system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why is it a sports team's responsibility to punish players for their actions off-field?

This was prompted by Ray Rice's disgusting actions - beating his fiancee (now wife) unconscious, etc. Many people are upset that the NFL only suspended him for 2 games. In light of other infractions by other players (like marijuana possession) resulting in full season suspensions, I totally understand the outrage. But why is it the NFL's responsibility in the first place? Isn't this purely a police matter?

I guess I understand that he represents the league, and they don't want to be represented by a criminal. Still, what makes Goodell (or Bud Selig, or whoever else) the moral police?
gpt
The NFL, as an organization, has chosen to hold its players to a certain standard, and the players association has agreed to this.  They feel that incidents like this harm the leagues image, and wealthy players often aren't motivated by strictly legal consequences.

That said, the punishments are often arbitrary, and are not as severe for star players.  Also, drug penalties are often harsher, because there is a lot of crossover between recreation and performance enhancing drugs, and because for every time a player gets caught, you have to assume there were ten more times he got away with it.