by PATRICK ROBERTSON Staff Writer
The NFL and Roger Goodell are under fire due to numerous bad decisions this season.
First, Ray Rice, running back for the Baltimore Ravens, assaulted his girlfriend in an Atlantic City casino elevator. Then Greg Hardy, defensive end for the Carolina Panthers, was convicted of domestic violence against his girlfriend. The latest case is Adrian Peterson, running back for the Minnesota Vikings, who was indicted for child abuse.
The higher ups in the NFL have done almost nothing about these incidents. Rice was originally only suspended two games for doing his best Mike Tyson impersonation on his then-girlfriend, now wife, Janay Palmer. The other players, Hardy and Peterson, played week one, but were both on the bench for their week two games. They were placed on the exempt/commissioner’s permission list.
After the video of Rice knocking out Palmer surfaced on TMZ Sports, the NFL decided to suspend Rice indefinitely.
Hardy beat his girlfriend nearly to death and threw her onto a couch full of loaded assault rifles.
On the arrest warrant, a police officer made the following statement: “I, the undersigned, find that there is probable cause to believe that on or about the date of the offense shown [May 13, 2014] and in the county named above [Mecklenburg County, North Carolina] the defendant named above [Hardy] unlawfully and willingly did assault [redacted], a female person, by GRABBING VICTIM AND THROWING TO THE FLOOR, THROWING INTO A BATHTUB, SLAMMING HER AGAINST A FUTON, AND STRANGLING HER.”
Hardy’s girlfriend, Nicole Holder, testified in court: “He looked me in my eyes and he told me he was going to kill me. I was so scared I wanted to die. When he loosened his grip slightly, I said just,`Do it. Kill me.’”
Hardy had his personal assistant, Sammy Curtis, hold Holder down and the two of them threw her out of the apartment into the hallway. Holder crawled to the elevator and ran to CMPD (Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department).
Peterson was just indicted for child abuse and child endangerment. His four-year-old son had open wounds from lacerations on the thighs, bruises on the lower back and buttocks, and cuts on the hands. The cuts on his hands were from trying to defend himself against the six foot, 217 pound Peterson.
Peterson’s lawyer claims his client never intended to harm his son. But intent, while relevant, is not a complete defense. Under Texas law, Peterson could be found guilty of “reckless or negligent injury of a child” if he either knew or should have known that his actions posed a risk of harm.
Peterson reportedly struck his son repeatedly with a tree branch and a belt. A skilled prosecutor will argue this shows a thought process.
Let us not forget that just last year, Peterson’s other son was beaten to death by his ex-wife’s new boyfriend.
Goodell and the rest of the NFL have done nothing to Peterson and Hardy, who arguably, did something worse than Rice. These players were only de-activated by their teams last week.
Why does the NFL do nothing to these players? Should there be a heavier punishment for these players?
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