Severe as Vontaze Burfict’s suspension is, it’s not nearly long enough.

The Oakland Raiders linebacker was suspended for the rest of the season Monday following his helmet-to-helmet hit on Indianapolis Colts tight end Jack Doyle. Really, though, this was a career achievement award, reflecting the more than dozen times he’s been fined or suspended for dirty play.

Which is why Burfict no longer belongs in the NFL.

In his letter to Burfict informing him of the suspension, Jon Runyan, the NFL’s vice president of football operations, said, “Following each of your previous rule violations, you were warned by me and each of the jointly-appointed appeal officers that further violations would result in escalated accountability measures.”

And how’s that worked out so far?

“However, you have continued to flagrantly abuse rules designated to protect yourself and your opponents from unnecessary risk,” Runyan went on to say.

So why is he still in the league?

Football is an inherently violent game, and there is no way to completely eliminate the hits that will leave some players with lifelong – and life-altering – damage. But the NFL has made changes in recent years to alleviate the worst of those hits, and allowing someone like Burfict to continue playing makes a mockery of those efforts.

Burfict has proved, time and again, that he’s a menace to the health and safety of his opponents. He’s shown no interest or ability in altering his style of play, and it’s doubtful this latest punishment will change that.

When he signed with the Raiders in March, Burfict defended himself, saying it was the position, not the player, that led to the repeated misconduct.

“I'm not a dirty player," Burfict said then. "I play a physical position, which is middle linebacker, outside linebacker. That's physical. I can't go in there playing patty-cake."

Uh-huh. And yet countless other linebackers have managed to go years without even being fined, let alone sidelined for multiple games.

Burfict missed the first three games of last season and the first three of the season before that because of egregious hits. Now he’ll miss the next 12, provided his suspension isn’t shortened upon appeal.

What more evidence does the NFL need to finally say a player who repeatedly goes after the heads of his opponents, who shows no remorse for his play, is not fit for the league? A body bag?

The NFL is lucky that none of Burfict’s hits has done severe damage – at least, not that we know of now. But banking on that to continue is both foolish and irresponsible.

If Burfict is allowed to continue playing, someone is eventually going to be seriously hurt. And when that happens, Burfict won’t be the only one to blame.

Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on Twitter @nrarmour.