The following is a list of suspensions in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...

(NFL). Most NFL suspensions have been for players, but several coaches, owners, general managers, and game officials have also been suspended. In 1997, in the wake of the

O. J. Simpson murder trial ''The People of the State of California v. Orenthal James Simpson'' was a criminal trial in Los Angeles County Superior Court starting in 1994, in which O. J. Simpson, a former National Football League (NFL) player, broadcaster and actor, was tr ...

, the league under Commissioner Paul Tagliabue adopted a Violent Crime Policy which gave the league broad powers to fine and suspend players for violent crimes but only after a conviction. In 2000, the league revised its Violent Crime Policy to allow the league to suspend for non-violent crimes and other off-the-field actions. This was the Personal Conduct Policy. After

Roger Goodell Roger Stokoe Goodell (born February 19, 1959) is an American businessman who is currently the commissioner of the National Football League (NFL). On August 8, 2006, Goodell was chosen to succeed retiring commissioner Paul Tagliabue. He was chose ...

became commissioner in 2006, the league began cracking down on players performing violent hits, as well as handing out more frequent suspensions for violating the league's personal conduct and substance abuse policies. In March 2007, Goodell introduced a revised Personal Conduct Policy which strengthened the existing conduct rules. Following the

2011 NFL season The 2011 NFL season was the 92nd regular season of the National Football League and the 46th of the Super Bowl era. It began on Thursday, September 8, 2011, with the Super Bowl XLV champion Green Bay defeating the Super Bowl XLIV champio ...

, Goodell handed down one of the most severe suspensions in league history when he suspended eight players and coaches for their involvement in the

New Orleans Saints bounty scandal The New Orleans Saints bounty scandal, formally known as "Bountygate," was an incident in which members of the New Orleans Saints team of the National Football League (NFL) were accused of paying out bonuses, or " bounties," for injuring opposing ...

Player suspensions

Suspensions for violating the substance policies

The NFL has two separate policies for substances that can lead to suspension. One policy concerns the use of banned drugs that are specifically indicated to improve athletic performance,

performance-enhancing drugs Performance-enhancing substances, also known as performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), are substances that are used to improve any form of activity performance in humans. A well-known example of cheating in sports involves doping in sport, where bann ...

(PEDs). The other policy concerns "substances of abuse" and includes drugs that may not enhance performance, but are indulged in for recreational purposes, including

alcohol Alcohol most commonly refers to: * Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom * Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks Alcohol may also refer to: Chemicals * Ethanol, one of sev ...

and

marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various t ...

Player suspensions

Suspensions for violating the substance policies

Coach suspensions

Official, executive, and administrative suspensions

Footnotes

See also

References

External links