Baltimore Ravens running back Jamal Lewis (along with almost every other professional-athlete superstar) is getting off easy, and it needs to end. For those who don’t know the Lewis saga, I’ll explain.

Lewis, a record-breaking, bruising all-world running back, has formally pleaded guilty for attempting to set up a drug deal in the summer of 2000 in Atlanta. According to ESPN, Lewis was accused of trying to help a cocaine deal go on for Angelo Jackson, a childhood friend.

Lewis gathered 2,066 yards on the ground last season for the second-highest total in NFL history. He broke the single-game rushing record the same game he predicted he would do it. He should still be heavily punished, no matter what his status is in the league, right?

Well, that’s partially true. Lewis was suspended for a total of two whole games and was fined a total of $761,000 out of his salary. As much as that amount seems to be for some people, that’s pocket change for someone with Lewis’ stature.

Sure, Lewis will serve some jail time, four months in a federal prison and another two months in a halfway house.

The kicker is, Lewis will not miss one down of football from his jail time. His time was conveniently set up so he could serve sometime between January and September. The NFL offseason just so happens to fall right in between those months.

The thing that is the most frustrating is how these special circumstances have been made for Lewis. The guy set up a drug deal, yet the court system will let him work around his sentence. If this was Joe Nobody on the street, there is no way he would be able to pick and choose when he gets to serve his time for a crime this big.

If I were a factory worker who had pleaded guilty for the same crime, I highly doubt I could walk up to the judge and tell him, “The factory is going to be shutting down for a month in about four months, how about I serve my time then?” I’d be laughed into the insane asylum.

One athlete who can slightly compare with Lewis is Ricky Williams, who would face a mandatory one-year suspension from the game if he chose to return to the NFL.

Now that it is looking more like he will do this, the question arises that, how could failing a (the term “a” is used loosely, Williams has really failed three) drug test for marijuana result in a one-year suspension while setting up a drug deal to sell cocaine results in a two-game suspension?

But, now that Williams has thought about the possibility of returning from his world tour to play in the NFL, rumors are spreading that his one-year automatic suspension may be whittled down, if not thrown out all together.

Once again, let’s look at this from a different perspective. Let’s say your favorite third-string offensive lineman with a slight tendency to smoke the doob every once in a while gets caught and faces a one-year suspension; there would be no questions asked. He would instantly be suspended, and that’s all you would hear about it. All the pleading in the world wouldn’t get him back on the field any faster.

Yet with Williams, there are rumors that the NFL will ease its case because he is a superb athlete.

Now I understand that superstars in all sports will get things in their favor on the field.

Michael Jordan always got the benefit of the doubt with a call, and that was expected, as is with all great players, because he earned it.

But at what point do you earn a free pass to do drugs in sports? It’s time athletes are treated like all other human beings in this department. Granted, high-profile athletes can afford more high-priced lawyers, but should the punishment and the enforcement of said punishment be any different than any of us?

There is a fine line between the NFL trying to make money and doing what is right for it, its fans and its employees — or in this case, the players. Sadly, it looks like the NFL is doing everything it can to lean more toward the former than the latter.