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This is so dumb.
A distinction that matters, but only insofar as the CBA and player policies should specify who is responsible for enforcing discipline in the case of workplace violence. I'm not employed by the state of New York, but a New York jury can put me in jail for punching out my coworker even after I get fired. For whatever reason, we have no expectation as a society that players will be held accountable to the legal system for assault and battery on their teammates, so there should be some sort of uniform disciplinary policy that applies to players who have committed off-field assault, beyond just allowing clubs to cut players so that they can join some other team's roster (essentially a non-penalty). I don't know if four games suspension is the right penalty, or if the commissioner is the right person to decide on what the penalty should be. But we can't just allow players to assault other players and then max out the discipline to essentially a transfer to a similar job in another city. We've seen NBA players get suspended by their teams for strangling coaches or punching other players, and that is pretty uncontroversial. Perhaps the right answer would have been to allow the Jets suspend him without pay for four games and then cut him, preventing another team from signing him.
When you are mired in it consistently, it doesn't matter where you step or stand you're always in it.
And he won't. Players and other team employees almost never press charges against each other. An aggressive prosecutor could have taken up the case anyway, but that never happens either. So basically there is no legal consequence for assaulting a teammate.
Well, seemed to me that this falls out of the NFL Personnel Conduct Policy.
depends on how "close" they were....
At least it didn't take 130.
That's because it's laid out quite clearly in the NBA that if a player fights they are ejected and suspended. If a player goes toward a fight, they will be ejected and possibly suspended. Prior notice. Where's the notice that punching a team mate in the NFL is grounds for a four game suspension? Oh, article 46, right?
I agree. It's an internal Jests matter. They fired him, IK apologized, Geno decided not to file suit. Goodell should keep his ginger nose out of it and why does it take so long for these punishments to be handed out? They obviously aren't researching what penalties have been handed out in the past. Plus it feels like this happened years ago.
Deus: I take your points. But the flaw in your logic is that this action went beyond an "individual" or "off field" issue since it resulted in Smith's inability to play for his "team" "on" the field.
