I’m not usually one to complain. Wait, who am I kidding? I actually complain quite a bit, but THIS TIME it’s for real.  Something has to be done about the NFL.

My rant actually began on a lovely Sunday evening with the family.  We typically make something super yummy for dinner.  Steak, cheeseburgers, homemade spaghetti…these are a few of my favorites, but I digress.  My husband and I cuddled on the couch, me in my dress, pettiicoat, and high heels (yeah right). My husband and I were actually drinking copious amounts of beer while the kiddos built laser guns out of mega blocks and monster Beauty attacked and knocked them down.

The point is we are gathered as a family for some meaningful time together.  It doesn’t happen often throughout the week due to busy schedules, so I embrace Sundays like a warm, snuggly hug and hold on tight.  We were watching the evening Cardinals game, cheering our home team on.  If you don’t know, my boys are named after two Cardinals quarterbacks (yes, I am the best wife ever to go along with this plan).

I was shocked, horrified, and even offended by the commercials during what I thought was supposed to be family viewing.  The first commercial was for BBC where a man holds a gun to someone’s head and then seconds later blood is running down their arm, pooling on the floor.  At this point, I told the boys to look away but continued watching.  I assumed it was a fluke.  The NFL must know that families watch the games together on Sundays and it had to be an oversight.

I thought wrong. The very next commercial break displayed a gigantic, hairy, deformed, jagged-tooth monster trying to devour the game player.  It scared the daylights out of my kiddos, and up to their rooms they went to play Skylander.

Our Sunday family pasttime has sadly come to end due to the inappropriate commercial viewing during the evening NFL games.  Even as a child, I remember watching the games with my parents and cannot believe that I have to censor this from my own children.

Then, I got to thinking…do I even want my kids watching the football players? With so many men like Ray Rice (wife abuser), Adrian Peterson (child abuser), and Max Hall (drug abuser), do I want my kids idolizing people like this?  The debate with my husband lasted for hours.  Are NFL players roll models?

Are we going to continue to watch football on Sundays? Yes, most likely we will.  Sundays night football will now be off limits to my kiddos and we will spend plenty of time discussing what a role model is and what their role is in our lives.

What is your opinion? Should we consider NFL players role models for our young children?