Domestic violence and the NFL: A sampling of players who have been charged
By Paul Vigna | pvigna@pennlive.com | Posted July 11, 2018 at 02:09 AM | Updated July 11, 2018 at 06:14 AM
https://www.pennlive.com/expo/news/erry-2018/07/5705c996636274/nfl-players-arrested-for-viole.htmlThe accusations dispersed on social media Tuesday against Buffalo Bills running back LeSean McCoy resonate as much because of the frequency that National Football League players during this decade have been arrested for domestic violence as the perception that the league continues to be tone-deaf in addressing the issue.
NFL officials would argue that it's taking the problem seriously, pointing to a revision of its personal conduct policy in 2016 that created stiffer penalties in the wake of the Ray Rice incident.
Here a breakdown by PennLive writer Daniel Gallen on what the current penalties could mean for McCoy.
Below are some of the NFL players who have been arrested this decade for domestic violence and/or violence against women.
RB Ray Rice
Suspended Baltimore Ravens football player Ray Rice (right) and his wife, Janay Palmer, arrive for a hearing on Nov. 5, 2014, in New York City. Rice was fighting his suspension after being caught beating his wife in an Atlantic City casino elevator in February 2014.
Rice's contract was terminated by the Ravens in September 2014. He was subsequently suspended indefinitely by the league, but was later reinstated following his successful appeal of the decision in federal courts.
He has not played in the NFL since.
DE Greg Hardy
Greg Hardy was an all-star defensive end for the Carolina Panthers, who on July 15, 2014, was found guilty of assaulting an ex-girlfriend,and sentenced to 18 months probation as well as being suspended for 10 games by the NFL. While the charges and suspension were later dropped after the victim failed to appear in court to testify, Hardy's arrest and trial were the focus of considerable controversy.
He has not played in the NFL since 2015.
RB Jonathan Dwyer
Running back Jonathan Dwyer pleaded guilty in January 2015 to charges of disorderly conduct.
A running back for the Arizona Cardinals and Pittsburgh Steelers, he was charged initially with felony aggravated assault and criminal damage in an incident where police alleged Dwyer broke his wife's nose in an incident at their home July 21, 2014.
Dwyer pleaded not guilty to the charges. The lesser charges brought with it a sentence of 18 months probation and community service.
He never played in the NFL again.
WR Dez Bryant
The longtime Dallas Cowboy was arrested in 2012 on a misdemeanor domestic violence charge in Texas when he pushed his mother, Angela, during an argument with his half brother. The charge was dropped after he maintained a clean record for one year.
LB Erik Walden
lThe NFL suspended Green Bay Packers linebacker Erik Walden for the 2012 regular-season opener for violating the league's personal conduct policy.
In February 2012, Walden reached a deferred judgment agreement to resolve a disorderly conduct-domestic abuse charge without pleading guilty. Walden spent Thanksgiving weekend in jail after a dispute with his girlfriend and also agreed to perform 50 hours of community service and continue counseling.
He last played in 2017 for the Tennessee Titans.
WR Santonio Holmes
Santonio Holmes in June of 2006 was charged with assaulting a woman, who told police the father of her child had assaulted her. While officers were making their report at the apartment, Holmes returned and was arrested without incident.
In December of that year, the judge dismissed misdemeanor charges of domestic violence and assault after being assured by Holmes' two lawyers that their client was participating in ongoing counseling offered through the NFL.
DE Ray McDonald
Ray McDonald (91), has been involved in a series of incidents, beginning in May 2014 and continuing into the following year. In August 2014, McDonald's fiancée showed authorities bruises on her arm and neck that she sustained in an alleged altercation with McDonald. In December 2014, the 49ers cut McDonald just hours after he was named as a suspect in another sexual assault investigation
On May 25, 2015, McDonald was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence and possible child endangerment, and two days later arrested again for violating a restraining order. Eventually the charges were dropped and McDonald joined the Chicago Bears, but he hasn't played in a regular season game since then.
His ex-fiancee spoke out about the incident in December 2016.
LB Daryl Washington
Arizona Cardinals linebacker Daryl Washington, right, pleaded guilty in March 2014 to aggravated assault in a domestic violence incident that took place the year before that left his ex-girlfriend and the mother of his child with a fractured collarbone.
Combined with a substance-abuse violation, he would be suspended from the NFL for three years before being reinstated in April 2017. The Arizona Cardinals would cut him the following month.
DE Kevin Williams
In August 2005, defensive end Kevin Williams was charged with fifth-degree domestic assault after his wife called 911. When officers arrived at Williams' house, his wife had two injuries to her left arm as well as blood on her T-shirt and claimed Williams assaulted her for not wearing her wedding ring.
According to accounts, police noticed that Kevin was drunk and "not fully aware or really caring about what was going on." He wound up pleading guilty to disorderly conduct and was sentenced to a $1,000 fine and one year of probation. The NFL did not suspend him.
He would play another 10 seasons, his last one in 2015 with the Saints.
WR Brandon Marshall
Brandon Marshall was named in at least eight separate incidents of violence against women between 2006 and 2009. But none of those incidents led to a criminal conviction (several didn't result in any charges filed), and the NFL suspended him only once, for one game.
DT Tony McDaniel
Charged in 2006 with aggravated assaulted after beating up a fellow student at Tennessee during a pick-up basketball game, Tony McDaniel four years later was arrested on the charge of domestic battery against his girlfriend. That incident was alleged to have occurred in the driveway of his resident in Broward County, Florida. The charges were later reduced to disorderly contact, a misdemeanor. He pleaded no contest, was sentenced to six months probation, and was required to attend counseling. The NFL would suspect hi for one game, without pay, as punishment.
He has played for six NFL teams, including two stints with two of them, and was a member of the New Orleans Saints until being released in February of this year.
CB Chris Cook
In October 2011, Chris Cook (20) was charged with felony domestic assault by assault by strangulation and felony third-degree assault after an alleged fight with his girlfriend at a residence in Minnesota. Per the report from arriving officers, the "was crying, she was holding the right side of her head with her hand, and her nose was bleeding." According to the report, "officers observed marks on [her] neck and hemorrhaging in [her] eye that is consistent with strangulation." It was revealed that she also suffered a perforated ear drum and lost hearing in one ear for two weeks. Five months later he was acquitted.
His least season in the NFL was 2014, when he played for the an Francisco 49ers.
DE Frostee Rucker
Defensive end Frostee Rucker (92) was a freshman at Colorado State University in April 2002 when was arrested and charged with sexual assault of one woman and indecent exposure to another. Three months later, he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of harassment and received a one-year deferred sentence.
On June 23, 2006, in Los Angeles, he was charged with two counts of domestic battery and two counts of vandalism from what was alleged to be a fight with his girlfriend the previous year. He would eventually reach an agreement that called for three years probation, 750 hours of community service, and payment of $400 to a domestic violence fund as well as $100 restitution to the victim. That order also included completion of a 52-week domestic-violence treatment program.
DE Randy Starks
Defensive end Randy Starks (left) was arrested in Tennessee in August 2006 and charged with domestic assault following an incident with his then-fiancée at the home they shared. The woman alleged that Starks tried to remove her engagement ring from her hand during an argument, which she said caused nine of her fingernails to break and bleed. She also alleged that Starks banged her head against a wall.
Four months later, Starks reached an agreement on the condition he would continue NFL-sponsored anger-management counseling.
His last year in the NFL was 2015, with the Cleveland Browns.
S Donte Whitner
Safety Donte Whitner was accused of harassment in a domestic dispute with his girlfriend in 2006. The charges were later dropped, and the NFL assessed no punishment.
His last season in the NFL was with Washington in 2016.
PennLive archives
Once news circulated about LeSean McCoy on Tuesday morning, both the NFL and Buffalo Bills said they would investigate.
Here are stories PennLive published Tuesday on the matter.
LeSean McCoy: What NFL personal conduct policy could mean for Harrisburg native after domestic abuse allegations
'Targeted' attack at LeSean McCoy's Georgia home, police say: What we know so far
Police went to LeSean McCoy's Georgia home 'in reference to a female who was assaulted': Report
LeSean McCoy's mother says he didn't beat, hasn't seen ex-girlfriend in more than a month
All this comes in the wake of two women in May resigning from the NFL Players Association commission on domestic abuse because of what they said was a "body that exists in name only." Deborah Epstein, a professor of law and co-director of the Georgetown University Law Center's Domestic Violence Clinic, and Susan Else, former president of the National Network to End Domestic Violence, both stepped down. Here is Epstein's explanation for her action in an editorial that appeared in the Washington Post.
