Last year, when the NFL determined that the Dolphins had cheated with coach Sean Payton and quarterback Tom Brady, it fined owner Stephen Ross $1.5 million, forfeited his first-round pick, and He then imposed an astonishing penalty of early suspension. From August to mid-October.
This year, when the NFL (and everyone else) determined that Panthers owner David Tepper threw a drink at a customer in Jacksonville, the NFL fined Tepper just $300,000.
Aside from the double standards applied to punishing players and owners, why did the NFL impose such dramatically different penalties on Ross and Tepper?
The message may be simple. If you mess with any of us, we’ll catch you. If you mess up one of them, it’s no big deal.
Which violation is actually worse? Being caught going about fair business, which happens regularly with no scrutiny or punishment, or blowing a gasket and acting like a spoiled child who can’t control his most basic emotions. Isn’t there?
Heck, Tepper didn’t even apologize for what he did. Look at his statement. “I have a deep passion for this team and regret my actions Sunday. I should have left it to NFL stadium security if there was a problem. I respect the NFL Code of Conduct. I accept the league’s discipline for my actions.”
It was Tepper’s not-so-subtle way of claiming he was provoked by a rowdy fan who crossed the line before jumping. Rather than use that as a first line of defense, Tepper implied that the fans did or said something that deserved a reaction.
That is never the way owners should respond. Again, what’s wrong? Is it the common violation of tampering, or the unusual act of throwing a drink at someone?
The respective punishments imposed on Ross and Tepper demonstrate the differences in how they view themselves and how they view others.