By Myron MathisCOLUMNIST

By now, everyone who doesn’t live under a rock has heard about the Ray Rice situation. The former star running back was released by his team, the Baltimore Ravens, on Sept. 8 when a video of him knocking out his then-fiance and dragging her immobile body out of an elevator was made public by TMZ.

The Pro Bowl-caliber athlete was suspended indefinitely by the National Football League, as well as removed from the latest installment of the Madden video game. But the real question here is whether the NFL orchestrated a cover-up to protect their highly touted athlete.

Sports institutions have far too often turned a blind eye to the mischievous acts committed by all parts of their multi-million dollar machine.

Take one of the biggest sporting scandals in recent memory for example: that of Jerry Sandusky at Penn State back in 2012. Now a convicted serial child molester, Sandusky coached at the prestigious university for years even though his superiors may have been aware of his propensity to lure boys into isolation and take advantage of them.

We live in a society in which most of our younger generations know more about the details of Derrick Rose’s injury history than they do about the details of America’s current foreign policy.

So shouldn’t athletes like Ray Rice, coaches like Jerry Sandusky, general managers and others involved in the sporting world be held to the same standard (if not a higher standard) than the average Joe?

These guys aren’t just people who get paid millions of dollars to play games. Beyond that, they are role models. They must realize that they have to act as model citizens. If they don’t, their missteps have the potential to adversely affect an entire generation.

Ray Rice should be held fully accountable for his actions and receive the same punishment that anyone else who knocked out their partner would receive. No NFL team should be eager to acquire him at this point. Yes, he is an excellent player, but he has proven that he cannot be trusted as a role model.

Roger Goodell should be punished for his role in the fiasco, too. It seems hypocritical of the NFL to push such a family orientated agenda with its PLAY60 campaign encouraging children to play for an hour a day, and then cover up a domestic violence incident.

All major and collegiate sports leagues have more punitive measures for members of their brand who act immorally, but those involved are not entirely to blame. It is also the general public’s responsibility to get away from protecting star athletes simply because they entertain us.

The views and opinions expressed in the Op-Ed section are those of the authors of the articles. They are not an endorsement of the views of The Chronicle or its staff. The Chronicle does not discriminate based on the opinions of the authors.