DMN: What they're saying about Cowboys DE Greg Hardy: Suspension, second chances, and more

[dallasdave]

The lawyer in charge of seeing Justice done was the North Carolina DA and he dropped all charges without asking for a plea bargain deal. The NFL isn't acting according to the law, they are acting according to PR to protect their business interests. There is a huge difference between the two.

The NFL is causing harm to someone who had all charges dropped so they are the ones who should be charged with a crime.

 

[big dog cowboy]

The NFL is going to continue covering their ***** here. There's virtually zero bad publicity in over-punishing and later losing in court. But, as they found out last year, it is a PR nightmare to under-punish a guy who engaged in domestic violence.

Goodell is just clueless and out of touch with the real world. Society is changing and he is so blind he can't see it. Time to move on. I can't believe we got to this point.

 

[dallasdave]

Dropped charges because the victim got paid not to cooperate =/= being "absolved" by the law.

The NFL is going to continue covering their ***** here. There's virtually zero bad publicity in over-punishing and later losing in court. But, as they found out last year, it is a PR nightmare to under-punish a guy who engaged in domestic violence.

If he was absolved by the law then their is nothing the NFL should do, I think I remember something about being innocent until proved guilty. Well the law said he was not guilty. So in real life the NFL is the guilty party.

 

[Jarv]

Dropped charges because the victim got paid not to cooperate =/= being "absolved" by the law.

The NFL is going to continue covering their ***** here. There's virtually zero bad publicity in over-punishing and later losing in court. But, as they found out last year, it is a PR nightmare to under-punish a guy who engaged in domestic violence.

There was no payoff and his record will be expunged.

 

[Rogah]

The NFL is causing harm to someone who had all charges dropped so they are the ones who should be charged with a crime.

The public doesn't care if all charges were dropped. All charges were dropped against Ray Rice too.

If he was absolved by the law then their is nothing the NFL should do, I think I remember something about being innocent until proved guilty. Well the law said he was not guilty. So in real life the NFL is the guilty party.

Law says Ray Rice is not guilty too. That didn't help the NFL with the crapstorm that came up last year when they under-punished him.

 

[dallasdave]

The public doesn't care if all charges were dropped. All charges were dropped against Ray Rice too.

I know but the NFL should not be a PR firm.

 

[Rogah]

I know but the NFL should not be a PR firm.

I think that's a little naive. After what they went through last year with Ray Rice, it is perfectly reasonable to understand why the league has the philosophy going forward "we can't let that happen again because it genuinely hurt us with all the negative PR. We genuinely lost fans over that."

 

[Craig]

Are people arguing that hardy didnt do anything wrong? Is hardy even arguing that? Hes asking to be punished under the rules of the cba at the time of the in ident, not to have the suspension dropped.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

I think that's a little naive. After what they went through last year with Ray Rice, it is perfectly reasonable to understand why the league has the philosophy going forward "we can't let that happen again because it genuinely hurt us with all the negative PR. We genuinely lost fans over that."

This is hurting the league as well, IMO. If you really want to clean this up, this is not the way to do it. There are already rules in place to increase disciplinary policy in these situations. Going forward, there is already a foundation in place. I don't see how this is going to help.

 

[Rogah]

This is hurting the league as well, IMO.

Any damage the league takes from having unclear policies and losing in a court on appeal is ridiculously minuscule compared to what happened last year with Ray Rice.

If you really want to clean this up, this is not the way to do it. There are already rules in place to increase disciplinary policy in these situations. Going forward, there is already a foundation in place. I don't see how this is going to help.

Because if/when TMZ gets their hands on those pictures and releases 'em to the public, and the public gets all riled up, the league can say "hey, we threw the book at the guy. Don't blame *us* that the NFLPA sued us and we lost in court. We did the right thing!"

It's all cover-your-butt maneuvering by the league. After what happened last year, you can't blame 'em.

 

[dallasdave]

This is hurting the league as well, IMO. If you really want to clean this up, this is not the way to do it. There are already rules in place to increase disciplinary policy in these situations. Going forward, there is already a foundation in place. I don't see how this is going to help.

Well said indeed sir.

 

[JoeKing]

Short of a full confession or actual video of Hardy hitting the woman, there is nothing that can convince me that Hardy deserves a single second of a suspension. Photo's will never prove his culpability in the alleged crime.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Any damage the league takes from having unclear policies and losing in a court on appeal is ridiculously minuscule compared to what happened last year with Ray Rice.
Because if/when TMZ gets their hands on those pictures and releases 'em to the public, and the public gets all riled up, the league can say "hey, we threw the book at the guy. Don't blame *us* that the NFLPA sued us and we lost in court. We did the right thing!"

It's all cover-your-butt maneuvering by the league. After what happened last year, you can't blame 'em.

There is no proof to support that IMO. Seems to me that the NFL is only compounding the issue here. They mishandled Ray Rice and now they are doing the same with Hardy IMO. The question of Pics is also an assumption. Unless you have actually seen pics, I don't know how we can assume there are any that would lead to such an outcome.

 

[Rogah]

There is no proof of to support that IMO. Seems to me that the NFL is only compounding the issue here. They mishandled Ray Rice and now they are doing the same with Hardy IMO. The question of Pics is also an assumption. Unless you have actually seen pics, I don't know how we can assume there are any that would lead to such an outcome.

There will never be any real negative PR fallout from over-punishing someone accused of domestic violence, even when handled in a very poor fashion.

We all know what can happen when they under-punish, though.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

There will never be any real negative PR fallout from over-punishing someone accused of domestic violence, even when handled in a very poor fashion.

We all know what can happen when they under-punish, though.

I disagree. In terms of effecting real change, this has to come from negotiations on the CBA. If the NFL continues to push these issues in, what is likely to be viewed as an unfair manor by the players and the Union, the NFL's position on negotiation is likely effected. This can hurt the NFL more then it helps IMO. I actually think this likely.

Your statement assumes that Hardy has done something to merit the NFL's recent behaviors. The law does not support it. The current facts do not support it. This is beginning to look more and more like a witch hunt and that is not helpful.

 

[Redball Express]

Apparently, the NFL has photos which indicate abuse. I don't know if they do or not. But I doubt very seriously the suspension is based simply on accusations and simply on the dismissal of the charges. Any lawyer can see that would be a losing proposition. The league must have something to base its decision - something legitimate and legal.

We'll see.

As Carly Simon says..

'anticipation..anticipation..it's making me wait wait wait.'

 

[Rogah]

I disagree. In terms of effecting real change, this has to come from negotiations on the CBA. If the NFL continues to push these issues in, what is likely to be viewed as an unfair manor by the players and the Union, the NFL's position on negotiation is likely effected. This can hurt the NFL more then it helps IMO. I actually think this likely.

Nothing that has happened here can hurt the NFL even remotely compared to how much they were hurt last year with Ray Rice.

Really. Outside this forum, virtually no one is talking about this. Virtually no one is upset with how the league handled it. No one is calling for the commissioner to be fired over his handling of Greg Hardy. There will be no press conferences covered by every single media outlet in the country like there was last September.

It's a footnote on the next CBA negotiation. Nothing more.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Nothing that has happened here can hurt the NFL even remotely compared to how much they were hurt last year with Ray Rice.

Really. Outside this forum, virtually no one is talking about this. Virtually no one is upset with how the league handled it. No one is calling for the commissioner to be fired over his handling of Greg Hardy. There will be no press conferences covered by every single media outlet in the country like there was last September.

It's a footnote on the next CBA negotiation. Nothing more.

This is not true. I just heard a segment on ESPN today with Shefter that was discussing it.

 

[Stash]

Any damage the league takes from having unclear policies and losing in a court on appeal is ridiculously minuscule compared to what happened last year with Ray Rice.
Because if/when TMZ gets their hands on those pictures and releases 'em to the public, and the public gets all riled up, the league can say "hey, we threw the book at the guy. Don't blame *us* that the NFLPA sued us and we lost in court. We did the right thing!"

It's all cover-your-butt maneuvering by the league. After what happened last year, you can't blame 'em.

I can and do "blame 'em" plenty. I absolutely agree with you that the NFL is trying to cover themselves, but they're doing so at the expense of a player's livelihood and that's just wrong.

I have no problem with the NFL instituting a stricter policy for player behavior, but just go about it the right way - going forward - not this retroactive crap in an obvious attempt to save face.

That's two wrongs not making a right.

 

[Rogah]

This is not true. I just heard a segment on ESPN today with Shefter that was discussing it.

Exactly. Your heard "a segment" where they are updating what the current status is.

You aren't seeing this issue lead SportsCenter. You aren't seeing it on the nightly network news. It isn't being discussed by the cable news talking heads. There are no headlines in the papers (outside this region). It isn't getting endless hours of airplay on sports radio. No one is calling for the commissioner to be fired. The president isn't talking about it.

The Greg Hardy situation is nothing more than "a segment" on ESPN. That's what the league wants.