Haynesworth gets 5 lousy games

[The Gr8est]

I know. Now go away till week 9.

I'm surprised at the animosity here. Ryan is a great fan. He is not a troll, and I think most here welcome his inputs, I know I do.

 

[TheBostonStraggler]

I didn't know Haynesworth acted like a pr*ck after his assault on Gurode until I saw the full thing on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ay5BE-xVd_w

Watching that makes me believe his apology after the game was BS, just a PR move to lessen the suspension and fine. Five games still seems fair to me though.

I do not want to be in a position to defend the guy, however, the incident and moments right afterward were one continuous thing IMHO. He cooled down from the heat of the moment and said what he said. Was he for real then? I don't know. But he aplogized to the player and everyone. He got a long suspension (the longest for an on field incident). he lost significant money and will likely lose future earnings because of this. Further, if the Dallas player wants to press charges he can. Stiff punishment is there. It's done. Again, move on......

 

[DB15]

I thought 6 games and a hefty fine was about right.

so did I..

 

[bosfan]

Seems like a fair enough punishment. We all know these are not 'gentlemen' playing this game of football and there is a definite percentage of these guys who would be a 'menace to society' if they didn't have this outlet and I think this jerk is one of them.........

 

[sdaniels7114]

The punishment won't be complete until those teams play again.

 

[VJCPatriot]

What he did was uncalled for and certainly warranted punishment. Losing 1/3 your paycheck and missing 1/3 the season seems like a pretty serious punishment to me.

 

[PF1996]

I think he should have been suspended for the rest of the year. The "heat of the battle" excuse is lame...firstly, a football game isn't a "battle", and there's no "heat" that makes it permissible to stomp on someone's head with a cleated shoe. His apology, I thought seemed to be focused more on him (i.e. his "last name" and "his kids"), and on saying PR stuff ("I'm not a dirty player; I disgraced the game), than on the guy he injured. Regardless of how remorseful he is, he still should have gotten a year to SEND A MESSAGE. The Cowboy player could have been seriously/permanently injured and the league should have been concerned with making sure that NO ONE would ever even consider doing something like that. 5 games isn't necessarily that big of a deal particularly since football players make their money from their bonuses and not their base salaries (i.e. game checks); 5 games will not discourage some other punk from reacting on their base instincts. Goodell definitely showed he is no David Stern.

 

[Clonamery]

I found Haynesworth to be sincerely and legitimately remorseful. He took the heat. While that doesn't absolve him from wrongdoing, it was on some level refreshing.

Methinks he's had plenty of practice. Plus with Fisher going off on him when he came to the sideline AFTER he argued with the ref about the flag I'm sure THAT'S when the light of remorse went on....

 

[sdaniels7114]

They said on ESPN that his five lost game checks will add up to around 1/2 a million dollars. When you think of the fact that the average career length in the NFL is 3 years, some much shorter, it seems less like a slap on the wrist.

 

[CTPatsFan]

I'm with you, Ryan. I thought the rest of the season was warranted. Commish Goodell probably didn't want to start off on a bad foot with the NFLPA, though.

 

[CTPatsFan]

They said on ESPN that his five lost game checks will add up to around 1/2 a million dollars. When you think of the fact that the average career length in the NFL is 3 years, some much shorter, it seems less like a slap on the wrist.

That's what I've heard and read numerous times but according to the NFL website it's "only" $190,000. I'm not sure where the descrepency comes in. $310K is quite a difference.

The league suspended Haynesworth for five games -- more than twice the length of the previous longest suspension -- for flagrant unnecessary roughness. He won't be paid while he serves the suspension, effective immediately, which will cost him approximately $190,000.

 

[SamBam39]

This guy has had numerous problems with the law already in the short time he's been around. He's obviously a jerk.

I think part of the problem with people trying to assess what's a fair punishment is that pro athletes live lives so different from everyone else,
it's hard for us to relate to. They live in mansions, earn millions of dollars,
and are basically allowed to be above the law in almost all cases. Think about it - when you hear that a pro athlete was arrested for sexual misconduct, or assault, or drugs, or whatever do you ever think for a second that any of them will ever go to jail? no. you know immediately that they will be given a slap on the wrist and be playing in the next game.

As far as I'm concerned, even though this action occurred during a sporting event, it amounted to an assault. The guy needed 30 stitches in his face - that's 30! - and he needed plastic surgery. And we're worried about being 'fair' to the guy who did it? We should not be concerned at all with fairness to him - our focus should be solely on punishing him severley and yes - sending a message. that was not done. 5 games? please. and the union has already said they'll fight it. isn't the guy who was victimized a union member? look, that apology was NOT sincere. he is a jerk who is always being abusive and thinks he's above it. he's not freakin sorry. he's sorry he's in trouble. he didn't even mention the victim. he's was doing spin control just like terrell owens after his little 'incident' last week. look, there are rules and laws to control how far people will go with their behavior, and when people violate those rules and laws, they need to be punished severely for it. otherwise, people can do whatever they want, whenever they want. What SHOULD happen, is the guy that was victimized should file criminal charges and prosecute to the full extent of the law - the Memphis police has already said they are ready to pursue this. He probably won't because the whole world is so sadly manipulated behind the scenes, but he should. And all of you little candy a s s , goody two shoes who think it's too much should have your face cut up and get 30 stitches and then come back and tell us how you feel.

 

[taltos]

I wanted at least suspension for the rest of the season and for the city attorney in Memphis to indict him. Hopefully he will still have to face the court system.

 

[Halifax_Pats_Fan]

I think it's fair. What Haynesworth did was stupid, but he did it in the heat of battle. 5 games - that's a hefty fine.

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yes, heat of the battle, I agree with you in suggesting that is why he did it. However, it was done, regardless of when and where. The question we have to ask ourselves is what was done. IN my eyes, if you do the crime, you pay the time. He is not a dirty player, and i think I would agree with a little stiffer penalaty, however the one handed doen was not so bad...