Stallworth suspended for the entire season
 

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Re: Stallworth suspended for the entire season
 

[URL="http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4396130"]And without pay.[/URL]

I just hope he's not automatically cleared to play next season. I think there needs to be a lengthy review before he hits the field again.

Re: Stallworth suspended for the entire season
 

Not surprising or undeserved.

Re: Stallworth suspended for the entire season
 

Boom comes the hammer. Maybe the league is finally taking DUI seriously. Our society needs to follow suit.

Although I do have some question as to how much the alcohol was a factor in this case I still think this is fair. These guys get paid too much to ever have to drive themselves drunk.

Re: Stallworth suspended for the entire season
 

If I had killed someone I'd be in jail.

Re: Stallworth suspended for the entire season
 

[quote=Trample the Elderly;575094]If I had killed someone I'd be in jail.[/quote]

So would I. Stallworth was essentially able to buy his way out of jail through a major contribution to the Reyes family. Not getting paid for a year in the wake of this is really going to hurt his wallet. So he is paying a price beyond a year lost to his football career, he's not getting off scot free. But it is a case where money opens doors that are closed to the less affluent.

Re: Stallworth suspended for the entire season
 

So will Cleveland be able to get back any of the signing bonus? If so, is that gonna impact Stallworth's ability to pay the court and family settlements?

Re: Stallworth suspended for the entire season
 

He should be glad it wasn't in Texas. My Uncle got 10 yrs for a hit-n-run without bodily inury and that was a plea bargin. He was facing 25 to 30. That just shows that the all mighty dollar always has the last say. Just think if M.Vick lived in Florida the authorities might have assisted him in digging the ditches for those dogs. Possibly with a banquet for Pedigree's Man of The Year award.

24 days in the county. Thats just enough time for the joint he blazed before turning himself in,to get out of his system. If the term Kid Gloves every applied.

Re: Stallworth suspended for the entire season
 

If he went to trial he might have gotten off w/out any time. I heard that in Fla. the state has to prove that the boos was a factor in causing the accident. From all the evidence that I've read about the guy walked in front of the car. Not saying Stallworth was right cause he wasn't. No need to be driving after doing shots and smoking weed. He has no one to blame but himself.

Re: Stallworth suspended for the entire season
 

[quote=FRPLG;575054]Boom comes the hammer. Maybe the league is finally taking DUI seriously. Our society needs to follow suit.

Although I do have some question as to how much the alcohol was a factor in this case I still think this is fair. These guys get paid too much to ever have to drive themselves drunk.[/quote]

Agreed on all counts, including the suggestion that there may have been mitigating circumstances in this case (unless I'm misinterpreting your comment).

Regardless, this is ultimately what a personal conduct policy is all about. That the court presiding over his criminal proceeding considers his debt to society paid does not automatically mean that he is now fit to don an NFL uniform.

A fair decision by the commissioner.

Re: Stallworth suspended for the entire season
 

[quote=skindeep;575127]He should be glad it wasn't in Texas. My Uncle got 10 yrs for a hit-n-run without bodily inury and that was a plea bargin. He was facing 25 to 30. That just shows that the all mighty dollar always has the last say. Just think if M.Vick lived in Florida the authorities might have assisted him in digging the ditches for those dogs. Possibly with a banquet for Pedigree's Man of The Year award.

24 days in the county. Thats just enough time for the joint he blazed before turning himself in,to get out of his system. If the term Kid Gloves every applied.[/quote]My mom's cousin got a year for hitting a woman who was jay-walking in FL even though he wasn't drinking and he stopped to try to help her. In the end he was still found guilty of vehicular manslaughter for whatever reason. In fairness, I don't know all the details of the case but everything I've heard from my family makes it seem like it was really a freak accident.

Re: Stallworth suspended for the entire season
 

[quote=skindeep;575127]He should be glad it wasn't in Texas. My Uncle got 10 yrs for a hit-n-run without bodily inury and that was a plea bargin. He was facing 25 to 30. That just shows that the all mighty dollar always has the last say. Just think if M.Vick lived in Florida the authorities might have assisted him in digging the ditches for those dogs. Possibly with a banquet for Pedigree's Man of The Year award.

24 days in the county. Thats just enough time for the joint he blazed before turning himself in,to get out of his system. If the term Kid Gloves every applied.[/quote]

Not trying to downplay the incident, but Stallworth didn't hit and run. If he weren't drinking, than he'd most likely be totally innocent. Either way, it was reaaaalllly stupid, and he gets what he deserves. Although, I agree the punishment is light.

EDIT: just saw AMD's post ... maybe he wouldn't have been innocent if sober.

Re: Stallworth suspended for the entire season
 

Just wanted to add,my Uncle was drunk and i was in the vehicle behind him. He ****ed up and now is paying real hard time.

Re: Stallworth suspended for the entire season
 

Money had nothing to do with his plea deal. That is not in any way the criminal justice system works. Civil settlements don't give prospectors leeway to not pursue proper charges. They pled it out because they were unsure if they could get a conviction on the major charges since there was a good chance they couldn't prove the alcohol was a contributing factor. Now I am only speaking from a pure by-the-law standpoint. From a moral standpoint I think DUI ought to carry a mandatory 1 year prison sentence and suspension of license for 5 years, I don't think we take drunk driving nearly serious enough in our society.

Re: Stallworth suspended for the entire season
 

Im glad the NFL didnt just slap him on the wrist.

Re: Stallworth suspended for the entire season
 

I don't know about this. It sounded like to me that Stallworth could've gotten off on the manslaughter & only been faced w/dui. In which case his sentence would have been lighter, much less house arrest.

I disagree w/those that say he got off easy w/the plea. He made the deal to save he & the family from going through a trial. He's been up front & contrite from the beginning.

Ultimately, goodell has set a seriously high bar on the conduct policy. He just suspended a man that's on house arrest. I could agree w/even an 8 game suspension, a year seems awful extreme.

Is he suspended in part because of the manslaughter? i.e. if he had been found not guilty of that charge & only dui would the suspension be a year? If not, then the conduct policy is basically punishing Stallworth for reaching a quick & agreeable (w/the state & the victim's family) solution.

Re: Stallworth suspended for the entire season
 

[quote=freddyg12;575149]I don't know about this. It sounded like to me that Stallworth could've gotten off on the manslaughter & only been faced w/dui. In which case his sentence would have been lighter, much less house arrest.

I disagree w/those that say he got off easy w/the plea. He made the deal to save he & the family from going through a trial. He's been up front & contrite from the beginning.

Ultimately, goodell has set a seriously high bar on the conduct policy. He just suspended a man that's on house arrest. I could agree w/even an 8 game suspension, a year seems awful extreme.

Is he suspended in part because of the manslaughter? i.e. if he had been found not guilty of that charge & only dui would the suspension be a year? If not, then the conduct policy is basically punishing Stallworth for reaching a quick & agreeable (w/the state & the victim's family) solution.[/quote]

Yeah from what I heard Stallworth wasn't entirely at fault and they could have reduced the charge in his favor.

I think a year suspended is a little much. I feel terribly for the deceased family but it seems like the guy illegally crossed where he shouldn't have. No death is deserved there and I think Stallworth isn't entirely to blame.

Year suspension is steep for something that didn't yield jail time. Funny, it's like the exact opposite situation of the Vick scandal. Stallworth killed a human, served no time, but is suspended for a whole year. Vick brutally kills animals, serves 1.5yrs, and his suspension is time served.

...Strange relation there.

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Stallworth had also already been in the NFL's substance abuse program once before, which didn't help his cause

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[quote=Skinny Tee;575160]Yeah from what I heard Stallworth wasn't entirely at fault and they could have reduced the charge in his favor.

I think a year suspended is a little much. I feel terribly for the deceased family but it seems like the guy illegally crossed where he shouldn't have. No death is deserved there and I think Stallworth isn't entirely to blame.

Year suspension is steep for something that didn't yield jail time. Funny, it's like the exact opposite situation of the Vick scandal. Stallworth killed a human, served no time, but is suspended for a whole year. Vick brutally kills animals, serves 1.5yrs, and his suspension is time served.

...Strange relation there.[/quote]

I thought he served like 20 some days in jail.

Re: Stallworth suspended for the entire season
 

[quote=firstdown;575165]I thought he served like 20 some days in jail.[/quote]

30 and time off brought it down to 23 maybe.

Re: Stallworth suspended for the entire season
 

[quote=Skinny Tee;575160]Yeah from what I heard Stallworth wasn't entirely at fault and they could have reduced the charge in his favor.

I think a year suspended is a little much. I feel terribly for the deceased family but it seems like the guy illegally crossed where he shouldn't have. No death is deserved there and I think Stallworth isn't entirely to blame.

Year suspension is steep for something that didn't yield jail time. Funny, it's like the exact opposite situation of the Vick scandal. Stallworth killed a human, served no time, but is suspended for a whole year. [B]Vick brutally kills animals, serves 1.5yrs, and his suspension is time served.[/B]

...Strange relation there.[/quote]Vick got time served because he was in federal prison plus the 4 games this year, and we have no way of knowing how long he would have been suspended had his prison sentence not interrupted those two football seasons. I think that if Stallworth had been sentenced to a year in prison (say from August 2009 - July 2010) he'd probably still be looking at a suspension for all of the 2010 season. But he only have to serve 20+ days in jail during the off-season so we'll never really know.

Re: Stallworth suspended for the entire season
 

Stallworth still has 2 years house arrest. this suspension just makes it official, but he wasn't playing anyway.

Re: Stallworth suspended for the entire season
 

[quote=SmootSmack;575162]Stallworth had also already been in the NFL's substance abuse program once before, which didn't help his cause[/quote]

good point, forgot about that. He was suspended before wasn't he?

Re: Stallworth suspended for the entire season
 

he was legally drunk at the time of the accident. the man WALKED in front of him. Stallworth is guilty of using piss poor judgement. should he penalized more? that's not my call. but i do smell a law suit coming. he is not the first bad boy in the N.F.L and most of the law is based on precedent. didnt Little of the Rams do pretty much the same thing? i think the code of conduct has been in the league for ever.

Re: Stallworth suspended for the entire season
 

Lol he should still be in frickin prison

Re: Stallworth suspended for the entire season
 

[quote=CRedskinsRule;575174]Stallworth still has 2 years house arrest. this suspension just makes it official, but he wasn't playing anyway.[/quote]

Yeah, but he might have been able to go to work. People on house arrest are regularly allowed to do that, afaik.

I also read he has 8 years probation. Certainly not light, but given the fact that his actions resulted in the death of another person, it's hard to argue otherwise.

Re: Stallworth suspended for the entire season
 

[quote=dmek25;575181]he was legally drunk at the time of the accident. the man WALKED in front of him. Stallworth is guilty of using piss poor judgement. should he penalized more? that's not my call. but i do smell a law suit coming. he is not the first bad boy in the N.F.L and most of the law is based on precedent. didnt Little of the Rams do pretty much the same thing? i think the code of conduct has been in the league for ever.[/quote]

Different commissioner when Little committed his crime. Goodell was especially cognizant of the belief that the league was way too light on Little and wasn't about to let that happen again

Re: Stallworth suspended for the entire season
 

[quote=freddyg12;575178]good point, forgot about that. He was suspended before wasn't he?[/quote]

I don't remember. He was in a substance abuse program under orders by the league I believe.

Re: Stallworth suspended for the entire season
 

[quote=SmootSmack;575194]Different commissioner when Little committed his crime. Goodell was especially cognizant of the belief that the league was way too light on Little and wasn't about to let that happen again[/quote]
i knew this. but the policy itself hasn't changed, has it?

Re: Stallworth suspended for the entire season
 

[quote=dmek25;575209]i knew this. but the policy itself hasn't changed, has it?[/quote]

The enforcement of it has. As it should be.

Re: Stallworth suspended for the entire season
 

in a union environment, can that be done with out negotiations?

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It is nice to see that these players are not above the law, but I have to agree, too many times leniency is shown to these Big Shot's who think that they are untouchable. They don't get that they should be setting the example for all the kids that idolize them. I worry about our future.

Go Skins

Re: Stallworth suspended for the entire season
 

[quote=FRPLG;575145]Money had nothing to do with his plea deal. That is not in any way the criminal justice system works. Civil settlements don't give prospectors leeway to not pursue proper charges. They pled it out because they were unsure if they could get a conviction on the major charges since there was a good chance they couldn't prove the alcohol was a contributing factor. Now I am only speaking from a pure by-the-law standpoint. From a moral standpoint I think DUI ought to carry a mandatory 1 year prison sentence and suspension of license for 5 years, I don't think we take drunk driving nearly serious enough in our society.[/quote]

Well I think the state of Florida agrees about the suspension of license thing since his license got a lifetime suspension.

I think this sounds about right. Goodell got to make his point about how serious he takes situations like DUI and manslaughter and Stallworth gets to take an entire season off to reflect before trying to resurrect his career later.

Honestly even though I agree that DUI is bad and needs to be taken seriously I also think Stallworth has been punished enough. He wasn't even the only one at fault here, the guy shouldn't have decided to jaywalk across a major road even though he probably figured it was safe enough to do so.

Stallworth acted appropriately in response to what happened. (Note: I'm not condoning what he did here) He immediately stopped and called police, took immediate responsibility for what he did, reached a settlement with the family so they wouldn't have to bear the weight of the increased financial burden, said and did all the right things including placing himself at the mercy of the court and commissioner, and he also has a lifetime suspension of his drivers license as well as a year long suspension from the NFL. I think all that is sufficent punishment. What else could he have done to right the terrible wrong that he did? He did what Vick should've done after getting arrested and that's ultimately why he got a lighter sentence than Vick. If Vick had just come clean from the start he wouldn't have spent two years in prison.

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[quote=stevenslats;575254]It is nice to see that these players are not above the law, but I have to agree, too many times leniency is shown to these Big Shot's who think that they are untouchable. [B] They don't get that they should be setting the example for all the kids that idolize them.[/B] I worry about our future.

Go Skins[/quote]

Welcome to the board slats. I love Tennessee! Well they are role models whether they accept it or not. Some take it seriously, some don't.

Re: Stallworth suspended for the entire season
 

He really should get a lifetime ban. I mean part of me believes Stallworth is genuinely sorry but taking another life outside of maybe killing a criminal during a hostile takeover should be a lifetime ban.

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Wow, ESPN just reported that Donte Stallworth's suspension will be lifted after the Superbowl. That seems ridiculous to me.

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[B] Commissioner Roger Goodell indicated that Donte' Stallworth will be reinstated from his suspension when eligible next week.[/B]
"He recognizes the terrible judgment that he made and the tragic judgment he made and he'll be free to continue his career as of next week," offered Goodell. The Browns still own Stallworth's rights, but they fully intend to cut ties with him this offseason.

[url=http://www.rotoworld.com/content/playerpages/player_main.aspx?sport=NFL&id=1043]Donte' Stallworth[/url]



Agreed. Way too lenient.

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I don't get it, I know Vick and Stallworth had totally different crimes, but I thought the standard was no decision until you were done with your punishment. Stallworth still is under house arrest, which is a form of civil confinement, so how can Goodell even discuss this IF he is operating the same for every player. I didn't have much of an issue with the legal system's repercussions for Stallworth, but to be off suspension, but under house arrest, seems to make a mockery of an get tough stance Goodell may claim to have.

Just my opinion

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Goodell isn't operating the same for every player. He reviews each case independantly and decides how to act accordingly. There is no standard that he set for how he reviews punishments or when someone's punishment is up.

As for Stallworth's punishment, well I can see why people would want a longer prison sentence but you really have to understand the legal system to know why he only served a month. It's all about evidence and how much the police can prove the extent of involvement, not about the truth of what happened. I don't believe Stallworth fits your average criminal thug type player blessed with great talent kinda profile. From everything I've ever heard or read he's a genuinely nice guy who obviously made a horrible mistake. He's paid his dues and done everything right and now he deserves a second chance. Obviously there will be those who say Mario Reyes didn't get a second chance at life so Stallworth doesn't deserve his but it is what it is. I don't see how anybody can be truly shocked at any step of this whole ordeal because it's how our society works.

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Malice......,Stallworth had no malice while Vick did.You must also understand the crime to understand the punishment.As was reported earlier ther was a vidio of this accident and as in Florida the man was killed while J-walking there by contributing to his own death.Where this comes into play is in the civil case....the family could ...like it or not get nothing.This was all part a a plea arragement....and what was best for the rest of the victums family.