Funny, I thought the same thing, Which is why I don’t watch or care about sports anymore. Most of these “athletes” belong in prison or should be shunned from society, remember what they did to Steve Garvey after he cheated on his wife, nowadays it would be- atta boy.
I have never had any interest in professional sports so I don't know who Steve Garvey is. But I take your point. It's easy to see that society gets more upset about abusing dogs than it does getting into fights, abusing spouses, dealing drugs or murder. And it can get beyond the dog abuse too with the requisite amount of 'tut tutting' in the public square.
"He's sorry now AND HE CAN TAKE OUR TEAM TO THE PLAYOFFS!"