Brennan: NFL should be lauded for handing 10-game suspension to Greg Hardy
Brennan: NFL should be lauded for handing 10-game suspension to Greg Hardy
The National Football League has been saying publicly for several months that it has learned its lesson from the Ray Rice incident and will take domestic violence cases much more seriously in the future than it did in the past.
On Wednesday afternoon, the league did just that, laudably handing out one of the toughest penalties for domestic violence in U.S. sports history, a 10-game suspension without pay for Dallas Cowboys defensive end Greg Hardy.
Hardy put his former girlfriend, Nicole Holder, through an ordeal far worse that what happened to Janay Palmer Rice in that Atlantic City elevator last year. The NFL's investigation, led by Lisa Friel, the former head of the Sex Crimes Prosecution Unit in the New York City District Attorney's office, found that Hardy violated the league's personal conduct policy by using physical force against Holder in at least four instances, including "physical force against her which caused her to land on a futon that was covered with at least four semi-automatic rifles."
Three or four other guns were also present on the futon, according to a person with knowledge of the league investigation who was not authorized to speak publicly.
The NFL sought and obtained several photographs from the crime scene, including a photo of the guns and another that showed "visible marks" around Holder's neck.
"The net effect of these acts was that Ms. Holder was severely traumatized and sustained a range of injuries, including bruises and scratches on her neck, shoulders, upper chest, back, arms and feet," NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said Wednesday in a strongly-worded letter to Hardy. "The use of physical force under the circumstances present here, against a woman substantially smaller than you and in the presence of powerful, military-style assault weapons, constitutes a significant act of violence in violation of the Personal Conduct Policy."
Goodell was among the NFL executives who saw the photos. Representatives of the NFL Players Association also saw them, according to the person with knowledge of the league investigation.
Hardy, then with the Carolina Panthers, was found guilty of domestic violence last summer and not allowed to play for most of the 2014 season, but was still paid his $13.1 million salary. The charges were dismissed on appeal when Holder received a financial settlement, according to multiple reports, and could not be found to testify.
Holder's testimony against Hardy in the trial last July is horrifying, detailed and worth repeating:
Holder said Hardy, who is 6-4 and 265 pounds, flung her from a bed, threw her into a bathtub and then tossed her onto a futon covered with rifles. Holder said Hardy ripped a necklace he had given her off her neck, threw it into a toilet and then slammed the lid on her arm when she tried to retrieve it.
Hardy dragged Holder by the hair room to room, she said, before putting his hands around her throat.
"He looked me in my eyes and he told me he was going to kill me," Holder said. "I was so scared I wanted to die. When he loosened his grip slightly, I said, 'Just do it. Kill me.' "
Later, as Holder said she was held by her former boyfriend's personal assistant, she said Hardy called 911, showed her the phone, and said, "Run, little girl. You're going to jail."
Mecklenburg (N.C.) District Judge Becky Thorne Tin believed Holder when she found Hardy guilty, handing him a 60-day suspended sentence and 18 months' probation on misdemeanor charges of assault on a female and communicating threats. Under North Carolina law, someone found guilty of a misdemeanor in a bench trial is allowed to appeal to a jury trial. When Holder could not be found, prosecutors threw out the charges before that trial.
But justice was served Wednesday, at least on the football field. While some might wonder why Hardy will ever be allowed to play in the NFL again, the strong action taken by the league should serve as a precedent for all sports organizations dealing with domestic violence.
The players' union, in its predictable, knee-jerk way, will immediately appeal. But for the rest of us, disgusted by the abusive behavior of men like Hardy, this is the first day of the rest of our lives in our post-Ray Rice sports world.
Is Schefter referring to himself as dumb?