Slavery exists, but not in NFL

Shauna Newell was tricked by a friend and sold into slavery.

Shauna Newell is an ex-sex slave.

She is a real person with a real slavery story.

A 16-year old from Florida, Shauna befriended a new girl in town and was invited to a house party on April 29, 2006.

When she arrived a man pretended to be the girl’s father and gave Shauna a drink and, unknown to Shauna, a date rape drug.

For the next four days, Shauna was gagged, bound and …

And I will not repeat anything else Shauna experienced; I do not want any young reader to relive Shauna’s torment.

Shauna is just one of 27 million human slaves worldwide.

Now, she is free, sort of.

Shauna is infected with an STD, trychomoniasas, and carries psychological scars beyond imagination.

Most other slaves are not as fortunate as Shauna, like Shaniya Davis from North Carolina.

Shaniya, a 5-year old, was sold into slave trade by her mother, Antoinette Davis, to pay off her mother’s drug debts.

Shaniya paid for her mother’s drug abuse and decision with her innocence and life.

Shauna and Shaniya are two of an estimated two million United States citizens abducted and sold into human trafficking each year, according to the State Department.

Then, there are two professional football players, Adrian Peterson and Rashard Mendenhall, proclaiming to be modern-day slaves.

First, Peterson said playing in the NFL is, “like modern day slavery.”

Mendenhall later supported Peterson on Twitter, saying, “Anyone with knowledege of the slave trade and the NFL could say that these two parallel each other.”

But Peterson’s and Mendenhall’s combined experience as modern-day slaves equates to a total of zero days.

Peterson and Mendenhall will have earned $50 million combined when their contracts expire.

Shauna and Shaniya were not paid any money to be real slaves.

Peterson and Mendenhall willingly play football for a living.

Shauna and Shaniya were forced to fight for their life.

Peterson and Mendenhall can freely walk away from NFL owners and football.

Shauna and Shaniya could not walk away.

Shauna and Shaniya had only one means to evade their slave owners.

Run.

But neither Shauna nor Shaniya were capable of running.

Shauna fled slavery only because her 14-year old brother discovered her in the back of a car in a convenience store parking lot.

Her brother and his search party had to carry her out of the car.

Shauna was beaten so badly she could not stand.

Shaniya’s fait was decided when her mother traded her for a clean slate on her drug debt.

She was five years old. She could not defend herself from asphyxiation.

When you compare Peterson’s and Mendenhall’s labor tribulations to Shauna’s and Shaniya’s torturous experiences there is no parallel, not even close.

Peterson and Mendenhall cannot understand what it is to be a slave and should not claim to, because they cannot imagine being Shauna or Shaniya, knowing death is one wrong move away.