Despite Embarrassing Situation, Brandon Spikes Should Not Be Punished For Video Scandal

whether there was anything illegal, the time frame of the incident, and whether it was Spikes himself who uploaded the video (and if he did then when did he do it.)

It was explained to me that a lot of people don’t know that their exploits done in front of their webcam, even if they didn’t record or save it themselves, can be recorded and saved by others. They may think it’s for a one-time live audience of whatever voyeurs are online at that moment but obviously that’s not always the case.

This doesn’t seem to have been done with consequences in mind or with his best judgment on display. Without any criminal charges filed by anyone, if it proves out that it was a pre-draft incident that was released by a third party without his consent, Spikes should in no way be disciplined or fined by the league.

By now, with the loss of his marketing deal with Reebok and the public embarrassment it brought on, Spikes has seen the error of his ways. Goodell could reiterate the NFL’s conduct policy to him but that’s about as far as it should go, if it needs to go that far at all.

Uh-oh.

they might as well suspend Cromartie for womanizing.

He didn’t do anything illegal, but Spikes did acknowledge doing something widely considered inappropriate. He broadcast himself online while engaging in a sex act. While it wasn’t a “public” broadcast, in the sense that a theoretically infinite number of anonymous people could log on and see the live streaming feed at their will, it was on a site accessible to any number of anonymous people. Although he was only directly streaming the video to one person, once that person exits out of the feed, it automatically jumps to another person. This is where it becomes problematic for Spikes and the NFL: that next person could be a 14 year old just playing around on the internet. Now, you would be engaging in illegal activity. Of course, there’s no proof that this sort of thing happened, but with the way the site works, it is a distinct possibility.

So the NFL has a tough choice to make. One guy captured a portion of the live feed that Spikes & Friend sent out onto the internet. Who knows who may have seen the feed before this guy and after this guy. The NFL might want to cover its ass and say “Because what you did was so irresponsible, with so great a chance of exposing minors to danger, we have to suspend you.” They also might say, “Because there is no proof of anything illegal, we’re letting you off this time with a stern warning.” I think the latter is the more reasonable approach, but Goodell has shown a propensity to err on the side of caution when it comes to protecting the league’s image.

he did nothing illegal

He was on the road somewhere, met a fine young lady friend, brought her back to his room and had a “good time” with her.

This is something that probably 60-70% of football players do (not NFL, but FOOTBALL players – high school, college, pros…) now and again.
Indeed, the next morning he and his buddies probably had a good laugh about their late night shenanigans the night before. Sure, jokes on him now seeing as he lost his endorsement deal and is facing punishment, but the point is, its not “serious” act.

Its not illegal, and its not overtly offensive – cause if you think about it, the type of people who would be offended by it wouldnt be hunting down the tape, and the people who do watch it aren’t exactly going to think any less of the NFL or its image because of this.

If anything, its just embarassing for Spikes that it came to public light, but I don’t see on what grounds the league has to argue that this incident hurts the NFL’s image when I think most people know and realise football players (heck, most college kids) get up to this sort of thing on a pretty regular basis..

I don’t think Spikes should be punished for this.