Handling of Randy Gregory Looks Bad on NFL, NFLPA

[xwalker]

I'll take who is this and why is he not playing for a $1,000 Alex.

Because he was washed-up and it was not worth a team's time/effort to deal with the media backlash.

If this guy's contract was up at the end of last season and the day after the season he did the same thing as Ray Rice, he would still get multiple offers on day 1 of free agency. He might get a 4 game suspension, but he would be playing that season.

 

[landroverking]

The two wins over the Cowboys had suspect officiating as well. Everyone knows the Fred Swearingen atrocity in Super Bowl XIII by now, but in Super Bowl X, the Steelers managed to be called for zero penalties in the game.

The year in question 1975 the Steelers were the most penalized team that year and not one in the SB? That's a come on man.

 

[dogberry]

It is illegal under federal law.

 

[CanadianCowboysFan]

Get back to me when you show your scars from dog bites in Alabama...marching for basic human rights. Yea, how long ago?

What does that have to do with the PA being a rat union?

 

[CCBoy]

The year in question 1975 the Steelers were the most penalized team that year and not one in the SB? That's a come on man.

Very nice add, Sir.

It is illegal under federal law.

Functionallly...no. The Federal Government on this issue, refuses to counter the State's right stances taken up to the present.

 

[Irvin88_4life]

Yeah. There was a horrible no call on james harrison for blantant and i mean BLATANT unsportsmanlike conduct. And the biggest one was the "fumble" from Kurt Warner which was an incomplete pass. Arm was fully moving forward, refs didnt even bother to review it.

Not only that harrison didn't get the ball across the goal line when he did a flip into the endzone, it was down on the 1 with no time left at half

 

[TheHerd]

There are two issues in this discussion (I think).
1. What Gregory did, why it is or isn't fair and how it relates to other players that missed or failed tests.

2. What the rules should be, not what they are now.

And there is a third:
3. Why doesn't the league have consistency in how they handle player infractions?

 

[tyke1doe]

The fact is that it isn't, and the punishment still has to measure up to the crime, and not misapplied. There is also a concept at law, as to matters in extenuation and mitigation.

Matching the human element with straining the beet for blood.

The player was in a program to over come the problem so stated by the NFL, and had not been declared a failure. Did the program also have urine evaluations as a condition for participation? No, there is a lot more not being presented or talked about that mitigates the reason used by the NFL. There is a judicial element to governing, and the NFL has attempted to remain divorced from the concepts...at least until Congress started to sniff at their doors.

Yes sir, consequences will follow whichever path we choose to take.

I've never done drugs beside pot a few times and didn't like it, so I never really thought much about the subject. I pretty much passively acquiesced to the idea of the "war on drugs" until I started paying attention to its consequences and now I am convinced the "war on drugs" is an abject failure that will never be "won". I'm afraid the better path is to end the criminalization of drugs & hopefully severely damage the various cartels that profit from it and then spend the money previous used for prisons and fighting trafficking and use it for education and treatment.

I dont believe a perfect solution exists so no matter what we do, there will be consequences we don't like or anticipate.

c'est la vie

Good post.

 

[phildadon86]

I'm not really a conspiracy theory type, but the issues with the officials and the Steelers really makes me wonder.

It's time for the officiating process to catch up to modern times. The review process is antiquated at this point. They still have a review booth on the field. That is dumb, IMO. I actually thought they had gone completely to a replay official because they rarely show the replay booth anymore, but it's still there. Why? They have the system in place for a replay official and everything is setup for multiple people to review plays back at the NFL offices. Just let the person of people watching the replays from their comfy seat make the decision. It's just wasting time for the on-field guys to go to the replay booth on the sidelines.

If we the fans and the TV broadcast crew can watch multiple replays in a very short period of time, then the people in the NFL office should be able to do it also. They shouldn't just be reviewing calls made by the on-field refs. They should be viewing the game as it goes along and be in constant live communication with the on-field head ref. Any bad call or non-call should be open to be overruled by the replay officials at anytime.

The reason the overall system does not progress is political. The on-field refs don't like to be overruled and they don't like to feel that their importance is being diminished by technology. The refs union is strong and resists changes. It was interesting to find out back when the went on strike that the replay refs were not part of the union.



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The steelers always benefit. Its actually ridiculous. So does Green bay for that matter. Ill never forget Matthews spearing Romo in the back of his legs right in front of the BJ and nothing was called. On top of that, in Pittsburgh, Beasely almost did a full exorcist with his head because of a facemask. They made up for it on the next play because they did the same thing to witten, but what if the Witten one doesnt happen. We lose that game. Its laughable to think there isnt bias towards teams.

 

[xwalker]

And there is a third:
3. Why doesn't the league have consistency in how they handle player infractions?

I had that in mind as part of #1 but I should have stated it more clearly.

 

[xwalker]

The steelers always benefit. Its actually ridiculous. So does Green bay for that matter. Ill never forget Matthews spearing Romo in the back of his legs right in front of the BJ and nothing was called. On top of that, in Pittsburgh, Beasely almost did a full exorcist with his head because of a facemask. They made up for it on the next play because they did the same thing to witten, but what if the Witten one doesnt happen. We lose that game. Its laughable to think there isnt bias towards teams.

I had forgotten that the Beasley egregious facemask was done by the Steelers. Somebody has that in their sig.

 

[phildadon86]

I had that in mind as part of #1 but I should have stated it more clearly.

For example Irving being ejected against Cleveland. OBJ not being ejected against Minnesota.

 

[phildadon86]

I had forgotten that the Beasley egregious facemask was done by the Steelers. Somebody has that in their sig.

Yup. It was disgusting.

 

[Broges74]

No, there's a reason why weed is illegal. It's because we believe in a society people are better off being sober than being drunk, buzzed, foggy-headed, etc.
Second, you really don't get rid of the problems associated with alcohol or drugs. You merely transfer them.
And we see this with alcohol. Okay, maybe you got rid of incarcerating bootleggers, shot house operators and crimes associated with the black market. But those didn't disappear. They were merely transferred. So instead of shoot outs between rival groups you get people being killed by drunk drivers. Instead of incarceration in prison for running a bootleg operation, you get those who have to check into rehab facilities because of their problems with alcohol. And on and on and on.
And guess what? It will be the same with the legalization of marijuana. Problems and negative consequences associated with drug use (whether cocaine or marijuana) will merely be transferred. You'll still have the same problems. They'll just be legal.

Marijuanna has medicinal benefits that the other drugs do not. It's more beneficial cannabinoid is CBD which doesn't get you high. The government is wrong and so wrong that it makes you wonder if there isn't some monetary reason to do so. The majority of people are for legalization of some type. How can a government for the people and by the people enforce a law that the people do not want Enforced?

Educate yourself.

 

[tyke1doe]

The NFL would have to justify why they made a legal action unacceptable for their employment. Unless it adversely affects their sport, they can't.

I don't know about that. Haven't employees come to work drunk and have been fired? I assume they would have to undergo some type testing to verify they were under the influence of alcohol.

Furthermore, I can imagine the NFL crafting an argument that because of the growing awareness and concern for brain trauma, it's in the best interest of their employees to be free from any mind-altering substances that could make them more susceptible to injury. And since marijuana lingers in one's system and we can't be certain when consumption occurred, it is in the best interest of the NFL to ban its use as a grounds for employment in its league.

Health/Safety is a legitimate reason to ban certain substances as the basis for employment.

 

[Nightman]

I had forgotten that the Beasley egregious facemask was done by the Steelers. Somebody has that in their sig.

There is no official record that Gregory missed a test while in rehab

I heard he failed a test in Sept during his 4 game suspension and he failed another test in November which triggered the banishment....maybe they were far enough apart to count as 2 fails

People bringing up Bell as comparison don't have all the details either but what is apparent is they reached a settlement that made both sides happy and unhappy....maybe his misses were clustered enough to only count as one miss

If I smoke up for weekend and take a test on Monday I would fail.......if they tested me again on Friday I would still fail.........if they tested me again in a month I might still fail....but those are all one fail.........if I missed the first 2 tests and still failed the 3rd test it is the same thing....one fail

Gregory dropped his appeal of the Sept failure and lost his appeal of his November failure....it sounds like due process was followed.....if it was or wasn't I have been calling for him to take it to Fedferal Court because the banishment is so hard to come back from....it is worth going to the Supreme Court......if the NFLPA won't pay for it DAL should

 

[Nightman]

I don't know about that. Haven't employees come to work drunk and have been fired? I assume they would have to undergo some type testing to verify they were under the influence of alcohol.

Furthermore, I can imagine the NFL crafting an argument that because of the growing awareness and concern for brain trauma, it's in the best interest of their employees to be free from any mind-altering substances that could make them more susceptible to injury. And since marijuana lingers in one's system and we can't be certain when consumption occurred, it is in the best interest of the NFL to ban its use as a grounds for employment in its league.

Talk about a lawsuit........allowing a player high on weed to play and get brain injured.... bye bye league

 

[Nightman]

What is your definition of "a couple" of tests? You might want to be more specific. And why does Bell get a reduction for his excuse of can't drive after surgery (which is a stupid excuse. There are many ways to get to an appointment. Uber? Friends? Family?), but no such reduction for can't take the test because I'm in rehab?

They didn't exactly buy it........he got a 3 game suspension and fined a 4th game check...which might be worse.....making you play for free

But how many times can you fail for the same infraction.....getting arrested for DUI of marijuana and being in possession of marijuana is the same infraction, not 2 separate cases

If you miss 5 tests in a month it is still one fail, not 5 fails

 

[tyke1doe]

Marijuanna has medicinal benefits that the other drugs do not. It's more beneficial cannabinoid is CBD which doesn't get you high. The government is wrong and so wrong that it makes you wonder if there isn't some monetary reason to do so. The majority of people are for legalization of some type. How can a government for the people and by the people enforce a law that the people do not want Enforced?

Educate yourself.

First, if the majority of the people were for legalization, marijuana would be legal. Unless, of course, people are too stupid to understand the system in which we live and how laws are enacted in our democratic society.

Second, many drugs have medicinal benefits. That's why we used them to treat various ailments. Morphine is a drug that has medicinal benefits, but we don't allow its use in general society.

Third, marijuana IS a mind-altering substance. You keep on changing what I'm saying because you don't want to acknowledge my observations. Mind-altering doesn't necessarily mean "high". But there's a reason why jobs involving health and safety prohibit mind-altering drugs, including but not limited to marijuana. Maybe it's YOU who need to educate yourself and understand how to read posts in proper context.

 

[9darter]

The steelers always benefit. Its actually ridiculous. So does Green bay for that matter. Ill never forget Matthews spearing Romo in the back of his legs right in front of the BJ and nothing was called. On top of that, in Pittsburgh, Beasely almost did a full exorcist with his head because of a facemask. They made up for it on the next play because they did the same thing to witten, but what if the Witten one doesnt happen. We lose that game. Its laughable to think there isnt bias towards teams.

More than a bias. It's how they get the winners they want. Maybe not every season, but stealers and midgets have been handed a couple or more championships.