I find it interesting the similarity between Major League Baseball (MLB) and the National Football League.  MLB had steroids or performing enhancing drugs (PEDs) rampant for years.  In fact, if you can recall a few years back, when Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa were having their home run race to 60 home runs, there was excitement in the air, people were loving baseball (including myself), rest assured the executives in MLB were loving it because this was attracting fans in droves to the ball parks, and of course sponsors were loving it because this meant more exposure.  Do you think Bud Selig and the executives knew there were PED's involved?  I am sure they did, but did they care?  Fast forward and A Rod, McGuire, Clemens, are pariahs of MLB.

Now the NFL, Should we be really surprised that there are some moral issues with football, Adrian Peterson had an issue, I believe a year ago with his "parenting skills"  and other athletes have had their dirty laundry aired (e.g. Plaxico Burress, Michael Vick).  However, the NFL looked away.  Now fast forward and with Ray Rice's elevator video going viral.  In essence the NFL was caught with their pants down.  It was an embarrassment to them which with guilt by association translates to embarrassment to sponsors.

What I find sad is that all of this dysfunctional behavior by the athletes was willing to be tolerated as long it didn't disrupt the ability to make money.  Let's face reality, if these controversies were never exposed, we would all be enjoying the sports and the sponsors would be making money and the dysfunctional behavior would go on even with full knowledge of it.