The NFL has worked hard to grow its female fanbase in recent years, and Taylor Swift’s relationship with Travis Kelce has been a big part of that. But according to one columnist, the league is undermining all of that progress with how it has handled the situation regarding Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs.
This week, Jacobs was back on the field for the Green Bay Packers despite new abuse allegations from three women, which surfaced just days after he returned from a six-game absence. In a new column, Daily Mail US deputy sports editor Rich Jones argued that the situation is “more proof the league is morally bankrupt.”
Advertisement
Josh Jacobs’ Return
Jacobs was arrested in May after an altercation with his then-girlfriend, who said he threw her to the ground. In September, he pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges of battery and criminal damage to property, and he spent the first six games of the season on the Commissioner’s Exempt List.
Shortly after Jacobs returned, the Hobart-Lawrence Police Department released records from its investigation that included accounts from three other women describing similar allegations from previous years, according to NFL.com. The NFL has said that it will review the new allegations as part of its ongoing investigation.
Jacobs has denied the new allegations, saying that they feel “like an attack” on him. His lawyers called the accounts “old,” “hearsay,” and “easily disproven,” and said they have a “substantial body of tangible evidence” to dispute them.
Advertisement
In the meantime, Jacobs has continued to play. He scored a touchdown against the Carolina Panthers in his second game back and celebrated with a handcuff gesture, which he later insisted was unrelated to his case and was a reference to a gospel song.
‘Morally bankrupt’
In his column for the Daily Mail, Jones wrote that the Jacobs situation shows how quickly NFL teams overlook off-field issues when a player can help them win.
“While the NFL investigates the latest allegations, and he remains innocent until proven guilty, the fact Jacobs is still stepping out onto the field paints both the league and the Packers in a bad light,” Jones wrote. “And it does little to dispel the idea that, ultimately, moral compass flies out the window if a player is deemed useful and valuable on the field.”
Advertisement
Jones also pointed to the Kansas City Chiefs, who recently signed kicker Justin Tucker after he served a 10-game suspension over multiple allegations of sexual misconduct involving massage therapists, which Tucker has called “unequivocally false.” That move drew plenty of criticism as well.
“These incidents are, sadly, nothing new. Listing those with alleged checkered pasts still suiting up on a weekly basis would be a long and near-impossible task,” Jones wrote. “But the ongoing Jacobs saga is another high-profile and sorry chapter that undermines the work the league has done to appeal to more female fans.”
Jones noted that the NFL has “leaned heavily into the ‘Taylor Swift effect’ since 2023,” when Swift attended her first Chiefs game to support Kelce. The league has since hit its highest female viewership since it started collecting data in 2000.
“And so what message does it send to those millions of women, to be watching someone facing harrowing accusations of battery?” Jones asked.
Advertisement
Clearly, Jones doesn’t think the NFL can have it both ways.
The post ‘Morally bankrupt’: NFL criticized for chasing Taylor Swift fans as Josh Jacobs plays through abuse allegations appeared first on The Comeback: Today’s Top Sports Stories & Reactions.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
