Donte Stallworth Suspended

The suspension has finally come. With Stallworth pleading guilty and accepting his sentence (30 days in jail, lifetime suspension of driver's license, 1,000 hours of community service, 2 years of house arrest to be followed by 8 years of probation), the ball was finally in NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s court.

Unlike in the Vick case, where commissioner Goodell ordered the QB to stay away from his team while the NFL investigated, Goodell waited until Stallworth’s guilty plea before acting toward any suspension. On Thursday, June 18, Goodell suspended Stallworth indefinitely for his DUI manslaughter that occurred back in March of this year. Many are speculating on what the final suspension for Stallworth will be.

Also, many (as I have) are comparing Stallworth's case to Michael Vick’s case and the case of Rams' defensive end Leonard Little. Little was suspended 8 games for an offense very similar to Stallworth’s back in 1998. Little struck and killed Susan Gutweiler in St. Louis, MO after leaving a birthday party drunk. After being convicted of involuntary manslaughter, Little received 90 days in jail, four years' probation and 1000 hours of community service. In 1999 the NFL suspended Little 8 games for his transgressions.

In 2004, with the involuntary manslaughter conviction wiped from his record, in the suburbs of St. Louis, Little was again arrested for drunk driving (and speeding). According to police, Little had bloodshot and watery eyes, smelled of alcohol, and failed three sobriety tests. Because of his 1999 guilty plea to involuntary manslaughter in his drunken-driving crash case, prosecutors charged him as a persistent offender. This made it a felony case. Little was acquitted of drunk driving, but was convicted of the misdemeanor speeding charge.

As far as I can determine, Little was never suspended by the NFL for this second offense. I suppose because he was convicted only of speeding, the league probably felt no suspension was necessary. Stallworth and his representatives have already invoked Leonard Little’s case and will almost certainly do so again when it comes to dealing with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.

Contrary to what many may believe, I have few problems with Stallworth’s sentence and I feel that his NFL suspension will probably be longer than it should. However, I do have a significant problem with the treatment of Michael Vick. I have a problem with his treatment by the media, the courts, the NFL, and the general public. I feel that what Vick did was unjust and deserved some scorn and punishment. However, both scorn and punishment were WAY out of proportion to his crimes.

For example, if Vick had been caught in a cock-fighting scandal, both funding and killing birds, his treatment would have been much less severe. In fact, he probably would have received his harshest treatment from the late-night comics and perhaps even received an endorsement deal from Kentucky Fried Chicken. (Not really, but this reminds me of a funny Jim Gaffigan line: Vegetarian: 'Do you know what they do to those chickens?!' Gaffigan: 'No, but it's delicious.')

I will not be surprised to see that Stallworth’s suspension is on par with Vick’s (a full season). This is assuming that Vick is immediately reinstated once his sentence is completed in July. If not—if Stallworth receives a suspension from the NFL far less than Vick’s—then I would not be surprised to see Vick consider suing the NFL for his treatment. I’m not sure if he would have a legal leg on which to stand, but if this scenario plays out, I would like to see him pursue it.

Copyright 2009, Trevor Grant Thomas

At the Intersection of Politics, Science, Faith, and Reason.

Trevor and his wife Michelle are the authors of: Debt Free Living in a Debt Filled World

tthomas@trevorgrantthomas.com

Stallworth Gets 30 Days

Cleveland Browns' wide receiver Donte´ Stallworth has pleaded guilty to DUI manslaughter in Florida. Along with 10 years of probation and 1,000 hours of community service, Stallworth is going to serve 30 days in jail after striking and killing a man while driving drunk back in March of this year. Also, to avoid a lawsuit, Stallworth reached a financial settlement with the family of the man he killed. 

I hate to keep beating a dead horse—excuse me—a dead dog, but compare this to Michael Vick’s punishment. After pleading guilty in December of 2007, Vick was sentenced to 23 months in prison, which exceeded the 12 to 18 months that the prosecutors recommended. Vick was also fined $5,000 and given three years' probation for the crime of running a dog fighting operation. 

Michael Vick was also suspended by the NFL for the entire 2007 season—a suspension that went into effect before Vick admitted guilt to anything. Donte´ Stallworth has yet to hear anything from the NFL concerning a suspension. There have been no lawsuits against Vick in his sad story; however, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Vick incurred financial losses of approximately $142 million. This includes $71 million in salary from the Atlanta Falcons, $50 million in endorsement income, and $20 million in previously paid bonuses. 

In addition, according to Sports Illustrated, Vick agreed to pay more than $928,000 to care for dogs seized on his property. According to federal court documents filed in April of 2007, 53 pit bulls were seized on Vick’sVirginia property. That works out to more than $17,500 per dog! That’s several thousand dollars more than the ANNUAL average healthcare plan costs American families! 

It will be interesting to see what kind of suspension the NFL gives Stallworth. Perhaps at least the NFL will dish out proportional judgment to the man who drove drunk and killed another human vs. the man who fought and killed dogs. 

Copyright 2009, Trevor Grant Thomas

At the Intersection of Politics, Science, Faith, and Reason.

Trevor and his wife Michelle are the authors of: Debt Free Living in a Debt Filled World

tthomas@trevorgrantthomas.com

Michael Vick vs. Dante Stallworth (or Dog Killer vs. Man Killer)

The difference in the treatment of Michael Vick and Donté Stallworth by the media, teammates, the NFL, and the general public reveals a great deal about our culture. The picture painted is not a pretty one.

If you’ve never heard of Donté Stallworth, don’t be surprised. Unless you’re a fan of the Cleveland Browns, or unless you closely follow the NFL, you probably have no idea who he is.

On March 14 of this year in Miami Florida, Stallworth, a 28-year-old wide receiver for the Cleveland Browns, struck and killed 59-year-old Mario Reyes. According to his blood test, Stallworth's blood-alcohol level after the crash was .126, which was well above Florida's legal limit of .08.

This event received significant coverage by the sports media but scant coverage otherwise. On May 19 of this year I did a Google search of “Dante Stallworth kills pedestrian” and got about 69,700 links (“Dante Stallworth kills man” yielded about half this result.). I then Googled “Michael Vick dog fighting” and I got about 688,000 links—nearly 10 times more than the Stallworth search. Granted, such an activity is not a very scientific comparison; after all, Vick’s story has been around much longer, but it is not a far cry to conclude that the coverage of Vick’s incident far surpasses any reporting of Stallworth’s incident.

Even when there were only suspicions about Vick’s involvement in dog fighting, he was quickly ostracized and many people distanced themselves from him. About a week after Vick was officially charged, on July 23 of 2007, citing the league’s conduct policy, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell ordered Vick not to report to training camp until the NFL reviewed the dog fighting charges. Protesters, especially those representing the radical animal rights group PETA, gathered at the Falcons’ training facilities and outside the NFL’s offices in New York. Falcons’ owner Author Blank called Vick’s behavior “horrific.”

Four days after he struck and killed a man, Stallworth reported to the Browns’ voluntary off-season workouts. His attorney, Chris Lyons, said, “Donté reported to the Browns on Wednesday morning and he's been welcomed back by everyone—his teammates, the management, the coaching staff, and they've all been extremely supportive.”

After Stallworth was charged with DUI manslaughter, according to ESPN, “NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the league will review the case under its conduct and substance abuse policies.” Aiello stated, “As the state attorney has said, this was a tragic accident that raises serious issues and we join all those who have expressed their sympathies to the Reyes family.” No condemnation, no protests outside Browns facilities, and no mention of suspension from the NFL.

When searching for articles on Stallworth’s story, you will often see the event described as a “tragedy,” an “accident,” or a “mistake.”  It is also easy to find sympathetic quotes from teammates. Cleveland Plain Dealer reporter Mary Kay Cabot did a story in early April detailing the support from teammates that Stallworth was receiving. Browns linebacker D'Qwell Jackson said, “people should know that Donté is a great person who made a terrible mistake, not a terrible person.”

What Michael Vick did was a “mistake.” He deserved to be punished by both the criminal justice system and the NFL. However, what Donté Stallworth did was “horrific.”

He took the life of another human being and now faces four to fifteen years in prison if he is convicted.

As Vick approaches the end of his sentence, there is much discussion about his return to the NFL. Vick was suspended for the 2007 season and missed the 2008 season while in jail. It will be interesting to continue to follow and contrast these two stories. If he is guilty, how will Stallworth’s jail time compare to Vick’s? What will be the reaction of the NFL, the media, and the public to these ongoing sagas?

One thing is already clear: what a sad indictment on our culture that a man who mistreats (or even kills) animals has been so viciously condemned, while another man who may be guilty of manslaughter hardly draws the public’s attention. Perhaps the greatest tragedy here is the twisted set of morals that allows for such behavior.

Copyright 2009, Trevor Grant Thomas

At the Intersection of Politics, Science, Faith, and Reason.

Trevor and his wife Michelle are the authors of: Debt Free Living in a Debt Filled World

tthomas@trevorgrantthomas.com

Where's Outrage for Travis Henry

Michael Vick has pleaded guilty. Let justice be done. From all indications it seems that it will be. Along with our judicial system, everyone from U.S. Senators, to the NFL, the media, corporate America, and the public in general have let their voices be heard in this matter. Michael Vick has been keenly condemned, with adjectives such as “cruel,” “sadistic,” “barbaric,” “cannibalistic,” “inhumane,” “abhorrent,” “reprehensible,” and “incomprehensible” used to describe his behavior.

The words and actions of those condemning Vick make me wonder where all this passion is when the lives of human beings are at stake. Former congressman J.C Watts pondered the same in an article he wrote recently, comparing the barbarism of dog-fighting to the barbarism of abortion. He pointed out that, “our culture has degenerated to a level where our priorities are so out of whack, that we decry ‘from mountain to mountain and valley to valley’ the mistreatment of innocent animals, while we turn a collective and legislative blind eye to the premature and yes, barbaric killing of human life in the name of ‘choice.’” Amen.

Recent developments with another NFL athlete give an additional interesting situation to contemplate. I wonder what the individuals and organizations so stirred by Vick’s actions think of the Denver Broncos’ tailback, Travis Henry. On Friday August 24 the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported that Henry has fathered nine children by nine different women across at least four different states. Talk about incomprehensible.

After Vick’s official admission of guilt, Goodell fired off a letter to him saying in part, “You have engaged in conduct detrimental to the welfare of the NFL and have violated the league's personal conduct policy.” ESPN reported on August 29 that Henry will not be disciplined by the NFL, saying that, “The league has clamped down on off-field misbehavior under commissioner Roger Goodell. But the newly implemented personal conduct policy ‘generally covers criminal violations, not civil matters’ such as Henry's, NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said Wednesday.”

Henry’s actions may not be very detrimental to the welfare of the NFL, but they are likely to be devastating to the nine children he has helped bring into this world.

Glenn T. Stanton, Director of Global Insights and Trends and Senior Analyst for Marriage and Sexuality at Focus on the Family (www.family.org), writes that, “All things being equal, children with married parents consistently do better in every measure of well-being than their peers who have single, cohabiting, divorced or step-parents, and this is a stronger indicator than parental race, economic or educational status, or neighborhood. The literature on this is broad and strong.” He bolsters this statement by noting that children living with their biological parents have, on average, higher test scores and grade point averages, and miss fewer school days than their peers not living with both biological parents. Also, they receive professional help for behavior and psychological problems at half the rate of children not living with both biological parents.

He adds that kids living with never-married mothers are twice as likely to be expelled or suspended from school as their peers, and those not living with both biological parents are 45 to 95 percent more likely to require parent/teacher conferences to deal with performance or behavior problems than those who live with married parents. And last, one of the most powerful predictors of crime rates comes from such family measures as the percentage of the population divorced, the percentage of households headed by women, and the percentage of unattached individuals in the community. It appears to me that the ultimate consequences of Vick’s actions will pale in comparison to those of Travis Henry.

Many do not like the comparison of Vick’s and Henry’s situations. They contend that Michael Vick was in violation of the law, while Travis Henry has broken no laws. However, it is interesting to note that Georgia’s law against fornication was stuck down by its Supreme Court only four years ago. The Washington Post reported in 2004 that 24 states still had laws against adultery, along with ten states still having anti-fornication statutes. Granted, most of these laws, if they still exist, are not enforced, but it goes to show that there was a time when we considered such acts criminal.

What does it say about our culture when one man can be so vilified by the public and the media, punished by his employer, and sent to jail by our justice system mostly because of abusing animals, while another man (along with the women involved) put nine human beings in the detrimental position of growing up in broken homes with no consequences other than being financially responsible for them?

Copyright 2014, Trevor Grant Thomas
At the Intersection of Politics, Science, Faith, and Reason.
Trevor and his wife Michelle are the authors of: Debt Free Living in a Debt Filled World
tthomas@trevorgrantthomas.com

Michael Vick in Perspective

I wonder about several things when it comes to the unfortunate events surrounding Michael Vick: If he were accused of involvement in the recent cockfighting ring discovered in Florida instead of his current woes, would there be near the uproar? If he had a Super Bowl victory or two under his belt, would there be calls for the Falcons to cut all ties with him? Where were all the questions about his character and calls for his release or suspension when he was accused of sexual misconduct posing as “Ron Mexico”? It’s almost as if he has been indicted for murder.

Don’t laugh. I heard more than one ESPN radio commentator recently say, in effect, that in many people’s minds what Vick is accused of is worse than if he had killed a human being. What a sad indictment on our culture.

In the year 2000 Baltimore Raven linebacker Ray Lewis, along with two of his “friends,” were indicted for killing a human being (actually two of them). The murder charges against him were later dropped and he pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge of obstruction of justice. In 2004 Lewis settled civil suits filed by the murdered victims’ families. One family, according to the Baltimore Sun, received at least $1 million.

Through all of this, Ray Lewis was never suspended by the NFL (though he did pay a record $250,000 fine). I don’t remember there even being many (if any) calls for the league to do so. I don’t recall protests in front of the NFL offices or at the Ravens’ facilities. Then again, Ray Lewis was coming off a season where he was the NFL leader in tackles and an All-Pro. (He would lead his team to a Super Bowl victory the following season.)

In 2003, when Kobe Bryant was indicted for rape, I don’t recall the NBA or the Lakers suspending him. I again don’t recall there being much demand by anyone that either do so. Then again, at the time Bryant was a perennial all-star and had several championship rings to his credit. I don’t think Bryant missed a single game due to his legal woes. In fact, a number of times Bryant had to be in court inColorado during the day, then immediately would fly to another part of the country to play in the Lakers' game that night.

If you believe, as I do, that the worst parts of the indictment against Vick are the gambling charges, then consider for a moment Michael Jordan. Jordan was no stranger to gambling, as he has admitted to losing hundreds of thousands of dollars (some have speculated that it was many millions) in shady gambling activities.

The NBA “investigated” him more than once, and though some think his first “retirement” was forced, he was never officially disciplined by the NBA or the Chicago Bulls. There was never much of an outcry by the media or the fans against Jordan. Of course, it almost goes without saying what Jordan meant to his fans, his team, his league and his sponsors. Mostly he meant hundreds of millions of dollars. No one wanted to see him go the way of Pete Rose.

Then there are the numerous athletes who, though not accused of criminal actions, at least have displayed behaviors that would cause many to call into question their character.

Tom Brady has fathered a child out of wedlock and is no longer in a relationship with the mother. Chipper Jones committed adultery and fathered a child out of wedlock. (I could go on and on with this list.) Where were the calls for their respective teams to suspend them or release them?

Amanda Beard, an Olympic swimmer with seven medals to her credit, including the gold medal in the 200-meter breaststroke, posed nude for Playboy recently. Do you think the U.S.A. Olympic committee, or most American fans, will have a problem with her representing our country in her sport again, as she aims to do?

You can tell much about people by what outrages or shames them. Would you be more ashamed if your grandfather had been involved in cockfighting or the KKK? Would you rather have your son shoot his neighbor’s dog or commit adultery with his neighbor’s wife? Would you prefer to have your daughter caught at a dogfight or pose nude in a magazine? Which behavior would alarm you more? Which behavior has more lasting consequences?

Because other athletes have been given a pass by their league, the media, and their fans is no reason that Michael Vick should. If he is found guilty of breaking the law, then let justice be done. If he is guilty of poor judgment, then there should be just consequences in that case as well. It seems to me, however, that the fury directed against him now is a bit overblown.

Copyright 2007, Trevor Grant Thomas
At the Intersection of Politics, Science, Faith, and Reason.
www.trevorgrantthomas.com
Trevor and his wife Michelle are the authors of: Debt Free Living in a Debt Filled World
tthomas@trevorgrantthomas.com