Stallworth suspended for the entire season

[MTK]

Breaking news

The Associated Press: APNewsAlert

[ArtMonkDrillz]

And without pay.

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.

[Monkeydad]

Not surprising or undeserved.

[FRPLG]

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.

[Trample the Elderly]

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

[Lotus]

Originally Posted by Trample the Elderly

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

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.

[BringBackJoeT]

Originally Posted by FRPLG

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.

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.

[CRedskinsRule]

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?

[skindeep]

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.

[ArtMonkDrillz]

Originally Posted by skindeep

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.

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.

[GhettoDogAllStars]

Originally Posted by skindeep

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.

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.

[skinsfan69]

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.

[skindeep]

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.

[FRPLG]

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.

[mooby]

Originally Posted by FRPLG

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.

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.