Was Justice Served?
This is a familiar story. Growing up all our parents told us about “Goldielocks and the Three Bears.” We learned that we needed was what was “just right” for us. Too big, too much, too strong, too little, too late, too weak and of course juuust right. We all have our opinions on the situations that these three high profile athletes are in. Michael Vick will be back as soon as Sunday, Donte Stallworth wont be back at least till 2010 and Plaxico will be serving prison sentence for the next two years.
Each through their own actions have placed the NFL and the world of sports in a situation where it is not completely comfortable. Yes, some high profile athlete somewhere will screw up and put themselves in the media for a stupid mistake. But with the advent of 24hr sports news coverage, blogs, twitter etc, these once locally known individuals have now become full on celebrities.
Before I go too much further into this let me state the obvious. I am not a lawyer. I do not claim to know the legal system and am only making my judgments based on what I’m calling common sense and what I feel is right.
Lets begin with the highest profile NFL criminal trial since O.J. decided to NOT kill the mother of his children. Michael Vick was convicted on conspiracy charges and funding a dog fighting ring. He served 23 months in prison, lost his $100+M contract, went roughly $20M in debt and is currently serving up to 6 game suspension from the NFL. Now with the Eagles he’s signed what is essentially 5% of his previous contract. What he did was bad and I, by no means, agree with the actions of which he was a part. But this man is going to be the most publicly criticized, scrutinized and chastised person in the NFL. All for what? Being stupid. Making a huge mistake or maybe many mistakes. But to all the people that say he shouldn’t be in the NFL, leave that man alone. He has paid his dues. No, he should not be a role model, but no athlete should be simply because he or she is an athlete. This punishment was juuussst right in my opinion. But now he’s paid his dues. Let him play football. (Even if the Eagles fans are expecting too much.)
Next up Plaxico Burress. Possibly the third or fourth most talked about story in the NFL offseason (Favre, Vick, Dallas Cowboys Stadium) was Plaxico Burress and what is going to happen to the All-Pro. Burress gets the short end of the stick out of these three athletes with almost an identical punishment as Vick. Plax made a dumb mistake. Purchasing and carrying an illegal weapon is not smart. But when you consider that high profile athletes are commonly victims of theft and threats, its not that unreasonable. It was earlier that week that a friend and teammate of Burress’ was burglarized during the Giants game. Now Plax should have gone about the proper ways to gain the pistol and protect himself, but i find it hard to blame him when he’s protecting his daughter and fiancee. Burress is now serving two years in federal prison for simply carrying an illegal hand gun. Two years. He did not hurt anyone (other than himself) or anything yet he gets two years. Goldilocks Goodell has made the right move though and already come out and said that Plax will not serve any additional suspensions. The legal punishment however is just too strong in relation to the other crimes. Had he served 6 months with a couple years of probation, I think that would be fair.
And now finally Donte Stallworth. Donte Stallworth is clearly on the side of too light side of the punishment measurement. Donte Stallworth took the life of another human being and served 24 days in jail. 24. Days. On the morning of March 14, 2009, Stallworth was headed toward Miami beach when he hit Mario Reyes, 59 with his 2005 Bentley. Stallworth admitted to drinking the night prior to the accident. According to early reports Stallworth was legally drunk at the time of the accident and news sources reported that his blood alcohol content was 0.12, over Florida’s legal limit of 0.08. I understand the additional circumstances that Reyes was not walking in a crosswalk but the fact remains that his BAC was 50% higher than the legal limit. And Stallworth wasn’t administered the alcohol test until just after 10 a.m. giving him a full 3 additional hours to process the alcohol and lower his level. All in all, Donte was part of the cause that took another human being’s life. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 30 days in jail and only had to server 24. Roger Goodell with only one other case (Leonard Little) to use as a measuring stick set the bar suspending him indefinitely but at least for all of the 2009 season. When this news was broke on ESPN it was a 45 second blip on the radar and back to the NCAA Basketball conference tournaments. No protesters, no PETA, no long coverage on CNN, FoxNews, just a blip on ESPN. This is definitely on the too light side.
The biggest problem here is professional athletes with all the advantages in the world making stupid decisions and throwing away what they have been blessed with. Each were in the wrong, each should be punished and none of these acts should be repeated. Athletes should not be role models, but these guys (and other professional athletes) would be wise to appreciate the opportunities they’ve worked so hard/and been blessed to get.
So lets recap. Kill some dogs and run an illegal gambling ring, you can plea to 2 years and will get the most critique. Carry an illegal gun and accidentally shoot your leg cop a plea to 2 years. Take another man’s life, albeit unintentionally, serve 24 days in jail and sit out a year of football. I must, however, commend Goodell for his actions and responses to these cases. I just don’t understand our legal system.
[...] on a 2pt conversion, THEN get busted driving while intoxicate at more than twice the legal limit. Weren’t you in the car with Donte Stallworth when he KILLED a man? Did you not learn your lesson then? Sadly, your worst offense may be that damn beard. That thing is [...]
September 23rd, 2010 at 8:18 am