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RE: RE:NFL News - 7/21/2009 4:30:45 PM

Ryan Taylor

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More details about Roethlisberger's accuser

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal on July 21, 2009 2:02 PM ET

Less than 24 hours ago, Andrea McNulty filed a civil sexual assault case against Ben Roethlisberger. It's safe to say curiosity about her is already piqued.

TMZ has released seven pictures which they report to be of McNulty.

Other sites have alleged links to her myspace page, but they are unconfirmed.

We can confirm McNulty is a Canadian immigrant who had a visa to work at Harrah's Casino in Lake Tahoe.

Our source also told us on Monday the exact same story that Mr. Florio passed along from TMZ Tuesday morning.

The source alleges that McNulty was involved a bizarre episode that is unrelated to Roethlisberger. TMZ reports that McNulty received psychiatric care as a result of the incident.

The accusations about McNulty are not exactly surprising.

In fact, they are essentially contained in the civil case that PFT has been able to look at.

McNulty is suing many Harrah's employees for making false and inflammatory statements about her physical and mental health.

McNulty claims in the case that any hospital stay was related to being sexually assaulted.

She also alleges that the defendants/co-workers made inflammatory statements about her "relationship with other men" and accused her of serious sexual misconduct.

She is claiming that she sustained damage to her profession as a direct and indirect result of such statements.

As the story grows, which is inevitable despite ESPN's efforts, we will surely continue to learn plenty more about McNulty.

From both sides of the case.

Ryan "Son of Don" Taylor

Post #: 4176

RE: RE:NFL News - 7/21/2009 4:32:04 PM

Ryan Taylor

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Goodell hopes to make decision in "near future"

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal on July 21, 2009 3:24 PM ET

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said last month that his decision whether to reinstate Michael Vick would come in "due time."

Vick has since been released from federal custody, but Goodell said Tuesday he does not have a timeline for the decision.

"The process is ongoing, and I hope to make a decision sometime in the near future," Goodell said.

Goodell declined to define the term "near future" although Vick hopes it comes as soon as possible.

Goodell was asked the questions at a news conference announcing singer Marc Anthony's minority ownership of the Miami Dolphins.

Somehow, we doubt Anthony's news will make the splash they hoped on this surprisingly busy day in July.

Ryan "Son of Don" Taylor

Post #: 4177

RE: RE:NFL News - 7/21/2009 4:33:03 PM

Ryan Taylor

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Roethlisberger cancels press conference

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal on July 21, 2009 3:58 PM ET

Ben Roethlisberger's new reality, no matter how the civil suit against him goes, will be changed dramatically for the near future.

Because of that, now is not exactly the best time for Roethlisberger to discuss participating in a frivolous reality show competition.

A previously scheduled press conference scheduled for Thursday including Roethlisberger has been cancelled, according to Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

The presser was set to discuss a reality show called "Shaq vs." starring Shaquille O'Neal. (Shaq takes on elite stars in their own sports.)

There is no word on whether the taping of the show will go off as planned near Pittsburgh or whether Roethlisberger will still be involved.

Ryan "Son of Don" Taylor

Post #: 4178

RE: RE:NFL News - 7/21/2009 4:36:57 PM

Ryan Taylor

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Too little, too late from ESPN on Roethlisberger

Posted by Mike Florio on July 21, 2009 4:23 PM ET

ESPN spokesman Mac Nwulu has provided us with a statement from the folks in Bristol regarding their decision not to mention the civil sexual assault suit against Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, which to our knowledge has been ignored by every national ESPN platform.

"At this point, we are not reporting the allegations against Ben Roethlisberger because no criminal complaint has been filed," Nwulu said. "As far as we know, this is a civil lawsuit that Roethlisberger has yet to address publicly."

Actually, Roethlisberger has addressed the lawsuit publicly, via a Monday night statement from lawyer David Cornwell, who has been retained to represent Roethlisberger.

And let's be realistic about it. If he's smart (and, frankly, the jury is still out on that one), Ben won't ever comment on the case publicly, other than to say, "No comment."

Besides, we don't buy for a minute the notion that a civil claim unaccompanied by a criminal complaint makes the situation not newsworthy. Indeed, ESPN posted last night on its NFL page a blurb from the AP regarding the civil suit filed by former NFL kicker Tony Zendejas, in which he claims a violation of his civil rights in connection with, coincidentally, a rape prosecution.

In that case, have the folks who allegedly violated the civil rights of Zendejas been charged criminally? Nope. But that hasn't kept ESPN from posting the AP item.

And that's the kicker on this one -- ESPN uses stuff from the AP all the time, and the AP has issued a story about the lawsuit against Roethlisberger.

So while we appreciate the fact that ESPN provided us with a statement, we choose to regard it as a hollow attempt to explain away what appears to be a strategy for remaining in the good graces of Ben Roethlisberger.

Okay.....Maybe, just maybe, ESPN is not spending much or any time whatsoever on this but it entirely seems to me that PFT is spending entirely too much time devoting their reports to this.

It's nice to get the enws but it seems that every half hour they post another one.

Ryan "Son of Don" Taylor

Post #: 4179

RE: RE:NFL News - 7/22/2009 8:39:11 AM

Trekgeekscott

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OK, Now I really don't want to start a talk about race but if Ben Roethlisberger were black...do you think ESPN wouldn't have reported the civil suit? Say it were Donovan McNabb or Terrell Owens, or Chad <snicker> Ochocinco, or even Adrian Peterson...What do you think would have happened at ESPN?

I have NO respect for that network any longer (pretty much lost it long before this Big Ben thing) but this really puts the icing on the cake. They couldn't help themselves about reporting on Kellen Winslow crashing his motorcycle, or Michael Vick's Dog fighting, etc, etc, etc.

< Message edited by Trekgeekscott -- 7/22/2009 8:41:47 AM >

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Post #: 4180

RE: RE:NFL News - 7/22/2009 10:04:57 AM

Ryan Taylor

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Being white Scott, I was thinking the same exact thing. Sad really that they seem to pick and choose what they fell is legitimate stories sometimes (as it would seem to me anyways) by race or how they personally view a player.

Ryan "Son of Don" Taylor

Post #: 4181

RE: RE:NFL News - 7/22/2009 10:24:12 AM

Ryan Taylor

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Last word on ESPN's civil lawsuit policy

Posted by Mike Florio on July 21, 2009 10:40 PM ET

We really don't want our coverage of the civil lawsuit filed against Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to become an exercise in the bashing of ESPN. We've got some friends who work there (maybe not as many after today), and we don't generally believe that the network is evil or corrupt or otherwise nasty.

However, we do believe that the network is way too large for its own good, and that unless and until a true competitor emerges, it's up to everyone else to point out those occasions when the emperor is riding both bareback and bareassed.

The handling of the Roethlisberger case makes us wonder whether there's a complete firewall between the business functions of ESPN and its journalistic activities. We say this because we're convinced that the Roethlisberger story initially was ignored due to concerns that ESPN would be jeopardizing its access to the two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback, who also happens to play for the team with the most loyal and rabid fan base in America.

Though the "do not report" memo did not cite a reason for the directive to avoid the story, word initially began to emerge throughout the day (starting first at Jemele Hill's Twitter page) that ESPN has a policy to not report civil complaints not accompanied by criminal proceedings.

Of course, if there truly were such a policy and if it were applied on an across-the-board basis, then there would have been no need for a "do not report" memo. And any such memo surely would have reminded the recipients of the policy regarding civil complaints without criminal proceedings, right?

We challenged our Twitter followers to submit links to situations in which ESPN reported on civil cases in the absence of criminal proceedings, but we can now pull the plug on that effort. There are, indeed, plenty of situations in which ESPN covered cases involving civil allegations but no criminal charges. And our private discussions with some of the folks at ESPN reveal that the rule isn't nearly as black-and-white as Jemele's tweets suggest.

Instead, the rule is far more vague and malleable, with a variety of factors to be considered that, in the end, allow ESPN to do whatever it wants to do whenever it wants to do it.

Regardless of how ESPN came to its conclusion, it clearly swung the bat and missed on this one. Everyone else has reported the Roethlisberger story. Everyone.

And Dave Goldberg, the venerable NFL reporter at the Associated Press, had this to say on his Twitter page: "Can u ignore an obvious story and call yourself the 'worldwide leader?' Arrogance has its own method, I guess."
Still, ESPN has its defenders. So far, however, they exclusively arise from within the ESPN machine.

For example, Dan LeBatard of 790 The Ticket in Miami, a frequent contributor to ESPN, took up for the network today.

"God bless 'em," LeBatard said of ESPN's position.

"t's only being reported in the blogosphere, irresponsibly, unfairly," LeBatard added. ". . . . It's not being reported in credible places."

But that's not correct. Everyone but ESPN has picked this up. Every Pittsburgh media outlet, every newspaper, every major web site, along with the Associated Press.

If the Associated Press sees fit to report the fact of the existence of the lawsuit, then it's being reported in "credible places."

The only credible place in which it isn't being reported is on ESPN. And that's causing some in the media to wonder just how credible ESPN really is.

UPDATE: Technically, ESPN is now acknowledging the report, albeit unwittingly. As of this posting, the "Top Stories From ABC News" box on ESPN.com's various pages includes the headline, "Woman: Super Bowl QB Raped Me."

Ryan "Son of Don" Taylor

< Message edited by Ryan Taylor -- 7/22/2009 11:21:49 AM >

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RE: RE:NFL News - 7/22/2009 10:29:20 AM

Ryan Taylor

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Complaint in Roethlisberger case alleges huge coverup by coworkers

Posted by Tom Curran on July 21, 2009 7:05 PM ET

We've previously addressed the crux of the claims made by Andrea McNulty against Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

But there's a separate aspect to this case that Florio didn't have time to get to on Tuesday as he was talking to pretty much every radio station in the country and appearing on Keith Olbermann's favorite cable news network.
The rest of the complaint details an alleged coverup by McNulty's co-workers and superiors at Harrah's Lake Tahoe, along with the physical and emotional distress McNulty experienced after the alleged incident.

The most pointed accusations by McNulty are directed at Guy Hyder, Chief of Security at Harrah's Lake Tahoe, and John Koster, Harrah's Northern Nevada President.

Harrah's Entertainment Inc., is not named as a defendant in the suit.

The complaint states that Koster's valued friendship with Roethlisberger was something he often boasted of and that Hyder, when told of the alleged assault by McNulty, said that McNulty was overreacting.

Hyder also allegedly said "most girls would feel lucky to get to have sex with someone like Ben Roethlisberger" that "Koster would love you even more if he knew about this" and that "Koster would suck his d--k if Roethlisberger let him."

Last August, soon after the alleged assault, a co-worker warned McNulty that if she ever let on to knowing Roethlisberger, Koster would "personally fire you for starting rumors about Roethlisberger's personal life."

The complaint states that, because "Harrah's and its personnel, particularly Hyder and Koster would side with and support Roethlisberger" she did not go to the police and attempted to deal with the situation on her own. In late September, early October and again in November, McNulty was hospitalized for depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder. She had lost 30 pounds.

The complaint says that, in the fall of 2008, Hyder "entered into contact with Plaintiff's parents, stating falsely that the reason for Plaintiff's breakdown was the cessation of a Plaintiff's e-mail correspondence with a young man and omitting all reference to and concealing the sexual assault that had taken place on July 11, 2008."

This aligns with TMZ report from earlier in the day, which cited a source who claimed that McNulty had an e-mail relationship with what she believed was a U.S. soldier stationed in Iraq but that the "soldier" was actually the wife of a man with whom McNulty allegedly had a relationship. The TMZ report claims that McNulty was distraught when those e-mails ceased, and that she told others that the soldier had been killed in action.

According to the complaint, Hyder convinced McNulty to give her a key to her home so that he could check on her during her convalesence but "entered her home and on information belief without her knowledge proceeded to examine and remove and alter the content of and the file or files and information on her work laptop computer and to remove her computer which was done without her knowledge and understanding and was done for the purpose of providing the information to Harrah's and for their own Defendants' purposes."

The claim also states that Harrah's Entertainment Inc. looked into McNulty's complaint in April of 2009 and performed interviews with a number of the defendants but that the resulting interviews were a collection of "character assassination." It's also alleged that requests for any surveillance tapes have been "ignored or denied."

Our messages left for Hyder and Koster have not been returned. A Harrah's spokesman, Jacqueline Peterson, said this afternoon that, "We don't have a comment and don't comment on pending legal matters."

She had no information on whether the defendants would be represented by Harrah's legal people or would be retaining their own attorneys.

McNulty's lawyer, Calvin Dunlap, also declined comment. When asked if there was any reason why not, he said, "Yeah, we try our cases in court, not in the media."

Ryan "Son of Don" Taylor

< Message edited by Ryan Taylor -- 7/22/2009 11:20:53 AM >

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RE: RE:NFL News - 7/22/2009 10:32:20 AM

Ryan Taylor

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Marvin Harrison's accuser shot seven times

Posted by Mike Florio on July 21, 2009 6:25 PM ET

As several of you have pointed out regarding the decision of ESPN not to report on the civil suit against Ben Roethlisberger, ESPN previously departed from its supposed policy of no reporting on civil cases absent a criminal complaint in the case of the shooting that allegedly involved former Colts receiver Marvin Harrison.

ESPN was all over that story from the get-go, even though the only official legal proceeding against Harrison was and is a civil suit.
And so we wonder whether ESPN will mention the latest development in the pending non-criminal case.

According to FOX 29 in Philly, the man who accused Harrison of shooting him has been shot again. Seven times.

The incident occurred earlier today as 33-year-old Dwight Dixon was leaving a Chinese restaurant. He is listed in critical condition.

Police are looking for the shooter; they reportedly believe that the incident might be related to another shooting that occurred over the weekend.

We assume that police also will attempt to rule out whether the shooting is related to the shooting that allegedly involved Harrison. After all, the civil case can never become a criminal case if the guy who claims he was shot by Harrison isn't able to testify at any criminal trial.

Obviously, we're not saying that Harrison was involved in either shooting. But the police wouldn't be doing their jobs properly if they didn't rule out anyone and everyone who might have a motive to put seven slugs into Dixon's body.

Bottom line? Someone saw fit to shoot Dixon seven times.

Ryan "Son of Don" Taylor

< Message edited by Ryan Taylor -- 7/22/2009 11:20:10 AM >

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RE: RE:NFL News - 7/22/2009 10:34:52 AM

Ryan Taylor

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Losman signs with UFL

Posted by Mike Florio on July 21, 2009 10:44 PM ET

After weeks of rumors and premature reports, former Bills quarterback JP Losman, a first-round pick in the 2004 draft, has signed a contract with the UFL.

The UFL announced the move this evening.

He'll play for the still-unnamed Las Vegas franchise. (Actually, none of the four franchises has been given a name.)

"I have followed JP's career since his early days with Buffalo where he impressed me with his raw talent, passing accuracy and on-field competitiveness," said Jim Fassel, former Giants coach who'll serve as head coach of the Las Vegas franchise. "JP has all the attributes of a great professional quarterback and I am truly looking forward to working with him. I am anxious to start the season with JP at the helm of this Las Vegas franchise and show what we can do on the field."

"The United Football League is providing me with the opportunity to play the sport I love at a high level and for that, I am extremely grateful," Losman said. "There are many players just like me who possess the skills to compete at the highest levels and just need the playing time to showcase their talents. The United Football League is filling that void and giving more players the opportunity to play. I am excited to get back out onto the field and represent Las Vegas during the League's first season."

As we previously heard it, Losman decided that it made more sense to actually play in the UFL than to serve as a second-string or third-string option for an NFL team.

But if there's a rash of injuries to NFL quarterbacks, Losman most likely won't be able to jump back to the established league. The non-negotiable UFL contract binds players to the upstart operation through November 28.

UPDATE: A source with knowledge of the situation tells us that the UFL has revised its policy to permit players who sign before August 1 to leave before the end of the season. So Losman can still go to the NFL. In theory.

Ryan "Son of Don" Taylor

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RE: RE:NFL News - 7/22/2009 10:36:24 AM

Ryan Taylor

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Goodell "will look into" Roethlisberger allegations

Posted by Mike Florio on July 21, 2009 11:35 PM ET

Though the civil complaint alleging sexual assault against Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has escaped the attention of one fairly large media outlet, the matter hasn't been lost on the guy who runs the league in which Roethlisberger plays.

On Tuesday, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell addressed the situation.

"I don't know enough of the details, but it's a civil lawsuit, it's something that we obviously will look into," Goodell said during an unrelated news conference (presumably, the news conference announcing that the Miami Dolphins have shaved off another piece of the team for a musician). "I've been in touch with the Steelers about it," Goodell added.

That said, we doubt that the league would take any action absent a criminal case. But it could get interesting if a jury eventually decides in a civil case that Roethlisberger did what the plaintiff claims that he did. Though the finding would be based on the lower legal standard of "preponderance of the evidence," it would nevertheless constitute a legal conclusion that Roethlisberger committed a sexual assault.

In that situation, it might be very difficult for the league to do nothing.

Ryan "Son of Don" Taylor

< Message edited by Ryan Taylor -- 7/22/2009 11:14:25 AM >

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RE: RE:NFL News - 7/22/2009 10:38:10 AM

Ryan Taylor

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UFL softens its NFL exemption

Posted by Mike Florio on July 22, 2009 7:03 AM ET

Though the standard UFL player contract that we received last month explains that any player who applies his Herbie Hancock to the document cannot sign with an NFL team before November 28.

But a source with knowledge of the situation tells us that, last week, the UFL softened its stance, permitting anyone who signs a deal before August 1 to leave for the NFL before the end of the UFL season.

In our view, this is the first tangible step toward making the UFL into a true in-season minor league for the NFL, with players being called up from (and, in time, sent down to) affiliated UFL franchises.

With only four teams for its first season, it'll take a while before the UFL can become a genuine minor league. But the UFL has the right idea -- if it can find a way to complement and help the NFL, the UFL has a chance to succeed.

Ryan "Son of Don" Taylor

Post #: 4187

RE: RE:NFL News - 7/22/2009 11:16:42 AM

Ryan Taylor

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Only two first-rounders are signed

Posted by Mike Florio on July 22, 2009 11:25 AM ET

We've decided to step aside for a moment from the Roethlisberger/Vick/ESPN merry-go-round to focus on, you know, football.

It's July 22. Camps open soon. And only two first-round picks have agreed to terms: Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford and Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez.

We're not quite sure what's going on, apart from the fact that many of the agents likely are hesistant to do a deal without a floor or a ceiling, courtesy of a deal someone else has done.

In the top five, negotiations likely are complicated by the fact that the first overall pick (Stafford) and the fifth selection (Sanchez) received quarterback premiums. So will No. 4 overall pick Aaron Curry, a linebacker, take less from the Seahawks than what Sanchez received a pick lower?

Then there's Bengals tackle Andre Smith, who simply seems destined for a holdout.

Meanwhile, we're in the process of compiling division-by-division lists of players who are signed and unsigned. We completed two of them (AFC East and AFC North) before getting sidetracked by a certain civil lawsuit in Nevada.

Ryan "Son of Don" Taylor

< Message edited by Ryan Taylor -- 7/22/2009 11:19:19 AM >

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RE: RE:NFL News - 7/22/2009 11:18:07 AM

Ryan Taylor

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Rooneys close to finalizing ownership shift

Posted by Mike Florio on July 22, 2009 12:05 PM ET

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that the four Rooney brothers not named Dan signed paperwork Monday to officially transfer controlling ownership of the team to Dan and his son, Art II.

The formal closing, which was supposed to occur in March, is now expected to happen within the next two weeks.
Coincidentally, Dan Rooney has since stepped aside from his day-to-day role with the team, given his recent appointment to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Ireland. Art II will manage the team in his capacity as franchise president.

Art II and Dan Rooney will continue to jointly own 30 percent of the team, under an exception to the requirement that one person control at least 30 percent of an NFL franchise. Previously, they jointly owned only 16 percent.
The change in ownership was necessitated by a 2006 Rooney family foray into legal gambling operations that violated the league's rules. Some league insiders privately expressed frustration with the perception that the league office was looking the other way on the matter, giving the Rooneys extended time to solve the problem.
Even now, it's not completely clear that the problem has been fully solved. Art Jr. and John Rooney reportedly are selling only half of their 16-percent pieces of the team, giving each brother eight percent ownership.

Unless both brothers have completely pulled out of the family gambling operations that run afoul of league rules, the situation that gave rise to the need to restructure the team still exists, albeit in a diminished capacity.

And that won't do anything to silence the folks in league circles who think that the Rooneys have gotten special treatment on this issue.

Ryan "Son of Don" Taylor

Post #: 4189

RE: RE:NFL News - 7/23/2009 11:30:39 AM

Ryan Taylor

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Roethlisberger will break his silence at 2:00 p.m. EDT

Posted by Mike Florio on July 23, 2009 12:09 PM ET

Despite canceling a press conference that had been scheduled for today in conjunction with his upcoming appearance on Shaquille O'Neal's ABC reality show, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger will make a public statement later today regarding the civil lawsuit filed against him last week in Nevada.

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Roethlisberger will make a public statement at the team's complex at 2:00 p.m. EDT Thursday.

But he will take no questions.

The last part makes sense. Anything he says can and will be used against him in the lawsuit. So by addressing the situation in any way, he possibly will be telling his accuser's lawyer something that the lawyer doesn't already know, and Roethlisberger also will be putting on the record something that it would be very difficult to contadict while testifying under oath during a deposition or at trial.

The first part, however, makes no sense to us. Does it really serve his interests to wag a finger and say, "I did not have nonconsensual sexual relations with that woman"?

It's better to say nothing and do nothing beyond the confines of the legal process.

And if he's making his statement pursuant to the "if you're innocent you shout it from the rooftops" strategy, then he should go the full distance and answer questions, too.

Ryan "Son of Don" Taylor

< Message edited by Ryan Taylor -- 7/23/2009 11:32:15 AM >

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RE: RE:NFL News - 7/23/2009 4:39:13 PM

TheGonz

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http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4351601

The 2010 Draft will be spread over three days, with the first round being in prime time on a Thursday night, Rounds 2 and 3 being held on Friday night, and the remainder being done on Saturday morning/afternoon.

I don't like this one bit, but that's just me.

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RE: RE:NFL News - 7/23/2009 4:57:39 PM

Stacey King

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Goodell is a money grab commisioner, this stretching out of the Draft is just another example.

17 or 18 game regular season is a coming soon as well.

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RE: RE:NFL News - 7/24/2009 2:52:51 PM

John Childress

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It does not appear as though Eagles DC Jim Johnson will recover from cancer.

What a shame

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/dneagles/Abrupt_Move_Follows_Awkward_Silence.html

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RE: RE:NFL News - 7/24/2009 3:23:28 PM

Trekgeekscott

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quote:

ORIGINAL: John Childress

It does not appear as though Eagles DC Jim Johnson will recover from cancer.

What a shame

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/dneagles/Abrupt_Move_Follows_Awkward_Silence.html

It would be a shame...but this article doesn't say that things have taken a turn for the worse. Just that the "interim" guy is having the "interim" label removed. I know from personal experience the toll that cancer treatment can have on a person. Johnson isn't a young pup either...so I am sure it's kicking his ass. but that doesn't mean that he is struggling. Unless there are more articles that say things have gotten worse for him...

It may just be that he called the Eagles and suggested that he wont be able to participate as coach anytime soon as a result of the treatments and thought that the new guy deserves the full title.

If not, I'll keep praying for the guy.

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RE: RE:NFL News - 7/26/2009 11:41:48 AM

Duane Sampson

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T.O.: Extending Vick's Ban Would be Ridiculous
Sun Jul 26, 2009

ESPN's Tim Graham reports Buffalo Bills WR Terrell Owens is disappointed in the way NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is considering QB Michael Vick's reinstatement now that the former Atlanta Falcons quarterback has served a 23-month prison sentence for his role in an illegal dogfighting ring. Owens called the possibility of an additional Vick suspension to start the season, possibly for four games, "ridiculous" after Sunday morning's training camp session at St. John Fisher College. "The Michael Vick situation, I think, is unfortunate," Owens said. "I think the way the commissioner is handling it is unfair to Michael Vick. I think he's done the time for what he's done. I don't think it's really fair for him to be suspended four more games. It's almost like kicking a dead horse in the ground. A lot of the guys around the league need to speak up. I think the players' union needs to step in because the guy's already suffered so much, and to add a four-game suspension onto a two-year prison sentence, I mean, that's ridiculous." Owens wouldn't speculate whether Vick will be signed by another NFL team, but claimed Vick deserved the opportunity. "Why shouldn't he?" Owens said. "There's a number of guys around the league that have done far more worse things than that and gotten a second chance. So I don't see why he shouldn't."

I have to agree. He was guilty and the justice system decided a penalty. He did the time. What's the point of trials, judges and penalties for crimes if it isn't enough?

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RE: RE:NFL News - 7/26/2009 1:45:43 PM

Todd M

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What's the point of a personal conduct policy if Vick doesn't get dinged by the league for what he did? Adam Jones hasn't spent a day in jail and got a year.

No way should being stuck in prison should count as time served.

Most professionals would have a damn hard time getting their own job back after a 2 year prison sentence. Heck getting a good job at all is tough. I was told to get a pardon for sleeping in my car intoxicated almost 20 years ago when I first looked into taking my PSW course.

Vick's second chance is getting his freedom back, being let out of prison. Let him work construction or something. Playing in the NFL is a privilege.

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RE: RE:NFL News - 7/26/2009 2:10:01 PM

Duane Sampson

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Good point, but the league isn't very consistent.

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RE: RE:NFL News - 7/27/2009 3:10:20 PM

Trekgeekscott

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Michael Vick gets a conditional reinstatement.

http://cnnwire.blogs.cnn.com/2009/07/27/nfl-reinstates-vick-on-conditional-basis/

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Post #: 4198

RE: RE:NFL News - 7/27/2009 4:21:03 PM

John Childress

Posts: 42898
Joined: 7/15/2007
Status: offline

Vick got what he deserved. They let Leonard Little back into the league after killing a mother - not just some dogs.

It is also incredibly hypocritical of society to punish people who kill dogs but not deers? What is the difference? It is ok to kill one defenseless animal but not another?

I doubt any team signs him anyway as he has 3 strikes

1. Away from the game for 2 years
2. Suspension hanging over his head with expulsion for the slightest wrong act - double secret probation
3. The ire of the PETA idiots

_____________________________

No more acceptance of mediocrity!!!! EVER!

Post #: 4199

RE: RE:NFL News - 7/27/2009 4:26:01 PM

John Childress

Posts: 42898
Joined: 7/15/2007
Status: offline

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/football/nfl/07/27/burress.ap/index.html?eref=sircrc

Another example of why this country is so screwed up

2 years in prison for accidentally shooting yourself?

That is why we have the highest incarceration rate of any advanced nation in the world.

_____________________________

No more acceptance of mediocrity!!!! EVER!

Post #: 4200