|
In terms of process, this is what the NFL should have been doing all along. An employer is allowed (and required) to conduct investigations into the misconduct of employees. No sane employer is going to wait for the outcome of a potential criminal case before deciding on employment consequences. Yet, this is what the NFL has traditionally done.
That said, it shouldn't take 13 months to do an investigation. Should the NFLPA grieve the suspension, the test is not reasonable doubt and does not require the same sort of evidentiary rigour that a criminal case would.
As for penalty, six games seems reactionary on the surface (reaction to Ray Rice, Josh Brown, etc) ... but if the NFL considered all mitigating and aggravating factors in coming to that decision (remorse, contrition, accountability, repetitive versus aberrant act, seriousness of misconduct, provocation, player's disciplinary history, tenure in the league) than it is probably defensible.
Anyone who is interested in how the NFL has historically worked overtime to hide player misconduct should read Pros and Cons: The Criminals Who Play in the NFL by Benedict and Yaeger. 20 years old but still highly relevant.
|