By Garth Shanklin
Sports Editor

For the last three weeks, it seems like the NFL has spent most of their time doing something wrong. Be it introducing a new social media policy that actually directly contradicts the entire point of social media, fining and flagging players for touchdown celebrations or suspending players for domestic violence, the league has simply messed up every way possible.

Let’s start with the new social media policy, outlined in a memo to teams obtained by media outlets on Oct. 8. In the memo, teams are forbidden from shooting live video in their own stadium on gameday. They can’t use any service like Periscope to stream, nor can they turn any highlights into animated gifs. Violating the policies can cost upwards of $100 thousand, so naturally teams are annoyed. Some have found ways around the policy, for instance Cleveland has posted clips of electric football games reenacting the scoring play, while others (like the Patriots) have ignored the guidelines completely and continue to post video.

The shareability of highlights is what make them popular on social media. Seeing catches like the two A.J. Green made on Sunday plastered all over Twitter and Facebook helps drive the Bengal and NFL brand much more than any other generic NFL attempt at drumming up followers. I don’t care enough about the other NFL teams to follow the main NFL account during Sundays, which is where teams are allowed to retweet videos of the highlights they themselves may make, but cannot show. The main NFL feed is clogged with plays and news from every team. If I’m looking for Bengals news, the Bengals account is where I’ll go.

Some believe the NFL made this move in reaction to a decrease in television ratings. By pulling the highlights off social media, the league may be hoping more people tune into the games themselves. However, that’s not happening. The ratings for the Sunday Night Football game that aired on Oct. 23 saw a 15 percent decrease in ratings. Granted, that game was an abomination against football that ended in a 6-6 tie, but with this week’s primetime slate featuring Tennessee and Jacksonville, it’s not like things are going to get any better on that front.

There are other reasons NFL ratings have fallen. The presidential debates have taken precedence on two nights, both of which resulted in extremely high viewership.

The NFL is also facing competition from MLB in big markets like Chicago, where the Cubs’ World Series run is of slight importance.

There’s another, albiet less likely, reason for the slowdown in consumption: useless fines. The league has began fining and penalizing players for on-field touchdown celebrations. While this current generation of players may no longer have Chad Johnson to blame, the amount of flags and fines issued for simply celebrating a score is ridiculous.

In 2015, nine players were flagged for “prolonged or excessive celebrations or demonstrations, according to Sports Illustrated. As of Sept. 23, that number had already hit five, including one on Steelers’ receiver Antonio Brown, who twerked for a tad too long and was forced to pay a fine for it.

Some of the celebration flags do actually make a bit of sense, as celebrations that involve multiple players have been on the naughty list for a while. Same thing goes for props, which is why Chad Johnson’s beautiful putt of the football using the pylon will likely go unmatched for the foreseeable future.

The league is very slowly yet extremely effectively taking the fun out of football. Why would fans want to watch a product that’s interrupted by whistles every other play? It’s not fun. It’s not exciting. Another area the league is losing control of is the domestic violence issue plaguing teams across the country. It’s not just the NFL, as teams across the country in various leagues have had the same issues.

The New York Mets re-signed shortstop Jose Reyes, while the Yankees acquired Aroldis Chapman from the Reds. Both players were facing discipline for domestic violence related incidents, and both received suspensions from Major League Baseball. Chapman’s lasted about a month, while Reyes was suspended about two months for his transgression.

The NFL took a much different approach. New York Giants kicker Josh Brown received just a one-game ban for his domestic violence arrest, which the league investigated for 10 months. This coming two years after video showed then-Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice beating his wife inside an elevator. Rice was cut by the Ravens and has not played in an NFL game since, but he was only suspended for two games initially. The indefinite suspension was not handed down until after Rice was cut by the Ravens.

The league faces a fine line in situations like this. They can’t react too harshly and over punish, which will likely just make the accused angrier. Nor can they sit back and do nothing, as it would appear they condone the acts themselves at that point. It may be tough, but the league has to find a solution for the amount of players that have been charged with crimes like these.