that the balls were underinflated despite it being unlawful in this particular game. Cheating does not only involve deflating of balls as it takes other forms too that is shaving off of points, use of steroids just to mention a few.

Using of drugs or rather steroids is an example of cheating in this games. Examples of this drugs include the use of Toradol, this is a drug that makes it easier for players to play throughout any match. Using of these drugs is unlawful in accordance with the rules of the National football league Steroids are mostly used by players of this game to boost their performance in the field. Dana Stubblefield was a defensive lineman in the NFL who found guilty of using steroids to boost his performance in the pro Bowl selection (Michael S). Dana ingested THG, this was a steroid that is difficult to detect in any human’s blood. He was then fined by the national football league for testing positive for steroids. The use of this steroids led to this player throwing his career as professional footballer down the drain.

Shaving of points is also another form of cheating in the national football league. This majorly involves fixing of matches between teams, this is, therefore, a federal crime. This means that spreading of points for the purposes of making a profit. Sports betting is one of the reasons as to why players might resort to shaving points. Players often resort to this because they have been offered an incentive which is mostly hefty amounts of profits by the gamblers. The national football league tends to ban players from playing football league if the players are found guilty. Point shaving has influenced the phenomenon of fixed matches in the world today not only in football but in other sports too. The reason type of cheating came into existence is because players in this sport were paid insufficiently which meant that they resorted to this form of cheating for the purposes of earning more money. According to section 15 of the national football league player contract, "INTEGRITY OF GAME," allows for the fine, suspension, or termination of a contract for any player "if he accepts a bribe or agrees to throw or fix an NFL game; fails to promptly report a bribe offer or an attempt to throw or fix an NFL game; bets on an NFL game; [or] knowingly associates with gamblers or gambling activity." (Moore)

Deflategate is another form of cheating in the NFL as mentioned earlier (Pompei). Balls in NFL often weigh between 12.5 to 13.5 pounds per square inch this in accordance with this leagues regulation. Unfavorable weather conditions that are windy and rainy weather make it difficult or rather hard to play football is the reason as to why players tend to reduce pressure in this balls in order to make it easier and flexible for any player to grip. There are other reasons as to why balls deflate which mainly include cold temperatures, which means that this temperatures lower pressure in game balls. In accordance with the NFL regulations, teams that are found guilty of deflating balls are subject to $25,000 fine (Bibber).

Cheating in NFL games is prohibited that is why the NFL rule book provides punishments for the different forms of cheating. The Huge fine is an example of punishment and it should be heightened in order to prevent players from engaging any form of cheating. Players in the NFL should also have a code of conduct they should uphold and respect. Any form of cheating should not be tolerated but should be subject to punishment. Cheating in the NFL tends to render this games unfair and unjust as it tends to give the teams an unfair advantage over others.