Stallworth gets a year off for drunk driving death.

[techs]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/ne...nded&prov=ap&type=lgns

NEW YORK (AP)?Cleveland Browns receiver Donte? Stallworth(notes) was suspended without pay for this season Thursday after pleading guilty to killing a pedestrian while driving drunk. He cannot participate in any team activities until his reinstatement after the Super Bowl.

?Your conduct endangered yourself and others, leading to the death of an innocent man,? NFL commissioner Roger Goodell wrote in a letter to Stallworth released by the league. ?The NFL and NFL players must live with the stain that you have placed on their reputations.?

Stallworth struck 59-year-old Mario Reyes on March 14 in Miami. He pleaded guilty June 16 to DUI manslaughter, a second-degree felony, and was suspended indefinitely by Goodell two days later.




I don't understand. Many players have gotten dui's. Yet they are not suspended a year.
Why do you get a harsher penalty because of something that happened because you were drunk?
It's like blaming the guy who lost in russian roulette. The crime was in playing the game, not the accidental outcome.
In other words, shouldn't all players get a year off for driving drunk? Or no players should get a year off?

 

[manlymatt83]

I agree. It's a bit of a double standard.

 

[LucJoe]

So, you're saying that driving 3 miles at .10 is the exact same crime as driving 3 miles at .10 and murdering an innocent pedestrian with your car.

 

[OverVolt]

DUI is pretty serious. I bet if my work found out if I had a hypothetical DUI where someone was killed, I'd get fired too.

 

[glutenberg]

Originally posted by: techs
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/ne...nded&prov=ap&type=lgns

NEW YORK (AP)?Cleveland Browns receiver Donte? Stallworth(notes) was suspended without pay for this season Thursday after pleading guilty to killing a pedestrian while driving drunk. He cannot participate in any team activities until his reinstatement after the Super Bowl.

?Your conduct endangered yourself and others, leading to the death of an innocent man,? NFL commissioner Roger Goodell wrote in a letter to Stallworth released by the league. ?The NFL and NFL players must live with the stain that you have placed on their reputations.?

Stallworth struck 59-year-old Mario Reyes on March 14 in Miami. He pleaded guilty June 16 to DUI manslaughter, a second-degree felony, and was suspended indefinitely by Goodell two days later.




I don't understand. Many players have gotten dui's. Yet they are not suspended a year.
Why do you get a harsher penalty because of something that happened because you were drunk?
It's like blaming the guy who lost in russian roulette. The crime was in playing the game, not the accidental outcome.
In other words, shouldn't all players get a year off for driving drunk? Or no players should get a year off?

Probably the same reason why you get a DUI manslaughter charge if you kill a person while intoxicated and only a DUI charge if you don't hit anyone.

 

[FallenHero]

Originally posted by: techs
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/ne...nded&prov=ap&type=lgns

NEW YORK (AP)?Cleveland Browns receiver Donte? Stallworth(notes) was suspended without pay for this season Thursday after pleading guilty to killing a pedestrian while driving drunk. He cannot participate in any team activities until his reinstatement after the Super Bowl.

?Your conduct endangered yourself and others, leading to the death of an innocent man,? NFL commissioner Roger Goodell wrote in a letter to Stallworth released by the league. ?The NFL and NFL players must live with the stain that you have placed on their reputations.?

Stallworth struck 59-year-old Mario Reyes on March 14 in Miami. He pleaded guilty June 16 to DUI manslaughter, a second-degree felony, and was suspended indefinitely by Goodell two days later.




I don't understand. Many players have gotten dui's. Yet they are not suspended a year.
Why do you get a harsher penalty because of something that happened because you were drunk?
It's like blaming the guy who lost in russian roulette. The crime was in playing the game, not the accidental outcome.
In other words, shouldn't all players get a year off for driving drunk? Or no players should get a year off?

Perhaps you missed the bolded section

 

[Playmaker]

Wow, he got screwed. There was a clear precedent with the Leonard Little case from a few years back.

 

[Delita]

Uh why is he not in jail. This is retarded.

 

[slayer202]

killed a guy crossing a highway like an idiot. not saying it makes it 100% ok, but a year suspension compared to vick dog fighting? which caused a bigger black eye for the nfl? not even a contest.

who spent more time in jail? I guess the NFL thinks they would serve better in charge of the justice system

 

[sactoking]

Originally posted by: Playmaker
Wow, he got screwed. There was a clear precedent with the Leonard Little case from a few years back.

From ye olde Wiki:

After leaving a birthday party drunk in 1998, Little crashed into and killed Susan Gutweiler in St. Louis, MO.

Roger S. Goodell...officially began his tenure on September 1, 2006, just prior to the beginning of the 2006 NFL season.

I think it's been made pretty clear that any leniency Tagliabue had toward guys like Little, Ray Lewis, and Jamal Anderson is NOT precedent for Goodell.

404- Screwage Not Found

 

[I Saw OJ]

He should spend more time in jail just for the DUI, let alone killing a man.

 

[OCGuy]

Am I supposed to feel sorry for him?

 

[Syringer]

If Goodell could put Stallworth in jail he would.

 

[KLin]

Originally posted by: sactoking

Originally posted by: Playmaker
Wow, he got screwed. There was a clear precedent with the Leonard Little case from a few years back.

From ye olde Wiki:

After leaving a birthday party drunk in 1998, Little crashed into and killed Susan Gutweiler in St. Louis, MO.

Roger S. Goodell...officially began his tenure on September 1, 2006, just prior to the beginning of the 2006 NFL season.

I think it's been made pretty clear that any leniency Tagliabue had toward guys like Little, Ray Lewis, and Jamal Anderson is NOT precedent for Goodell.

404- Screwage Not Found

QFT. Goodell is running a much tighter ship.

 

[sactoking]

Originally posted by: slayer202
killed a guy crossing a highway like an idiot. not saying it makes it 100% ok, but a year suspension compared to vick dog fighting? which caused a bigger black eye for the nfl? not even a contest.

who spent more time in jail? I guess the NFL thinks they would serve better in charge of the justice system

Stallworth- Drove drunk. Killed a man. Was previously in the NFL substance abuse program. Did not take advantage of the NFL Free Ride program or call a cab. Mitigating circumstance: Man stepped out right in front of him.

Result- A (likely very large) settlement and house arrest. 1 year suspension.

Vick- Ringleader of a multi-state dogfighting ring for more than 6 years. Killed dogs. Participated in illegal gambling activities. Corrupt local prosecutor unable to get grand jury indictment for charges Vick admitted to. Lied directly to Falcons owner and Goodell on many occasions.

Result- 2 years in jail. Indefinite suspension.

What's so wrong with this? Stallworth killed a man and gets 1 year suspension. Vick kills dogs and fronts a gambling operation and gets an indefinite suspension, which likely will be reduced as soon as he signs a contract.

Penalty for killing person = 1 year. Penalty for killing dogs <1 year. Person > dogs. Isn't that what you want?

 

[slayer202]

Originally posted by: sactoking

Originally posted by: slayer202
killed a guy crossing a highway like an idiot. not saying it makes it 100% ok, but a year suspension compared to vick dog fighting? which caused a bigger black eye for the nfl? not even a contest.

who spent more time in jail? I guess the NFL thinks they would serve better in charge of the justice system

Stallworth- Drove drunk. Killed a man. Was previously in the NFL substance abuse program. Did not take advantage of the NFL Free Ride program or call a cab. Mitigating circumstance: Man stepped out right in front of him.

Result- A (likely very large) settlement and house arrest. 1 year suspension.

Vick- Ringleader of a multi-state dogfighting ring for more than 6 years. Killed dogs. Participated in illegal gambling activities. Corrupt local prosecutor unable to get grand jury indictment for charges Vick admitted to. Lied directly to Falcons owner and Goodell on many occasions.

Result- 2 years in jail. Indefinite suspension.

What's so wrong with this? Stallworth killed a man and gets 1 year suspension. Vick kills dogs and fronts a gambling operation and gets an indefinite suspension, which likely will be reduced as soon as he signs a contract.

Penalty for killing person = 1 year. Penalty for killing dogs <1 year. Person > dogs. Isn't that what you want?

why did the courts decide otherwise? why is it the nfl's job to punish its players? If they want to have a strict policy about how their players should act, they shouldn't let about 80% of them in the league to begin with. an arguement is that they don't want people to tarnish the image of the game. Vick was WAY worse than stallworth in harming the NFL's image

 

[RESmonkey]

Players should be treated just like everyone.

 

[Fingolfin269]

You get a dui you should get a year off imho. The fact that some people have the 'luck' of a person not being in the wrong place at the wrong time should not be a reward.

 

[Chiller2]

He should goto jail for a minimum 10yr and be banned from the NFL for Life

 

[sactoking]

Originally posted by: slayer202
why did the courts decide otherwise? why is it the nfl's job to punish its players? If they want to have a strict policy about how their players should act, they shouldn't let about 80% of them in the league to begin with. an arguement is that they don't want people to tarnish the image of the game. Vick was WAY worse than stallworth in harming the NFL's image

Different states. Different jurisdictions. Different courts. Different judges. Lots of reasons. You have to remember with Vick that he got FEDERAL time. Gerald Poindexter, the Surrey County prosecutor, was so intent on letting Vick slide that the FBI had to get involved on the interstate gambling charges. Even then, Poindexter failed to get a state charge for killing dogs, even though Vick admitted to it in his Federal plea bargain.

The league has a vested interest in policing its players to either supplement, complement, or replace what the penal and civil systems might do. In Stallworth's case, he was a prior violator of the substance abuse policy, which covers alcohol abuse. He then got behind the wheel while drunk. He owes a debt to society for DUI and killing a person. He also owes a debt to the NFL for multiple offenses under their substance abuse and personal conduct policies. Why shouldn't he be suspended for that?

In Vick's case, he was the ringleader of an interstate gambling ring for at least 6 years. The league has a vested interest in that. What if Vick lost some fights and was pressured to shave points to make up for the losses? He already flipped off the fans once. He was caught with the 'mystery compartment' water bottle. And he lied to Arthur Blank and Roger Goodell, face to face, on multiple occasions. Why shouldn't he be suspended for that?

 

[tboo]

Originally posted by: Playmaker
Wow, he got screwed. There was a clear precedent with the Leonard Little case from a few years back.

There is a new commish in charge since then

 

[slayer202]

I think vick's punishment should be worse than stallworth's, which it isn't going to be. since its stallworth's second offense I guess I can't argue with his punishment, but I still think Vick deserves a harsher ruling

 

[LikeLinus]

Originally posted by: LucJoe
So, you're saying that driving 3 miles at .10 is the exact same crime as driving 3 miles at .10 and murdering an innocent pedestrian with your car.

He did not murder anyone. Murder is premeditated or to intentionally kill someone. It was manslaughter.

 

[Farang]

Originally posted by: LikeLinus

Originally posted by: LucJoe
So, you're saying that driving 3 miles at .10 is the exact same crime as driving 3 miles at .10 and murdering an innocent pedestrian with your car.

He did not murder anyone. Murder is a premeditated or intentionally kill someone. It was manslaughter.

And the pedestrian was not exactly innocent

 

[StageLeft]

LOL, but a guy gets 6 months jail for YAWNING (see P&N).